If you want to own your own business, take control of your life, and change the way you work, look no further! There are tons of cleaning franchise opportunities that offer would-be franchisees the chance to start their own business. Cleaning franchises offer owners flexibility and freedom not found in many corporate jobs. Imagine, you’ll never have to go into the office again! And, remember, most franchisees who own a cleaning business don’t do the cleaning. They just manage the business. Worried about the cost? A cleaning business is one of the least expensive to fund, in part, due to the low overhead required to get started. Whether you’re just starting out in the industry or you’ve worked in the cleaning services space for some time, purchasing a cleaning franchise might be your next best step.
Why a Low-Cost Cleaning Franchise?
Owning and operating a residential or commercial cleaning franchise has many advantages, like higher-income potential, lower startup costs, and greater flexibility. Many cleaning franchises offer a home-based business model—and many don’t even require you to do the cleaning! When you align yourself with one of these major cleaning franchise brands, you are working with an established franchisor which can help you to acquire clients quickly.
Low-Cost Cleaning Franchise Opportunity
Why start your business under a mountain of debt? When starting a cleaning franchise, you don’t have to. Some cleaning franchises cost less than $5,000 to start! Buildingstars and Stratus Building Solutions both have startup fees under $5k. With low overhead, you won’t have to worry about putting your profits anywhere but your business and your pocket.
Flexible Schedule
Flexible hours, job security, and the potential to make a lucrative salary — what’s not to love? When you buy a cleaning franchise, you can determine how often you want to work, be it part-time or full-time. For instance, when you’re first starting out, you may want to use your cleaning franchise as supplemental income until you have acquired enough customers to transition to full-time. Or, your part-time cleaning business can stay just that, part-time, with no need to expand.
Home-Based Cleaning Franchises
Many cleaning franchises offer franchisees the chance to work from a home office without the need to rent an office space or build their own. Since you will be providing a service in a client’s home or office, there is typically no need for a storefront. Some cleaning companies do not even require you to use a company vehicle. Two Maids and a Mop, for example, allows you to use your own vehicle or have your employees use their own with mileage reimbursement.
Recession-Resistant Franchise Opportunities
While residential cleaning services may be an expendable cost that consumers may cut during hard economic times, businesses such as hospitals and schools see cleaning as a necessity, not a luxury. Plus, many homeowners today consider clearing out unnecessary junk and giving their homes a deep clean for health and well-being a need-to-have, not just a nice-to-have service. As such, your cleaning franchise services will always be in demand, and you can’t go wrong with these recognized brands.
Get Your Hands Dirty—Or Not!
Some cleaning franchise opportunities don’t require hands-on cleaning. Don’t like cleaning up people’s personal spaces? Maybe residential cleaning isn’t for you. Enjoy light amounts of cleaning, like organizing desks? Office maintenance might be the right fit.
Cleaning franchises often offer different types of services, ranging from residential cleaning to post-construction cleanup. For example, ImageOne Facility Solutions sells window washing, carpet cleaning, post-move cleaning, and even daily janitorial services. Others, such as Executive Image Building Services, offer extra services like landscaping, lawn maintenance, and even snow removal on top of their regular cleaning services.
There are also specialized cleaning services, like Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, that focus solely on carpet cleaning. When considering cleaning franchises, there are a lot of options to consider! And the nice part is, that with so many options, you should be able to find a cleaning franchise that aligns with your interests and business goals.
Transitioning to Business Ownership
If you currently have a cleaning business or work independently as a cleaner, you may be able to transition your independent business to a franchise. You would keep your own clients plus gain additional customers through your new brand. Bill and Crystal Staggs, Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Solutions franchisees, converted their cleaning business, Clean Keepers, to a franchise. They were able to shift existing cash flow to account for the incoming expense of becoming franchise owners while still keeping their current clients.
Don’t have much cleaning experience beyond your home but still want to enter the industry? Not a problem. Franchises offer full support and training when you become a franchisee. This training can include everything from understanding cleaning standards to marketing to accounting and more. Many companies also host yearly conferences where franchisees can come together to learn new skills and talk with one another about their businesses.
