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How To Start A Cleaning Business in 2026 (NO BS) Step By Step FREE FULL COURSE — Transcript

by AJ SIMMONS · 5,702 words · 827 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00So, you want to start a cleaning
0:01business in 2026.
0:03Well, you're in the right place because
0:05I am AJ Simmons and I am the cleaning
0:07business goat. Also founder of the
0:09CleanBiz Network where we've helped
0:11people start, grow, and scale cleaning
0:14companies since 2018. All right, so
0:16you're in the perfect place and I'm
0:18about to give you a free masterclass
0:19right now. No click my funnel, no go to
0:23this website. I'm about to give you the
0:25whole rundown right here, right now. So,
0:27stay tuned. Let's get into it. All
0:29right, so welcome to the how to start a
0:30cleaning business in 2026 full course
0:34presented by us here at CleanBiz
0:35Network. All right, so let's go ahead
0:37and jump into this thing. So, first
0:38thing first, make your plan. What do you
0:41want to clean? What do you not want to
0:43clean? What service areas do you want to
0:45clean and provide cleaning services at?
0:48So, you got to think about these things
0:49before you even go to the business go
0:51into business like figure out are you do
0:53you want to do residential cleaning? Do
0:54you want to do commercial cleaning? Do
0:56you want to do Airbnb cleaning? Do you
0:58want to do commercial cleaning but only
1:00do office buildings? Do you want to do
1:01commercial cleaning but only do
1:02restaurants? Do you want to do resi-
1:04resi- residential and only Airbnb? Do
1:08you want to do apartment move-outs?
1:09There is so many different niches that
1:11you can jump jump into. So, kind of
1:13figure out what do you do and what you
1:15don't want to do in this industry first
1:17ahead of time. And if you don't know,
1:19then guess what? The best way to figure
1:20out your niche is to try a bunch of
1:22things until you figure out what you
1:24actually like.
1:26The next thing you want to do is choose
1:28your name and your brand, okay? Make it
1:31simple. Don't overcomplicate this stuff.
1:33You can always do a name change later on
1:35when your company starts to grow. But,
1:36make it simple. Also, make sure it's
1:38available. So, check with your state or
1:41your province, wherever you're located,
1:42but check with your government local
1:44officials to make sure that that name is
1:46not taken once you figure out the name.
1:48Also, make sure that the name is not too
1:49similar to any other companies that's
1:52out there because you don't want them
1:53to, you know, confuse you with some
1:55other company because your your company
1:57name is uh
2:00Clean Biz and then their company name is
2:02Cleaning Biz and now you'll get confused
2:05with their uh four-star ratings when you
2:08always have five-star ratings. So, you
2:10get confused with their two-star ratings
2:12when you always have five-star ratings.
2:13So, make sure your name is not too
2:15similar to anybody else's and
2:16specifically anybody else's within your
2:19locality, all right? Uh make sure that
2:21the web domain name is available. So, a
2:24web domain name when I say that, I'm
2:25talking about where it says www.whatever
2:28your name company name is.com. Go to
2:31godaddy.com or whatever domain registrar
2:33that you want to use and just type in
2:35the name that you want to sign up for
2:37for your website and make sure that's
2:39actually available, okay, before you
2:40even pick the name. Another thing, start
2:42thinking about your brand colors, so you
2:44can put that in your name as well along
2:46with your logo, all right? Uh what is
2:48going to be your company attire? Start
2:50thinking about that type of stuff when
2:52you're trying to get your name and your
2:53branding together, all right? And do you
2:55need a trademark? Somebody might wonder,
2:57okay, well, should I trademark this
2:58stuff? Me personally, I'm I'm a
3:00proponent of don't worry about
3:02trademarking in the beginning.
3:04Trademarking is a defense mechanism.
3:06When you first getting started in
3:07business, you want to play offense. Once
3:09you start building some wealth in
3:11business, some income, then we want to
3:12start playing defense. That's always
3:14been my philosophy on it, but again, I'm
3:16not a attorney or anything like that.
