Own a Cleaning Company: Startup Costs and Profit Calculator

Q: How much profit does a cleaning business make?

Our cleaners keep 60% of every job and the business keeps 40%. Software, insurance, phone, marketing and taxes take roughly 10% of revenue, which leaves the owner about 30%. Our own true margin at Oak Bay Clean is 28%.

Two ways to start

Clean the houses yourself, or own the company that does

The second column is the model Jen and I run and teach. Your cleaners are independent contractors who bring their own supplies, so your opening cost is paperwork and software.

	Clean it yourself	Own the company (our model)
Who cleans	You	Independent contractors
Supplies and equipment	$300 to $1,500	$0
Software and phone	Optional	$284 to $344 a month
Cleaner pay	You are the cleaner	60% of each job, paid from money already collected
Opening cost	A few hundred to about $1,500	About $400 to $1,450
What caps your income	The hours you can clean	How many cleaners and clients you add

What it costs

What it costs, in plain numbers

This is the stack we run Oak Bay Clean on, with what each piece costs today. Registration and licensing change by city, state and province, so check your local fees before you budget. The full breakdown is in how much it costs to start a cleaning business.

Once, to open

Item	Cost
Register your LLC Depends on your state or province	$50 to $1,000
City business licence	$50 to $100 a year
Logo, horizontal and square versions	$0 in Canva
Supplies and equipment Your cleaners bring their own	$0
First month of the stack (right) Convertlabs.io is free for the first 30 days on our link	$284 to $344
Total to open	About $400 to $1,450

Every month, to run

Item	Per month
Convertlabs.io, your website and online booking	$197
Quo, your business phone line	$20
Google Workspace Business Starter, your hello@yourcompany.com email $8.40 a month if you pay month to month	$7
General liability insurance through Foxquilt Depends on your location. Ours is $40.	$40 to $100
Claude, your AI assistant for the business	$20
Your cleaners Paid after the client pays	60% of each job
Software, phone, email and insurance	$284 to $344
Marketing in your first year Google Ads, Google Local Services Ads, Meta and similar	$300 to $1,000
Total to run in year one	$584 to $1,344

The Convertlabs.io, Quo and Foxquilt links are our referral links. If you sign up through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We run our own business on every tool listed here.

What changes your cost

Where you register

California charges about $70 to file an LLC plus an $800 annual franchise tax, so a California company budgets a few hundred dollars more in year one than one in Texas or Florida. Our licence guide covers the rules by location.

Contractors or employees

Contractors carry their own insurance and bring their own gear. Hiring employees adds payroll costs and raises your insurance. The rules on who counts as a contractor differ by state and province.

Paid ads

In early 2023 our Google ad management cost about $3,000 a month. We fired the agency, Jen rebuilt our SEO, and we stopped paid ads almost entirely. Every dollar of ad spend comes straight out of your profit.

Bonding

We skip it. With good independent contractors carrying their own coverage, our residential clients have never asked for it.

Profit calculator

Run your numbers

Every job splits the same way. Your cleaner keeps 60%, the business keeps 40%, and about 10% of revenue goes to software, insurance, phone, marketing and taxes. That leaves you around 30%. Slide by cleans per week, or by how many cleaners you have.

Cleans per week20

1150

One cleaner on a full schedule does about 9 a week.

Change your price and costs

Average price per clean$232

$100$500

Oak Bay Clean averages $232 across 13,059 bookings. Here's how to set your prices.

Business costs10%

6%20%

Software, insurance, phone, marketing and taxes. More ad spend moves this up.

Your profit per year

$72,384

20 cleans a week at $232

Revenue per month$20,107
Paid to your cleaners (60%)$12,064
Business costs (10%)$2,011
Your profit per month$6,032

Your opening costs are covered after 6 to 21 cleans.

Estimates only, based on the numbers you choose. Your results depend on your prices, your market and how fast you add clients and cleaners. Business costs never drop below $584 a month, which is the stack plus the low end of first-year marketing. Our own true margin at Oak Bay Clean is 28%, and you can see our month-by-month numbers in how much cleaning business owners make.

How it works

From day one to your first clients in 22 days

One focused hour a day. Each day has its own video, and the whole checklist is in our guide on how to start a cleaning business.

1 to 6

Set up your foundation

Get your website and booking live, research your competition, name your company, set your prices and design your logo. Our free name and market report helps with day 3.

7 to 11

Tools and paperwork

Professional email, a business phone line, Stripe for card payments, your registration and your insurance.

12 to 15

Get found online

Your Google Business Profile, Yelp, on-site SEO and a business bank account.

16 to 22

Hire your first cleaner and book clients

Post on Indeed, interview, check references, run a paid test clean, onboard your hire, then go get your first bookings.

Vic and Jen Westcott, co-founders of Oak Bay Clean and Cleaning Company Blueprint

Why we share the numbers

We run this model every day

Jen and I started Oak Bay Clean during the pandemic. I was a teacher and Jen writes and directs films. We pay our cleaners 60% of every job, 80% of our clients are recurring, and I spend less than two hours a day on the company now.

Our first month in July 2021 was about $1,600. Two months later we did $9,200. We hit our first $1M in September 2023. Every number on this page comes from our own books.

Vic Westcott, co-founder of Oak Bay Clean and Cleaning Company Blueprint

Questions

What people ask us most

How much does it cost to start a cleaning business?

On the contractor model, about $400 to $1,450 to open, depending mostly on what your state or province charges to register a business. Running costs are $284 to $344 a month for software, phone, email and insurance, plus $300 to $1,000 a month for marketing in your first year.

How much profit does a cleaning business make?

Your cleaners keep 60% of every job and the business keeps 40%. Software, insurance, phone, marketing and taxes take roughly 10% of revenue, which leaves you about 30%. Our own true margin is 28%.

Do I need to buy cleaning supplies?

Your independent contractors bring their own supplies, equipment and vehicles, so your equipment cost is $0.

How do I pay my first cleaner?

Cleaners earn 60% of each completed job, paid after the client has paid. Their pay comes out of money the business has already collected, so your first hire is covered by your first bookings.

Can I start while working full time?

Yes. The setup takes about an hour a day for 22 days. Most owners keep their job until revenue reaches somewhere between $20K and $50K a month, then decide based on their own salary.

Should I start with residential or commercial?

Residential. Residential clients pay at the time of the clean, while commercial clients usually pay on net 30 terms or slower, and you pay your cleaner on the day of the job.

Where to start

Watch the free course, then join us in the Inner Circle

Step 1

The full 22 days in one video

Day 1 to day 22, from naming and pricing to hiring your first cleaner and booking your first clients. Free, 3 hours 50 minutes.

Watch on YouTube Subscribe to our channel

Step 2

Join the Inner Circle

Our weekly Zoom room for cleaning business owners, from pre-launch to past six figures. You're grouped with owners at your stage and a mentor one stage ahead, and Jen and I run every session.

Doors are open now.

Join the Inner Circle See how it works

$197/month or $1,999/year.