Even if you start your cleaning franchise without employees, you’re not doing it alone. Buying a franchise instead of starting your own business from scratch means you’ll have access to a network of other franchise owners who are facing similar challenges and opportunities. Starting your own business can be intimidating, and there’s a lot to think about, but with franchising, you don’t have to do it alone!
Top Low-Cost Cleaning Franchise Opportunities
The cleaning franchises listed below have a wide range of franchise startup costs and serve residential and/or commercial clients. A low-cost franchise has a minimum cash required of $100,000 or less. While that may seem like a lot of money, financing options can often help you get started for far below the “sticker price.” One of the greatest benefits of buying a low-cost cleaning franchise is the ability to self-fund the costs. The initial investment for half of the franchises on our list is roughly equal to the cost of a car! However, because each brand will offer different levels of support and benefits, as well as different levels of brand awareness, the startup costs for each franchise will vary.
1. 360clean
360clean offers health-focused office cleaning services for businesses throughout the United States. They use the Jani Med cleaning system, which consists of specialized training, hospital-grade disinfectants, state-of-the-art equipment including micro-fiber technology, Hepa Vacuums with four levels of filtration, and a focus on touch surfaces. As an FBR award-winning brand with low initial investment, 360clean is an attractive franchise opportunity.
Min. Cash Required: $15,000
Franchisee Satisfaction Data:
- 100% of franchisees would recommend their franchise to others, +21% higher than the industry average.
- 98% of franchisees rated Effective Use of Technology as “above average.” That’s 40% higher than the industry average.
- 92% of franchisees “strongly agree” or “agree” to the franchisor caring about their success.
Learn more about the 360clean franchise opportunity
2. Stratus Building Solutions
Stratus Building Solutions is a rapidly-growing, full-service, commercial cleaning franchise system with 70 regional master offices and over 3,200 unit franchisees. In addition to janitorial services, the business offers power washing, construction cleanup, window cleaning, carpet cleaning, and hard-floor care. They also offer “green” janitorial services in which they use non-toxic, biodegradable, and non-carcinogenic cleaning chemicals.
Now offering a Master Franchisor Program, this commercial cleaning franchise empowers franchise owners with exclusive rights to obtain commercial cleaning contracts and grow their system with Unit Franchisees. Here’s how it works: As you obtain cleaning contracts, you assign them to your Unit Franchisees—who complete the actual cleaning. This unique Master Franchisor opportunity is tailored specifically for individuals seeking a highly-profitable investment within the commercial cleaning industry.
Min. Cash Required: $100,000
Franchisee Satisfaction Data:
- 93% of franchisees agree their fellow franchisees are supportive of each other.
- 85% of franchisees agree they enjoy operating their business.
- 86% of franchisees are supportive of the brand.
Learn more about the Stratus Building Solutions franchise opportunity
3. The Glass Guru
The Glass Guru offers a diverse array of products and services and squarely positions the company in both home maintenance/repair and home improvement categories. This ensures that franchise owners have a solid foundation of meaningful business opportunities over time, regardless of external economic conditions. The typical customer base has few limitations—every Glass Guru franchise owner can find success serving both residential and commercial businesses.
Min. Cash Required: $25,000
Franchisee Satisfaction Data:
- 95% of franchisees are likely to recommend the franchise to others.
- 91% of franchisees feel the franchisor cares about their success.
- 86% of franchisees enjoy operating their business.
Learn more about The Glass Guru franchise opportunity
4. Image One Facility Solutions
Image One Facility Solutions is a commercial cleaning franchise that uses its Intelliclean™ system to communicate seamlessly with clients. They also use environmentally friendly products and offer a 20% discount on the franchise fee for veterans. The franchise is a home-based model, where your employees service clients at their facility. As the franchise owner, you are responsible for sales and operations and managing your own cleaning crews.
Min. Cash Required: $50,000
Franchisee Satisfaction Data
- 100% of franchisees would recommend the franchise to others.
- 96% of franchisees enjoy operating their business.
