If things have felt a bit uncertain recently – you’re not imagining it. I think we’re all feeling it. Read on for something we can do about it.
It’s a beautiful sunny Saturday and I’m sat writing this in my garden. I try to take weekends off – but not this one, I have too much to do. You see this week I did something I haven’t done for a very long time – I took on two new regular clients, and a deep clean too.
Why? Because I want more income, and the costs of everything are going through the roof. Fuel, the repairs my car needs, food, all of it… I don’t need to tell you this I’m sure! Are you feeling it too?
I wonder – how many of you cleaning business owners are losing clients as people feel the pinch, or looking for more clients yourselves?
Or wanting to increase prices but holding back because you’re afraid to lose clients?
Outside of my sunny back garden – the UK feels wobbly right now. Local elections coming up, media stories of political backstabbing, the Straits of Hormuz still closed… I think a lot of us are looking ahead 6 months and feeling uncertain of what’s coming.
This feels a bit gloomy – it’s time to shift the energy! Here’s what I think is going on right now:
How uncertainty affects cleaning business confidence.
UNCERTAINTY leads to indecision. People hesitate.
The clients hesitate to take us on. We hesitate to raise prices. Our hesitation can lead to undercharging, over-working, plummeting confidence.
If we avoid doing the maths, put our heads in the sand about finances at work, or at home – it sits there at the back of our minds. Low key money worry… niggling away. Making stress and dropping our confidence further.
Our confidence doesn’t drop because we’re bad at business.
It drops because we are avoiding. We are not addressing the elephant in the room – the maths of our business, our income. We need our businesses to make us a good income with the minimum of stress or why are we doing it?
And along with our confidence, our CLARITY drops too. We’re not clear because we haven’t done the maths. We’re not speaking clearly to potential clients, not showing the confidence that convinces them we are the cleaner for them. We are not clear in our own minds – what clients do we want, where, at what price?
Let’s get straight on to how we get that confidence back!
I’m going to break this down and make it as clear and actionable as I can.
1). Get clear on your numbers.
How much do you need to earn each week? Write it down.
How many hours per week do you have to work, or want to work? Write this down too.
Roughly how much are your expenses each week? If you use your car then add this in, 45p per mile.
Add your target income to the expenses. Divide it by the number of hours. That’s the MINIMUM you need to be charging per hour.
When you know what ‘enough’ actually looks like you can work out how you’re going to achieve it. And when your pricing is backed up by solid numbers (rather than guesswork or charging what other people charge) – it’s VERY much easier to up your price.
2) Get clear on your offer
What sort of people do you want to work for? In which area? It’s worth thinking about, writing down – who your ‘ideal client’ is.
When you’re clear on what you offer, to whom, it’s time to consider it from the client’s point of view.
Does your advertising tell them the story?
What makes you the best cleaner for them? Speak of the benefits to them, the quality service (don’t lead with the price!). Are your systems clear, beneficial to them, trustworthy? Are your client communications clear, professional, a cut above?
When we make each tiny step of our client’s journey with us clear, confident, friendly and professional – then we’re offering the best service. Our clients happily pay more. Value – not price!
3) Get clear on your next step (not 10 steps)
What is the one thing you can do, this week, to push your business further? Maybe it’s setting up a business email account. Maybe it’s setting up card payments. Maybe it’s switching to pro products. Maybe it’s doing the maths…
Pick one. When are you going to do it? Now? Let’s set a time, and get it sorted.
My one thing was taking on those clients. I felt reluctant to do so… But the maths told me it was needed. I feel 100% better now.
Final thoughts:
When we know our numbers – speaking our price become confident and easy.
When we know our ideal clients and our boundaries – our confidence builds trust.
When we deliver on the ease, the clarity, the details – clients happily pay more.
When we think through our next step and just do it – we move forwards and drop the stress.
If you feel stuck, uncertain, lacking in confidence or are avoiding the numbers – this is exactly what my 1:1 coaching helps with. You can book a free chat here.
I’m still sat in the garden and am actually melting :-)…
Happy cleaning m’lovelies,
Grace xx
PS: Useful things:
Pricing/income calculator here.
Financial Foundations course (sets up a system that sorts card payments, invoices, tax return and more) here.
10% discount on professional cleaning products for Facebook group members, join the group here.