3:18So, you can check with your attorney if
3:19you want to feel like you need a
3:20trademark in the beginning, but I'm just
3:22a big proponent of
3:24there's nothing to protect yet. So, what
3:25are we trying to protect things for when
3:27there's nothing to protect? Let's just
3:28get to that bag first, all right?
3:31Next step, get legal, okay? So, now we
3:33got a name and a brand and we got an
3:35idea what we kind of want to clean and
3:36all that good stuff. Let's go ahead and
3:38start taking some steps forward. So, go
3:39ahead and get your LLC from your
3:41Secretary of State. A lot of times you
3:43can go right on their website, literally
3:45get your LLC uh documents right online.
3:48It's called the articles of organization
3:50will be the name of the uh document that
3:52you want to file. So, file that articles
3:54of organization, get your LLC. You're
3:56going to be a single member LLC to start
3:58off. And then after that, you want to go
4:01into the IRS.gov website and get your
4:04EIN number, aka your tax ID number, aka
4:08the FEIN number. And so, EIN stands for
4:11employer identification number or you is
4:14also called a tax ID number. And then
4:16the FEIN just stands for federal EIN
4:19number. Same thing though, all right?
4:21And then after that, you got the LLC
4:23paperwork, you got your EIN paperwork.
4:25Now you can go open up a business bank
4:27account. Some bank accounts may require
4:30you to have a
4:32uh a little bit more documentation but
4:34for the most part, all you need is a LLC
4:36and your EIN number to go ahead and open
4:38up that business bank account. And you
4:40want to do that as soon as possible
4:41because as soon as you start making
4:42transactions and buy things for your
4:44company, you want it to be logged
4:46through your business bank account so
4:47everything can be tax deductible and
4:49accounted for once it's time to go do
4:51those taxes at the end of the year, all
4:52right? Uh after that, register for your
4:55business license through your local
4:57govern- government if it's required.
5:00Every city and county does not require
5:02you to have a business license for a
5:04cleaning company. Now, some might
5:06require you to have a business license
5:08for a residential cleaning service but
5:10not a commercial cleaning service or
5:12vice versa. So, just make sure you look
5:13up with your local city and state and
5:15figure out if you're actually required
5:17to have that, all right? And then the
5:19final thing about getting legal is you
5:20want to make sure that you sign up to
5:21the charge sales taxes. Again, that's if
5:25needed. Some locations, just like I just
5:27said, some states might require you to
5:29charge sales tax. Some counties might
5:31require you to charge sales tax. And
5:33again, it may be required on commercial
5:36services but not required on residential
5:38services. So, just make sure you look
5:40into that. And again, this might seem
5:42like a little scary of a step. Yes, you
5:44might have to go and actually talk to
5:46city officials. Yes, you might go to
5:47city hall or whatever the case may be.
5:49Do not let this scare you away. It's
5:51just a simple phone call or a simple
5:53visit to that office. Go figure it out
5:55and get it done. If you're trying to
5:57start a business, then be a business
5:59person and handle your business, okay?
6:01Let's keep rolling.
6:03Next, we want to get an insurance quote.
6:06All right? Now, when I say get an
6:07insurance quote, I mean just a quote. Do
6:09not go and buy insurance yet because I'm
6:11a big proponent of letting the business
6:13pay for itself. You don't have any
6:15customers or any money coming in yet, so
6:17there's no need to be paying monthly uh
6:19payments on an insurance issue. But,
6:22just go ahead and get the quote, all
6:23right? Now, here's the quote that you
6:24want to get. You want to get a quote on
6:26a million-dollar liability coverage
6:28policy with 2 million in aggregate,
6:30okay? The word aggregate just simply
6:32means the total amount that it can be
6:33spent on a year. So, the million dollars
6:36is the max per incident, and then the 2
6:39million is the total for that calendar
6:41year, okay? So, for example, maybe you
6:43have three different incidents. All of
6:45those three different incidents can't be
6:46more than 1 million dollars per incident
6:49for that one incident, and then if you
6:51have three different ones, the total of
6:53those payouts for those incidents all
6:55together can't go over 2 million, okay?
