Before you start your janitorial business, you really need to sit back and figure out exactly what kind of business you want to have. Afterall, how will potential customers and clients be able to get a feel for your company and understand your vision if you yourself don’t understand it? I have made a list of 6 questions that you should be asking yourself when starting your business to help move you in the right direction and begin the process of creating your company. 

#1: Are You Running a Business for Ego or for Lifestyle?

I believe that all business owners fall into one of two categories; they either have started a business for ego or for lifestyle. 

A lifestyle business is a business that you start so you can live comfortably; you want to have the freedom of being your own boss while still having time to spend with your loved ones. Lifestyle businesses often remain stagnant for years because they do not feel the need to constantly be making large strides to be bigger and better; they are happy with where they are and that is that. 

An ego business is a business that you have started because you want to get as big and as successful as possible; you want to rise above everyone who ever doubted you and prove that you can be everything you have always wanted to be. 

There is nothing wrong with either and they both have their pros and cons; personally, I wanted to be able to start something from scratch that was entirely mine, and grow it into what it is today. I wanted to learn everything I possibly could about the janitorial industry so that I could be the biggest and best in the business, and be able to offer that same opportunity to smaller janitorial businesses. 

It is important to know which category you fall into, because your business layout and mindset towards your business will determine everything! It will determine what kind of leads you go after, what your minimum targets are, how you present yourself, everything! 

#2: Are You Going To Be Cleaning, Managing, or Selling?

What do you want your job role to be? Do you want to be a hands-on owner who is doing the cleaning? Do you want to be a manager? Do you want to work in sales? Or do you want to be completely hands-off and just be an owner who hires others to run the day to day business while you take care of the big picture matters? If you are starting a lifestyle business, you are probably going to be cleaning. Whereas if you want an ego business, you are probably going to be managing and cleaning at the beginning and selling eventually as well. But, the quicker that you can define your role to one thing and hire other people to help you out, the better your business will be in the long run because you will not be spreading yourself too thin and you will be able to focus on the aspect of your business that you are best at. 

Additionally, you have to think about whether or not you are going to keep your full time job at the beginning while you start up your business. I would highly recommend that you do keep your full time job in the beginning so that you still have a stable income in case things go south, and once you start seeing revenue from your business then you can reconsider. 

#3: How Much Money Do You Have and How Much Time Do You Have To Live? 

Before I started my business, I was tens of thousands of dollars in debt living in my mom's basement with my wife and child. I lived there for a little over a year while I was trying to get things moving. 

So, you need to determine how much time you will need to keep pushing along before you start getting success. How much money do you have saved and how much time do you have before you run out of it? If you want to commit to starting your business then you will need to make these kinds of plans in advance, otherwise you may just be setting yourself up for failure. 

#4: Why Do You Want To Do This?

You need to make sure that the reason you are starting your own business is a big enough reason. Is this so that you can provide for your family? Is this so that you can work for yourself? Is this so that you can give people a unique, mutually beneficial service? You need to have a defined intent for your business so that you can continue to stay true to it. 

#5: What Skills Do You Need To Learn? 

At some point in time, you are going to need to develop a specific set of skills. Sometimes it's accounting or it could be marketing and promotion. You have to learn how to get out there and generate leads so that your business can grow. And then at some point in time, you will also need to learn how to manage and lead people. You will have to learn how to build out departments, processes and workflows. You will need to determine what skills you need right now and what skills you are going to need in the future to get there. 

#6: What If You Run Out of Money?

Let’s say that you give yourself six months to start seeing revenue from your business; what if that six months comes around and you still have nothing? What are you going to do? What is your backup plan? These are things you need to think about now so that you are not stressed and scrambling when that six month mark does come around. 

In Conclusion…

The most important thing is to be honest with yourself and be able to ask yourself these questions. You also need to consider if you want a small business or a big business. If you want a big business, what are you willing to give up to get there? The world tends to punish people who want “just enough”. You need to constantly be reaching for bigger and better every step of the way. So take the time to consider all of this so that you are not paying the price later.