The Cleaning & Janitorial Fix Kit

Built for cleaning and janitorial business owners, commercial and house cleaning companies.

The owners making real money in this trade aren't necessarily working harder — they're in the higher-margin segment, residential recurring work, rather than thin-margin commercial janitorial. This kit finds where the money leaks in your own work and gives you the steps and the words to close each one.

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The 13 leaks it covers

9 you can close it · 2 the other side owes it · 2 a pro decides

• Comparing own margin to the wrong industry averageWhere to look first: Work out your own net margin: last year's revenue minus all costs (labor, supplies, vehicle, insurance, software, a fair owner wage), divided by revenue (Worked out from your own books.)Keep it from coming back: Look at margin by type of work every quarter.
  You can close it
• Residential per-visit rate never checked against your own costWhere to look first: For your last ten visits, write the price, the hours on site, travel time, and supplies used.Keep it from coming back: Price each new home from your floor and its time, not a flat number. Review prices every year.
  You can close it
• Crew pay never checked against the published janitor wageWhere to look first: List each crew member's hourly rate. Look up the BLS wage for janitors and building cleaners for your state or metro area (bls.gov/oes), not just the national number.Keep it from coming back: Check crew pay against local wage data and minimum wage every January and before every bid.
  You can close it
• Jobs priced off the cleaner's wage, not the fully-loaded labor hourWhere to look first: Take one pay period. Add up wages, the employer's payroll taxes, workers' comp, unemployment insurance, and any benefits you pay.Keep it from coming back: Update the loaded hour every time a wage, tax rate or insurance premium changes. No bid goes out on base wage.
  You can close it
• Not knowing real margin by segment (residential vs. commercial)Where to look first: Split last year's revenue and costs into residential and commercial. Give each its share of crew hours, supplies, travel and overhead.Keep it from coming back: Tag every invoice and expense by segment from the day it's entered.
  You can close it
• Workloading (sq ft per cleaner-hour) not tracked per contractWhere to look first: For each commercial account, get the cleanable square feet and the crew hours it actually takes per visit from your timesheets.Keep it from coming back: Measure production rate on every new site in the first month. Bid from your own measured rates.
  You can close it
• Labor creeping up as a share of revenue without a price increaseWhere to look first: Take last month's revenue and last month's full labor cost (wages plus payroll taxes and workers' comp). Divide labor by revenue. That's your labor share (worked out).Keep it from coming back: Check labor share per account every month. Reprice before renewal, not after.
  You can close it
• Owner doesn't know real take-homeWhere to look first: Add up everything the business paid you last year: draws, payroll to yourself, and personal bills the business paid.Keep it from coming back: Pay yourself on a schedule and look at the number every quarter.
  You can close it
• Crew classification under three separate tests — and California janitorial registrationWhere to look first: For each crew member paid on a 1099, write down: who sets the schedule and route, who supplies equipment, whether they work for others, how long they've worked for you, and whether the work is your core business.Keep it from coming back: Decide each new hire's status with your advisor before the first shift. In California, calendar the registration renewal date a month early.
  You can close it
• Solo cleaner for one household may be its employee — paying both halves of payroll taxWhere to look first: Answer honestly for each household you clean: Do they set your hours? Tell you how to do the work? Supply the products and tools? Do you work for anyone else?Keep it from coming back: Before taking a single-household job, agree in writing whether you're working as a business or as their employee.
  The other side owes it
• Franchise fees (royalty, ad fund, other) never totaled against revenueWhere to look first: Pull your franchise agreement and your Franchise Disclosure Document. Find the fee table: royalty, marketing or ad fund, technology, and any other fees.Keep it from coming back: Total franchise fees every month next to revenue. Before buying more territory or signing a renewal, have your own advisor read the agreement.
  The other side owes it
• Cleaning business income arrives with no tax set asideWhere to look first: Open a separate savings account just for tax.Keep it from coming back: Move the set-aside the day each client pays. Calendar all four dates in January.
  A pro decides
• Owner with a crew under-counts payroll tax: employer share plus SE tax on own profitWhere to look first: Know that two different payroll taxes run at once: the employer's share of Social Security and Medicare on each W-2 crew member's wages, and self-employment tax on your own profit.Keep it from coming back: Price every job off the loaded crew hour. Move your own set-aside each time a client pays.
  A pro decides

Free: one full leak from this kit

No sign-up, no email. Here is leak 1 of 13 exactly as it appears in the kit, so you can see what you get before you buy.

NOTE TO YOUR BOOKKEEPER OR ACCOUNTANT:
Hi [NAME],

Could you prepare a profit and loss for [BUSINESS NAME] for [YEAR], split by [residential / commercial / each major account] if possible, with my own pay shown as a separate line? I want to see my real margin by type of work.

Thanks,
[YOUR NAME]

That's 1 of 13. The other 12 come the same way in the kit: steps, words to send, a habit to keep each one closed.

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What people in this work look up

When cleaning and janitorial business owners go looking for answers, they search things like “janitorial bidding”, “commercial cleaning pricing”, “cleaning contract template” and “janitorial bid”. Those searches turn up forms, averages and other people's numbers. This kit starts from your own records instead: the 13 places money leaks in this work, where to look first and the words to send to close each one.

What you get for each leak

• Numbered steps to close each leak
• Your part, spelled out
• Words you can use: letters and scripts, ready to send (fill in the brackets)
• A habit that keeps each leak from coming back
• An honest line on what the kit can't decide for you

A page from the kit

Questions people ask

What it can't decide for you

This kit works from your own records. It doesn't give legal, tax, licensing or financial advice, and it never tells you what to charge. Where a CPA, attorney, insurer or state board makes the call, the kit says so and gets your records ready for them.

17-page PDF · instant download after payment · Code VYR-KIT-SPRUCE-01

Opens secure checkout. Instant download after payment. 30 days to ask for a refund — refund policy · terms

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