6:58That's all you really need to have.
7:00That's all you're required to have.
7:01However, there are additional things
7:03that you could get if you wanted to. So,
7:05you could get bond coverage. Uh I would
7:07say if you're going to get bond coverage
7:09in a minimum of a 20,000 should be good
7:11enough. You could 10,000 may be fine,
7:13too, but bond coverage typically covers
7:15theft. Uh if you know that you're going
7:17to be doing all of the cleaning in the
7:18beginning, then obviously bonding is not
7:20necessary because you're probably not
7:21going to steal if you're the boss, all
7:22right? So, but just something to think
7:24about, but you can get bond coverage. A
7:26lot of company uh customers do like to
7:28see that you're insured and bonded, but
7:30again, do you have to have it? No. Uh
7:32workers' comp coverage. That's more so a
7:34thing I say check with your state laws
7:37require. Some states require that you
7:39have uh workers' comp if you have at
7:41least one employee on payroll. Other
7:43states might say you got to have at
7:44least three employees on payroll before
7:46you're required to carry work of comp.
7:48But, just check with your state laws and
7:49decide if you need that or not.
7:51Also, with inland marine coverage. So,
7:53that would cover like if you decide if
7:55you're going to go into, you know,
7:58uh floor cleaning, for example, when you
7:59go you acquire, you know, more heavy
8:01machinery and you're going to have those
8:02types of things and you're going to be
8:04leaving them on the site of the customer
8:07site, like long-term or multiple times,
8:10then that coverage might come in handy.
8:11But, if you're going to keep, you know,
8:14uh your
8:16But, if you're going to keep your
8:16supplies, you know, somewhere in the
8:18office or in your local facility, that
8:21may not be a coverage that you need,
8:22okay? And again, I'm not an insurance
8:24specialist, either. I'm not an insurance
8:25broker, but I'm just giving you what I
8:26know, right? And then finally, lost key
8:28coverage could also be some coverage
8:30that you might consider in case as you
8:32start to grow, you got workers working
8:34for you, you're passing out these keys,
8:36and they might lose a key. Lost key
8:38coverage could help you on your
8:39insurance policy. But again, all of
8:40those things in black are optional. The
8:43main thing that you really need more
8:44than anything just to be in business is
8:46liability coverage, all right?
8:49Next, you want to set up your accounting
8:51software, okay? So, I highly recommend
8:54that you use an accounting software. Do
8:55you have to use a software to do it? Not
8:58necessarily. Could you do old-fashioned
9:00paper and pen? Yes, cuz simply
9:01accounting for your business is simply
9:03tracking every expense that you make,
9:06every piece of income that comes in.
9:07That's all accounting really is. But,
9:10software can make this very, very, very
9:13doable for you and very streamlined for
9:15you. So, I recommend WaveApps.com
9:17because they do have a free plan.
9:19However, QuickBooks is the most popular.
9:21That's typically what your CPAs and
9:23everything are going to use. So, if you
9:24can afford to do the monthly
9:25subscription for QuickBooks, then go
9:27ahead and do that. But, if you don't you
9:29can't afford that, then I would start
9:31with WaveApps.com. And I do have
9:33tutorials on my YouTube page, uh uh,
9:35which is AJ Simmons, if you're are not
9:36watching this on there already. All
9:39right. Also, uh, you can hire a
9:41bookkeeper. So, if you want to straight
9:43out the gate, you can hire a bookkeeper
9:45to just do that part for you. I
9:47recommend doing your own books in the
9:48beginning and getting that knowledge in
9:51as you go. Again, there's tutorials on
9:52YouTube to show you how to do all of the
9:54the bookkeeping and accounting yourself.
