Cleaning Industry Niche Markets

The cleaning industry has many different niches or market segments. When you start your business you first have to decide which of these cleaning business niche markets you would like to target. Focusing on one specific niche and specializing in that market segment only is a common approach although it is easy enough to cater to more than one niche.

You should at least decide if you want to specialize in residential cleaning work or commercial cleaning, as these two markets are quite different.

Let's take a look at some of the niches within the cleaning business to give you some ideas about the variety of work that is possible in this industry.

Residential Homes

The big market is for maid service or the cleaning of residential homes. This is a large chunk of the overall cleaning market and many players focus their activities entirely in this area.

It is an easy section of the market to enter and agreements with customers are usually less formal and easier to obtain than those in the commercial sector.

Commercial

The commercial market is also huge. Janitorial services clean all kinds of businesses and public buildings such as offices, schools, restaurants and hospitals. Commercial cleaning jobs are usually much larger in scale compared with residential. It can take a coordinated team effort to clean such large spaces within a cost efficient time frame.

Carpet and Upholstery

Carpet and upholstery cleaning is another large and potentially profitable niche market. As this area requires the right equipment and knowledge, regular cleaning businesses usually leave this area to specific companies who specialize in this area.

Customers usually only require these services occasionally so carpet and upholstery cleaners usually target a wider market and charge a healthy premium for their services. Carpet and upholstery cleaners also usually offer other specialized services that regular cleaners are not capable of providing.

Other Niches

That covers the big three but there are an endless variety of smaller niches that you can also go after. Some areas that cleaners target include pressure washing, building exteriors and windows, post construction cleaning of new buildings or even crime scene service.

One of the keys to success with your startup is to clearly define the market segments that you want to be in. Except perhaps in the largest cities, success in cleaning ultimately requires taking on a big niche and then also specializing in one or two smaller niches.