- 89% of franchisees agree the franchisor cares about their success, scoring 15% higher than our overall industry benchmark.
Learn more about the Image One franchise opportunity
5. Puroclean
Puroclean is a little different from many brands on this list because they don’t offer janitorial services. Instead, they provide help in times of emergency, offering service for water damage, fire and smoke damage, mold removal, biohazard cleanup, and reconstruction. Benefits of this cleaning franchise include low investment cost and high margins, national name recognition and brand loyalty, the flexibility of a home-based business or an executive office business model, and an unrestricted market reach—enabling unlimited growth.
Min. Cash Required: $59,000
Franchisee Satisfaction Data:
- 91% of franchisees are likely to recommend PuroClean to others.
- 87% of franchisees “strongly agree” or “agree” to fellow owners being supportive of each other.
- 85% of franchisees “strongly agree” or “agree” when asked if they enjoy being part of the organization.
Learn more about the Puroclean franchise opportunity.
6. The Maids
The Maids is a professional house cleaning service that provides a 22-Step Healthy Touch Cleaning Process plus a wide variety of housekeeping services, including carpet cleaning and window cleaning. If you don’t know much about running a cleaning business, that’s not a problem. The Maids provides a comprehensive training, support, and technology package. Their extensive training includes 4-6 weeks of pre-training, 6 days of classroom and field training, and 4 days in the franchisee’s market conducting The Maids Power Training.
Min. Cash Required: $50,000
Franchisee Satisfaction Data:
- 87% of the system agree the franchisees are supportive of each other.
- 88% of franchisees enjoy being part of The Maids.
- 88% of franchisees “strongly agree” or “agree” to respecting the franchisor.
Learn more about the Pinch A Penny franchise opportunity
7. Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services
Office Pride has been offering janitorial services for over 25 years and boasts one of the highest retention rates among its competitors. They are a faith-based franchise that believes its values are what make them different.
Min. Cash Required: $ 100,000
Learn more about the Office Pride franchise opportunity
8. MaidPro
MaidPro is a residential house cleaning business that uses eco-friendly services and a personal approach to please clients. They offer franchisees flexibility, work-life balance, and a recurring revenue model. They offer three different investment levels to fit your budget, up to $100,000 in low-interest loans for qualified applicants and a veteran discount.
Min. Cash Required: $50,000
Learn more about the MaidPro cleaning franchise opportunity.
9. College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving
College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk & Moving is the only full-service residential and commercial service company that offers moving, junk removal, donation pickups, and labor services in the United States as well as Canada. If cleaning isn’t necessarily your thing, this much-needed service is a great way to solve junk removal and moving challenges for those in need. This franchise also partners with several charitable programs such as Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity. HUNKS stands for Honest, Uniformed, Nice, Knowledgeable, and Service. This values-based, purpose-driven, socially conscious, tech-enabled franchise utilizes a smart business model to drive growth, giving franchisees the opportunity to be an executive in their own business.
Min. Cash Required: $80,000
Learn more about the College Hunks Hauling Junk franchise opportunity
10. Molly Maid
A Molly Maid® business is a scalable, executive business model brand that is backed by Neighborly®, one of the world’s largest families of service-based franchises. As a Neighborly® company, Molly Maid® franchisees benefit from a network of over 2.5M+ customers and 3,500 franchises worldwide, with 14 home service brands, allowing for referral and multi-brand marketing expertise.
Min. Cash Required: $65,000
Learn more about the Molly Maid franchise opportunity
Ready to Start a Cleaning Franchise Business?
With cleaning franchise costs so low, you may be able to purchase your cleaning franchise using personal savings, a loan from family or friends, credit cards, or a combination of the three.
If you are interested in exploring franchise ownership, the next step is to figure out which cleaning franchise brand is right for you. Or, maybe after reading this, you’ve decided against a cleaning franchise. Luckily, there are thousands of other franchise opportunities across nearly every industry. Whatever your decision, you can use our Top 200 Franchise List to narrow down all your franchise options and make a decision that is best for you!