9:56Learn how to do it. Get used to doing it
9:58so that way as you grow and you do hire
10:00out for it, when it's time for you to go
10:02read those financials, you can do it
10:04because you've already experienced doing
10:06your books yourself. All right. And then
10:08the final option for doing your
10:09accounting is you could bring on a
10:10fractional CFO. Again, this is something
10:12I probably won't recommend doing until
10:14later down the line, but it is an option
10:16that you can have. All right.
10:20Next up, we got cleaning supplies. Now,
10:22if you don't know what cleaning supplies
10:24to get, I made it very simple. Just go
10:26to cleaningbusinessstarterkit.com.
10:29There's going to be a list of supplies
10:30and everything on that website that you
10:32can get to start your cleaning company.
10:34This is mostly for commercial cuz my
10:36background is in commercial cleaning.
10:38So, if you go on that website, it'll
10:40have a list of things that you can get
10:41and you can just copy what's there. Or,
10:43you can literally order your whole kit
10:45directly from
10:45cleaningbusinessstarterkit.com.
10:47That's one of the websites that my
10:49company owns here at Clean Biz Network
10:51and we will ship all of the cleaning
10:52supplies to you to get started. And in
10:54in addition to just the supplies, it
10:57also includes one year free to my group
10:59mentorship at Clean Biz Network
11:00membership. It also comes with a starter
11:03course that will
11:04go even way further than what I'm giving
11:06you here on this free course online, but
11:08it'll give you way more details, even
11:10like show you how to do your
11:11bookkeeping, show you how to send
11:13invoices, all of the technical stuff.
11:15And speaking of technical stuff, it
11:16comes with our all-in-one software for
11:18cleaning companies as well that has
11:20bidding calculators, invoicing, you can
11:23get your phone number through it, create
11:25your website on our platform. All of the
11:28list goes on and on and on. All right.
11:30But, cleaningbusinessstarterkit.com
11:32so you can know what supplies to get.
11:34Next step, you want to get your
11:35marketing materials. So, a logo shirt,
11:38so make sure you create a logo. You can
11:40go to chat GPT or somewhere to create a
11:42logo. You can go to canva.com and create
11:44your own logo, but create a logo, then
11:47put it on a shirt. Uh you can also want
11:49to get you some business uh cards, get
11:51you some flyers, get you some brochures.
11:54And by the way, you don't need a van. A
11:56lot of people think they need a van, and
11:57they need to wrap that van, and all of
11:59that good stuff is not required. Not
12:01specially not for commercial cleaning.
12:02So, for commercial cleaning, I typically
12:04like to just have my supplies left in my
12:07customers' uh supply closet, excuse me,
12:10their janitorial closet, and then we're
12:12good to go. So, if for every new account
12:14that I get, we buy basically like a mini
12:16starter kit, put it in their janitorial
12:18closet, and that's it. And then my
12:20cleaners can just show up, clean the the
12:22building, and then put the stuff right
12:23back in their janitor's closet, all
12:25right? Uh and by the way, so for your
12:26marketing materials, you could go to
12:28vistaprint.com
12:30and order your stuff from there. Canva
12:32also does some uh print and shipping as
12:34well. And then you also got local places
12:36like Minuteman and stuff like that out
12:38there that you can go to, but definitely
12:40get you some marketing materials.
12:43All right, next you want to set up your
12:46online presence, okay? So, you want to
12:48have a website, and you want that
12:50website to have a booking form on it as
12:51well if you can for commercial and for
12:53residential. But, definitely have you a
12:55website. Next, go ahead and set up all
12:57of your social media stuff, so your
12:59Facebook, your Instagram, your LinkedIn,
13:02your Google Business Profile, even a
13:04YouTube channel if you can, because we
13:06all know that YouTube is owned by
13:08Google, and Google is the big- biggest
13:10search engine out there. YouTube is the
13:12second big- biggest search search
13:14engine. I cannot talk today. YouTube is
13:16the second big- biggest search engine.
