Should You Start an Airbnb Cleaning Business? (We Say No)

People ask me about Airbnb cleaning constantly, and my answer is the same every time. Avoid it.

I know that is not what the rest of the internet says. Short-term rental turnovers look like a clever niche: repeat volume, one host with several units, a cleaning fee the guest pays anyway. On paper it reads like a shortcut.

Jen and I built Oak Bay Clean to $2.8M and we did it on boring recurring residential. We send people away from Airbnb for six reasons, in the order the problems will hit you.

The short answer

• Recurring residential is in high demand and runs itself. Weekly and biweekly clients book once and rebook forever. That is the whole business.
• Airbnb work is a one-time cleaning company wearing a costume. Every turnover is a fresh job with a fresh set of expectations.
• Your cleaners cannot make a living on it. That is the fact that ends the argument.

1. Your cleaners can only work from 10 to 4

Guests check out at 10 or 11 in the morning. The next guests check in at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Every clean you own has to happen inside that window.

So your cleaner has a four to six hour working day, and it is the same four to six hours for every client you have. They cannot start at 8. They cannot pick up an evening job. They cannot fill the gaps, because there are no gaps, there is one narrow slot and it is full or it is empty.

Work out what that pays somebody over a week. It is not a living wage. It cannot be.

2. You have to turn away the easy money

A weekly client wants Tuesday mornings. A biweekly client wants alternate Thursdays. These people book once and stay for years. They are the easiest revenue in this industry and they are in high demand.

But your cleaner is locked into the checkout window. So you say no to the Tuesday morning. You say no to the Thursday. You turn away the clients who would have paid you forever, to protect a Saturday you are dreading.

You have not added a revenue stream. You have traded a good one for a worse one.

3. It breaks the 80/20 rule the whole model rests on

We aim for 80% recurring revenue and 20% one-time cleans. About 80% of Oak Bay Clean's revenue is recurring, and that number is the reason the business is calm.

Recurring clients do not have to be won again. They do not renegotiate. They do not need a fresh set of expectations managed every single visit. They are the difference between a business and a treadmill.

An Airbnb-led company is close to 100% one-time work. Every turnover is a new job. Every one has a host checking the photos. You have built the exact business we spend our time teaching people to climb out of.

"Every move-out is an opportunity for you to get a recurring client." Sandra, Maid Knows Best

Sandra treats one-time work as a door into recurring work. Airbnb turnovers are a door into more Airbnb turnovers.

4. Hosts will not pay what a good cleaner is worth

Short-term rental hosts are running a margin business, and the cleaning fee is a line item they are trying to keep low so their listing stays competitive against the flat down the road.

That puts them permanently on the wrong side of the negotiation from you. You need to pay a cleaner well enough that they stay. The host needs the fee low enough that the booking converts. One of you loses that argument, and if it is you, your best cleaners walk.

Meanwhile a busy household is not price-shopping their cleaner. They want the same person every second Tuesday and they want to stop thinking about it.

5. You will spend your time micromanaging low-reward clients

The work itself is not a clean. It is a hotel reset.

Stock the toilet paper. Restock the coffee. Take out the rubbish after somebody trashed the place. Fold the towels the way the host likes. Straighten the cushions so they match the listing photo. Photograph the damage. Report the missing items. Wait on a washing machine because there is only one set of linen.

Then do it again on a hard deadline, because a guest with a suitcase and a phone is standing outside at 3pm.

That is a lot of your attention for a client who is paying below what your cleaner is worth. Your time is the scarce resource in this business, and this is a poor use of it.

6. The people who built on it are asking us how to get out

There are companies that built their entire business on Airbnb and short-term rentals. They come to us wanting to know how to start a boring local cleaning company serving residential clients instead.

They are tired of stocking toilet paper. They are tired of taking out the bins after somebody wrecked a flat. They want the weekly client who books online, pays by card, and stays for five years.

They are trying to get to where you already are, standing at the start with a clean sheet. Do not spend three years walking in the opposite direction to arrive back here.

What to build instead

The boring version, which is in high demand and which nobody wants to hear because it is not clever:

• Name the company location plus keyword so people find you. Oak Bay Clean. Cincy Maids. Read how to name a cleaning business.
• Publish flat prices by home size and frequency, and let people book online. About 80% of our clients are recurring.
• Fill in your Google Business Profile and collect reviews after every clean.
• Email 20 realtors and letting agents a day. One of ours went to a realtor named Danielle, who has booked 47 cleans since 2021, worth $16,718.34.
• Take two to three bookings a day. Hire one to two cleaners a month. Give them a full schedule and pay them properly.

Get to about 100 recurring clients and you have roughly half a million a year in billings, and cleaners who do not leave. Read how to scale a cleaning business for the full path.

If a host asks you anyway

Nobody is saying refuse a good job. If a host you like asks for a turnover and it fits around your recurring schedule, take it and price it properly, above a standard clean of the same size, because the window and the linen are worth money. Insist the host provides two sets of linen so your cleaner is not standing next to a washing machine inside a four-hour deadline.

What we are saying is do not build the company on it, and do not turn away a weekly client to protect a Saturday turnover.

Boring, recurring, and calm is the whole point. If someone else has already done it, why can't you?

Frequently asked questions

Is an Airbnb cleaning business a good idea?

We advise against it. Airbnb turnovers are one-time cleans in disguise, they lock your cleaners into a four-hour window between checkout and check-in, and they force you to turn away the weekly and biweekly clients who would have paid you for years.

Why can't cleaners make a living on Airbnb turnovers?

Guests check out at 10 or 11 and the next ones arrive at 3 or 4, so every clean has to happen inside the same short window. Your cleaner cannot start at 8, cannot work an evening, and cannot fill the gaps, because there are no gaps. Over a week that does not add up to a living wage, and good cleaners will leave for a company that can give them a full schedule.

What is wrong with short-term rental cleaning as a business model?

It is effectively a 100% one-time cleaning company. Every turnover is a fresh job with fresh expectations, nothing compounds, and you have to win the work again every single time. We aim for 80% recurring and 20% one-time, because recurring clients do not have to be won twice.

Do Airbnb hosts pay well for cleaning?

Hosts are running a margin business and the cleaning fee is a line item they need to keep low so their listing stays competitive. That puts them permanently opposite you, because you need to pay a cleaner well enough that they stay. A busy household is not price-shopping their cleaner.

What should I build instead of an Airbnb cleaning business?

Recurring residential. Name the company location plus keyword, publish flat prices, let people book online, fill in your Google Business Profile, collect reviews, and email realtors daily. About 100 recurring clients produces roughly half a million a year in billings, and your cleaners get a full schedule.

Should I ever take an Airbnb turnover clean?

If a host you like asks and it fits around your recurring schedule, take it and price it above a standard clean of the same size, because the tight window and the linen are worth money. Insist on two sets of linen. What you should not do is build the company on it, or turn away a weekly client to protect a Saturday turnover.

Why do short-term rental cleaning companies switch to residential?

Because they get tired of it. Companies that built their whole business on Airbnb and short-term rentals come to us asking how to start a boring local residential cleaning company instead. They are done stocking toilet paper and taking out the bins after someone trashed a flat. They want the weekly client who books online and stays for five years.