If you love cleaning and keeping things spic n' span, an excellent home business you can start is a janitorial service business. While maid services typically clean households, janitorial services clean commercial buildings such as businesses, hospitals, schools, retail stores, warehouses, manufacturing facilities and even parking lots. Your "normal business hours" will begin when the staff and workers in the commercial facility that you will be cleaning have finished their work and gone home. 

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Many commercial cleaning companies, as their business grow, expand their janitorial cleaning services to other areas such as drapery, carpet and window cleaning, lighting, green plants maintenance, heating/ventilation/air conditioning, security, landscaping, parking lot striping, pest control services, etc.

A janitorial business lacks glamour and may seem "mundane", but it has proven to be a lucrative business for those who start the business with strong attitude and willingness to work hard.

This business has shown remarkable growth in the last few years. It has benefited from corporate downsizing and increased reliance of businesses to outsource cleaning services. Contracting private firms to perform this service has also become the best option for many businesses given the high turnover rate of employees in this business. After all, it may not be easy to find a person who thinks that pushing a broom for the rest of his or her life is the best career of all.

According to the Building Service Contractors Association International (BSCAI) http://www.bscai.org, the business of cleaning and maintaining America's office buildings, retail, commercial, industrial, educational, and healthcare facilities is huge business, and is estimated at $94.5 billion in 2003. Using data from Marketdata Enterprises, it is estimated that the cleaning industry will be worth approximately $128 billion by 2008 with an average annual growth rate of 7%.

BSCAI provides below other characteristics of this growing industry:

• No companies truly dominate the industry. Rather, it is populated by more than 56,000 cleaning contractors, mostly small "mom and pop" operations. This figure includes roughly 16,800 commercial cleaning franchises and 2,100 residential cleaning franchises.
   
• In 2002, non-employer establishments – small sole proprietorships without payroll or employees – according the US Census Bureau and the IRS, number approximately 427,553 and represent receipts of over $5.9 billion.

• This is a "low tech" business characterized by ease of entry. Competition is intense, holding down contract prices and, ultimately, profitability. However, the industry receipts have grown 6-11 percent annually since 1994. Cleaning worker wages are low, contributing to high turnover.

According to the book "101 Best Businesses to Start", first year potential earnings for this business can be $40,000. Breakeven time in the business can be rapid, and you may be able to achieve profitability within three to six months of operations.

Your start-up costs can be as low as $5,000, or even less. It is even possible to start on a part-time basis working from home with just a vehicle and a minimal amount of equipment, assuming that you will do all the cleaning and marketing yourself.

Starting as a home business offers the advantage of allowing you to keep your expenses low until you have established some accounts and attracted a customer base. It allows you to offer lower prices as part of your initial business strategy. Working at home can also allow you to work flexible hours primarily on a part time basis or increase your hours of operation.

If operating from home is not an option, choose a location that that allows your customers to easily visit you. Rent or lease a space with adequate parking space and with enough space to allow you to efficiently and safely store your equipment and supplies. Your office need not be extravagant or lavishly furnished; the main consideration should be to have a space that will allow you to operate your business cost-effectively. You may also want to think about the potential of your office space to accommodate a growing business.

If you plan to start small, the Canada/Manitoba Business Service Centre recommends that you consider the following factors:

• Start small and keep things as simple as possible. 
• Know your limits (what services you want to offer), and how you will go about getting and keeping accounts. 
• Understand the requirements and capital necessary to succeed in the industry, and be prepared to expand your business with more expensive equipment as the need arises. 
• You must have working capital to give yourself a realistic chance at surviving in this industry.