13:18Why can I not say that sentence? But,
13:20anyway. So, if you can create that for
13:22your website for your uh company as
13:24well, it'll definitely come in handy and
13:26help your your rank if you can take
13:28those YouTube videos and then embed them
13:30into your website. It helps your your
13:32website that much more and then you can
13:33be searchable and companies will start
13:35calling your company, right? So, to do
13:38cleaning services. All right, then you
13:39also can do free listings on directories
13:42uh such as Yelp. Yelp does have like a
13:43paid plan and all of that, but as long
13:45as you get up there on that free
13:46listings, that should be enough for you
13:48as well. Next, you want to get yourself
13:50some warm leads. So, in the cleaning
13:53industry, especially in commercial
13:54cleaning,
13:55it is kind of hard to get you some
13:57leads, right? Because the way that
13:58typically the old way to get leads is
14:00you either picking up the phone and
14:02calling businesses one by one by one and
14:04trying to get walk-throughs scheduled
14:05with them, or you're going door to door,
14:07you get dressed up with your flyers or
14:09your brochures or your business cards,
14:11and you go door to door and you try to
14:12get somebody to give you a walk-through.
14:14Well, you could fast-track that by going
14:16to cleanbizleads.com,
14:19and you can buy leads from my company.
14:21That's another service that we offer.
14:22Now,
14:24we do not sell these leads to the public
14:26anymore, so you used to could just go to
14:27cleanbizleads.com and buy appointments,
14:29and then you're good to go. You do have
14:31to be a member of Clean Biz Network now
14:33in order to buy those appointments. So,
14:34you first you would need to join Clean
14:36Biz Network, and then once you join,
14:38there will be a tab inside of our
14:39portal. You click on buy leads or buy
14:41walk-throughs, and you're good to go.
14:43And I literally have a team that will
14:45literally set appointments with
14:47businesses in your area, tell you where
14:49to go, who to meet, what time to meet
14:50them, and you just go in there and do a
14:52walk-through with these businesses and
14:53try to close that deal for commercial
14:54cleaning contract. So, you can check
14:56that out as well.
14:58And then after you do that, you
15:00definitely want to have a business
15:01management software. Again, Clean Biz
15:03Network has an all-in-one cleaning
15:05business software inside of our
15:07membership. So, when you become a Clean
15:09Biz Network member, you get our
15:10community, you get monthly group
15:12coaching calls with me, the cleaning
15:14business goat AJ Simmons.
15:16Uh you get our software, like I said,
15:17with the pricing calculator,
15:19walk-through reports, proposal
15:21generator, lead tracker, invoice
15:23generator, inspection reports, uh
15:26marketing manager, reputation manager,
15:28you name it, it's all in there and so
15:30much more. All right, so definitely get
15:31you some type of business management
15:33software to run your company
15:35efficiently.
15:36And now, here's some tips I wanted to
15:37give you too as well about the
15:39walk-through.
15:40When you go on your walk-through, make
15:41sure that you go with your logo shirt
15:43on. Make sure that you dress
15:45professionally. Typically, I like a logo
15:46shirt with some khaki pants or something
15:48like that, or you can actually go
15:49business casual. But, make sure that you
15:51dress to impress. Make sure you have
15:53business cards available, flyers,
15:55brochures, some type of marketing
15:57material. Also, when you go to your
15:59walk-through, and I see the title say
16:00online presence, that is a typo. So, I
16:02need to change it up. But, also remember
16:04when you go to the walk-through too, in
16:06the beginning, two is better than one.
16:07So, if you can bring somebody, a
16:08partner, or a helper, or somebody to
16:10come help you,
16:11definitely bring them because you'll be
16:13wanting to take measurements of the
16:14facility, so that way you can put it in
16:16your bidding calculator to help you with
16:17the pricing. And then, you also want to
16:19maybe even be recording at the same
16:21time, and then also dialoguing with the
16:23person, asking questions, getting to
16:25know that potential client, right? Uh
16:28you also want to be com- focused
16:29completely on them during the
16:30walk-through. So, don't be so busy
16:32trying to tell them about why you're so
16:34great. Be more so focused about figuring
16:36out why you're even there and they're
16:38allowing you to do the walk-through in
16:39the first place. Also, try to control
16:41the meeting. Don't let them just rush
16:43you through and take over, and you feel
16:45like you're just a peasant, and you need
16:46them so badly. Like, actually take
16:48control of the meeting. Try to slow them
16:50down. If you talk slower, typically
16:52other people will talk slower. If you
16:54walk a little slower, you might enhance
16:55them to walk a little slower, right?
