Avoid the hidden costs of DIY cleaning
As we’ve discussed here before, there are many excellent reasons for contracting cleaning and janitorial services to an outside company. The ability to save money with professional cleaning services is a big reason. Also, placing the burden for keeping a facility clean and sanitized on your staff can lead to inconsistent results and reduce employee productivity.
As the full impact of the pandemic became apparent throughout 2020, demand grew for reliable, effective professional cleaning services. The reason is obvious – we’ve all recognized that keeping workspaces as clean and safe as possible is critical for reducing the spread of the virus, making customers feel safe and valued and improving employee morale.
But we also know that investing in a professional cleaning service is a big decision. Your budget may be somewhat limited as the pandemic continues to disrupt normal business operations. We always want our customers to know for sure that their investment in Cleansolution’s services is money well spent.
Make sure that your cleaning budget is counting the true cost
Many companies attempt to cut costs by enlisting existing employees to do extra cleaning duties or by hiring additional employees in janitorial roles. But they often underestimate the hidden costs of these strategies – especially during pandemic conditions, when thorough and careful cleaning and disinfection is critically important.
Here are 3 ways that these hidden costs can sneak up on you and what you can do to avoid them. In other words, how to save money with professional cleaning services.
Problem #1: Hiring staff adds long-term expenses to your budget
Let’s say you get to the place where your business is growing and your existing employees are too busy with customer needs to keep up with cleaning your facility. It makes sense to hire more people, right? Make sure you do the math! Here are some major costs that may get overlooked:
- Employee benefits: healthcare, paid sick leave, paid holidays, vacation etc.
- Additional insurance costs
- Safety and equipment certifications
And then consider this: maybe you can afford to hire one person, who could do some of the necessary cleaning jobs. But could they cover everything? Even the highly-specialized tasks? Maybe they’ll need help or maybe you’ll have to hire yet another employee with the necessary qualifications or experience. With every new hire, your cost goes up.
Solution: a professional cleaning company, with fully trained and certified employees who can cover all your needs and provide their own safety training, insurance, benefits for their staff, etc. You maintain one contract with one company and they take care of the rest.
Problem #2: Purchasing & maintaining equipment is expensive
This is another area where it’s easy to underestimate actual costs. The type of equipment you need to effectively clean a commercial space is different than your average vacuum and mop. Not only are these items expensive to purchase upfront, but they also require regular maintenance to work properly. Here’s just a short list of what you might need to buy:
- Carpet cleaners
- Commercial vacuums
- Floor buffers
- Floor scrubbers
- Mops, buckets and wringers
- High-access tools and ladders
- Protective clothing (gloves, masks, goggles etc.)
And we haven’t even talked about the cost of cleaning chemicals and solutions! PLUS, you also have to create a dedicated space in your facility to safely store all of these items AND you’ll need to be responsible for making sure every employee who uses them is properly trained on safety regulations.
Solution: partner with a company that brings their own equipment and trained staff to every job. An integrated commercial cleaning company can cover all of your facility’s needs, eliminating the need to purchase, maintain and store expensive equipment. It’s a major way you save money with professional cleaning services.
Cleansolution goes the extra mile for our clients and offers electrostatic spraying, which disinfects surfaces much more effectively than standard methods do.
Problem #3: Paying retail prices for chemicals & supplies
This is where Economics 101 comes in: a janitorial service which can purchase these items in bulk quantities will pay far less money than an individual company purchasing these products at retail prices. And your shopping list is probably longer than you think! Beyond the basic cleaning solutions, hand soap, hand sanitizer, paper towels, toilet paper etc., there are many common products to consider. For example:
- Light bulbs
- Vacuum bags
- HVAC filters
- Odor control products
- Snow and ice removal supplies
- Replacement parts/maintenance for cleaning equipment
Without the power of a professional cleaning company purchasing these products for you in bulk, you’ll be paying for them at retail prices over and over again, quickly bumping up your costs.
Solution: a quality, full-service janitorial company will provide all these items and many more at greatly reduced prices. You’ll be saving both your money and the headache of constantly needing to inventory and restock supplies – especially as the pandemic has made some critical cleaning supplies difficult to find.
Curious to know what your true cleaning costs are?
We developed a simple PDF worksheet to help you evaluate your actual monthly and annual cleaning expenses. You might be surprised to see how much you can save by contracting with a professional cleaning company! Download your worksheet to get started!
Cleansolution has plans that work for your business & budget
It’s never been more important to get cleaning right. Working with a professional janitorial company saves your business time, labor and money. Schedule your consultation with us today and ask about our safe, virtual site visit option!