16:57But, try to control the meeting. Also,
16:59definitely, most importantly, ask about
17:00their pain points. Again, figure out why
17:03you're there in the first place. What is
17:04their current cleaning company not doing
17:07that prompted them to even allow you to
17:08come through in the first place, okay?
17:10Because typically, they always have a
17:11cleaning company already, but you want
17:13to figure out why they're willing to
17:14give you a chance to come steal that
17:16business. All right?
17:18Ask for their budget. A lot of people
17:19get intimidated and don't ask for their
17:21cleaning uh budget. Don't be afraid to
17:23ask. Sometimes they'll share it,
17:24sometimes they won't, but if you have an
17:27idea what they're already paying,
17:28that'll help you just that much more
17:30when you're trying to put your proposal
17:31together to send over your bid, right?
17:33Ask for the frequency.
17:35A lot of times they may not know how
17:38often they want you to come, but most
17:40times they will because they know how
17:41often that the current cleaners are
17:42coming. So, you just ask them, how often
17:45do they want you to come and clean their
17:46facility, all right? So, that way you
17:48can put that into your bid and calculate
17:49it well. All right? Don't say when
17:52you'll send the proposal to them. So, a
17:54lot of times when people is leaving
17:55their appointment for the walk-through,
17:57they'll say,
17:59"Oh, well, we'll have this over to you
18:00by tonight." Or, "I'll have you over
18:02this to you I'll have this a proposal
18:04over to you by today." Don't say that
18:06because if you can't pull that off and
18:08send it over by that time, you make
18:09yourself a liar. So, instead, just say,
18:12"We'll have this over to you as soon as
18:13possible." All right? And then most
18:15importantly, too, as well, don't feel
18:16pressured to give a price on the spot. A
18:19lot of newbies think they have to know
18:21the price and give it to the person
18:23right on the spot, and sometimes
18:24prospective customers might even ask,
18:26"How much do you think this will run
18:27us?"
18:28Don't feel pressured to give them that.
18:30Say, "Oh, well, I won't know off top
18:32right now. What I'm going to do is I'm
18:33going to take this information, I'm
18:34going to package it up properly for you,
18:37and then I'll send over the proper
18:38proposal to you within uh as soon as I
18:40can, right?" Now, you almost did the
18:42mistake myself. Don't put a time on it.
18:44But, say, "I'll send it over to you as
18:45soon as I can."
18:47Another thing that you want to make sure
18:48you have is ongoing guidance. So,
18:51running a company is not easy.
18:53It is definitely hard to do, and it's
18:54hard to sustain once you actually get it
18:56started. So, you can set it up, but
18:58setting it up is is not the hard part.
18:59It's actually keep getting it running
19:01and actually maintaining it and even
19:03growing it. So, that's why you want
19:05ongoing guidance. You want to have a
19:06coach that you want to have some type of
19:08curriculum that you can follow, and you
19:10want to have some type of community
19:12where you can ask questions in, right?
19:14So again, that's what we offer here in
19:15Clean Biz Network. Once you become a
19:17member, you get the coach, which is me,
19:19you get the curriculum, which we have
19:20the Clean Biz Starter Course that comes
19:22with it, and then you also get a
19:23community, which is our network. It's a
19:26private community where you can ask
19:27questions to all of our members inside
19:29of our community.
19:32All right? Once you do the walk-through
19:34and you got everything good, you can
19:36come home,
19:38put in your numbers inside of our
19:39bidding calculator and calculate your
19:40price, right? And again, you may not
19:42join Clean Biz Network, but you need to
19:44have some type of bidding calculator. We
19:46do have a sister company as well called
19:48Calculated Clean. It's a little bit more
19:50affordable than Clean Biz Network
19:52membership, but it's only specifically
19:54just for calculating your price. So you
19:56can go to calculatedclean.app
19:58to check that out, but you definitely
19:59want to have some type of bidding
20:01calculator to use to come up with your
20:03price, all right? Then once you got your
20:05pricing, you put your proposal together
20:07and follow up. Okay? Literally follow
20:09up. You just send a proposal out to
20:11them. First thing I would do after I
20:13send a proposal out within a 24-hour
20:15span, I would call that point of contact
20:17that I just had a meeting with, and I
20:19would ask them,
20:20"Did you I want to make sure that you
20:22received the proposal? Are you able to
20:24open it?
20:25I'm here to show you that you I have any
20:27questions. If you have any, let me know,
20:29right?" But definitely make sure that
20:31they can actually view the proposal. A
20:32lot of times people lose the the
20:33business because they simply don't
20:35follow up. And a lot of times
20:38the prospective client didn't even get
20:40the proposal that you tried to send
20:41over, and you didn't follow up to even
20:44see if they received it, so therefore
20:45you lost out on business. When all you
20:47had to do was could give them a call and
20:48say, "Hey, check your spam." They pull
20:50it out of spam, approve the proposal,
20:53and you got a new contract. All right?
20:55For some more information about the
20:56follow-up, I just want you to know this.
20:57So like I said, reach out within 24
20:59hours to confirm they actually received
21:01it. Reassure them that you're here to
21:03answer any questions that they might
21:04have. Check in again. If you haven't
21:06heard from them again after about a
21:08week,
21:09show some concern about their pain
21:10points. Like really genuinely follow up
21:13on them and say, "Hey, I remember you
21:14mentioned, you know, you guys had those
21:15sticky floors. Just wanted to check back
21:17with you cuz I haven't heard from you
21:19since the last time we spoke, and I
21:20really want to make sure we get that
21:22fixed for you guys." Right? So, make
21:24sure you actually follow up. Ask or
21:26suggest when is the next time to
21:27reconnect. So, don't just leave the
21:30follow-up call with the "Oh, we'll let
21:32you know." Let's just get a win as well.
21:34Let's say, "Okay, well, when should we
21:36expect to hear from you? Or when is the
21:37safe time for me to call back to check
21:39back with you?" All right? And then
21:41repeat this process until you get a
21:42clear yes or no. Never assume that, "Oh,
21:46this deal is dead." Okay? Cuz I've seen
21:48deals close even 6 months after sending
21:50a proposal simply because you
21:52continuously follow up and you didn't
21:54just quit on the lead just because they
21:55didn't give you a clear yes immediately.
21:58Okay? So, make sure you don't assume.
22:00Just keep following up.
22:02All right. After that, by that time you
22:04definitely should have won the deal. So,
22:05congratulations on that. You got the
22:06deal signed. And now you got to onboard
22:09that new client. Okay? So, the way that
22:11will work is
22:12they will sign the agreement, you sign
22:14the agreement. Your agreement would
22:16typically be the last page of your
22:17proposal. So, when you send over the
22:19proposal, and if you have an all-in-one
22:22cleaning business software like we have
22:23at Cleaning Business Network, when
22:24you're a member of Cleaning Business
22:25Network, you can send your proposal
22:27right through the software. And on that
22:29last page is the service agreement. They
22:31can sign it digitally, then you will
22:33sign it, and then it's a ratified
22:35agreement. All right? Next, what you
22:37would do is you would choose a start
22:38date. So, they would say, "Okay, when do
22:40you want to start the cleaning
22:41services?" Then you're going to send
22:43them over your W-9. Over here it says
22:451099, but that is incorrect. It should
22:47say W-9. You want to send them a copy of
22:49your W-9 form, a copy of your proof of
22:51insurance, and then you should be ready
22:54to go. And then also schedule an
22:56onboarding walk-through with the client.
22:57Okay? So, remember you did the initial
22:59walk-through, which was a sales
23:00walk-through. Well, you also want to do
23:02an onboarding walkthrough. So the
23:04onboarding walkthrough is to make sure
23:05that you re-verify re-verify the
23:08cleanable space because things can
23:10change depending on how long of a span
23:11it was with since you closed that deal.
23:14You also want to get the keys and
23:15security alarm details. You want to
23:18locate your water source doing this uh
23:19new start walkthrough.
23:21Uh you also want to locate make sure you
23:23understand where the janitorial closet
23:24is, the dumpster location, consumable
23:27refill products. So when I say
23:29consumables, I'm talking about your
23:30paper towels, trash bags, hand soap,
23:34hand sanitizer, uh toilet paper. Those
23:37things are typically provided by
23:38customers in commercial cleaning. And so
23:40we just needed them let us know where we
23:42can find it those uh consumables so we
23:44can restock and refill those things when
23:46we come for the cleaning. Also, you want
23:48to get emergency uh contact from whoever
23:52their emergency contact person is in
23:54case you have an issue, you know, late
23:56night while you're in there cleaning.
23:58And then also finally, you can also
24:00introduce your cleaning to the POC at
24:02this particular time doing that uh
24:04onboarding walkthrough. All right?
24:07And then after that, you got a start
24:09date, you got everything you need.
24:11From here, you would get to work and
24:13begin your cleaning.
24:15So, if you need more help after this,
24:17make sure you go to cleanbiznetwork.app
24:20and join us in the clean biz network.
24:22Like I said, it'll come with a
24:23community, it comes with coaching, it
24:25comes with a starter course, and it also
24:27comes with our all-in-one software so
24:29you would have every single thing you
24:31need to be equipped to run your cleaning
24:33business efficiently. All right? And if
24:35you want to go a step further and you
24:37like, "Hey, I want to grow. I know for a
24:39fact I want to grow at least by 10 grand
24:41per month in recurrent commercial
24:42cleaning contracts." Join our 10 10
24:45program. Not only do you get everything
24:47you get in the clean biz network basic
24:49membership, but you also get a
24:50one-on-one coach to hold you accountable
24:52to make sure you're growing at a great
24:54pace so you can grow by 10 grand per
24:57month and recurring commercial cleaning
24:59contracts, okay? So, check out the 10 10
25:01program.com as well to get that
25:03one-on-one help versus the group help
25:05that we provide in the basic membership,
25:07all right? And then the final thing I
25:09also want to say, if you're watching
25:10this before October 2026, make sure you
25:14meet us at the Clean Biz Network
25:15Conference, the fifth annual CBN
25:17Conference 2026, October 8th and 9th uh
25:21in Jacksonville, Florida. To get more
25:23information on that or to get the
25:25tickets, just simply go to
25:26www.cbnconference.com. And that's all I
25:27got for y'all, man. I'm AJ Simmons. I'm
25:29founder of the Clean Biz Network.
25:33Hopefully this video was able to help
25:35you. Hopefully this free course, free
25:37training was able to help you. I try not
25:39to be too long-winded, but let's go get
25:41started, y'all. This is all of the steps
25:42you need to get to it, so let's do it. I
25:44will see you in Clean Biz Network or
25:47I'll see you down in the comments when
25:48you drop that comment and let us know,
25:50"Hey, I got started thanks to this
25:52video. You helped me a lot, AJ. I'm
25:54doing X amount of money, right?" So, let
25:56us know your updates in the in the chat
25:58or inside of the Clean Biz Network
26:00community and I will see y'all there.
26:01Again, I'm AJ Simmons. I'm founder of
26:03the Clean Biz Network, known as the
26:05cleaning business goat, and I will talk
26:07to y'all soon. Thank y'all.

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