Cleaning Companies For Sale
Axis Partnership are business transfer agents with a range of cleaning companies for sale in Suffolk, Essex, London, East Anglia, South East, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Home Counties, England, South West, North West, South East, Midlands and West Midlands.
Click here to view our current selection of Cleaning Companies For Sale
About Cleaning Businesses
Cleaning companies for sale come in two main varieties: domestic and commercial.
Domestic cleaning companies are involved in the cleaning of individuals’ homes, typically on a weekly, bi-weekly or fortnightly basis, or as a one-off clean. From a business point of view, domestic cleaning is the riskiest option with uncertain income streams. There are usually no contracts in place and the client base can be unreliable (cancelling cleans at short notice) or can be easily lost (people moving, decrease in peoples free cash resulting in them no longer having spare cash to pay for cleaning). In short, paying for a domestic cleaner is seen as a luxury and will be one of the first things to be cut from a household budget when things get tough.
Domestic cleaning companies can protect themselves from this risk in a number of ways. The first is volume, so that a certain level of client churn does not affect overall revenues. They can also diversify into semi-domestic cleaning such as performing end-of-let cleans for landlords, or even getting a contract with a lettings company to perform cleaning on their whole portfolio, especially for fully managed lets. Another route is to target wealthier households or areas which will be less prone to fluctuations in household incomes.
A big issue for clients of domestic cleaning companies is reliability and trust, since it involves someone coming into their private home. Companies which can successfully address the trust issue and build up a good reputation with clients can often pick up business from wealthier households and may also be able to charge a little more.
Commercial cleaning companies are involved in carrying out cleaning for businesses and organisations of all kinds including retailers, solicitors and council buildings. They are especially needed in businesses with any customer accessible premises which are used regularly by public or clients and where appearance is key. Commercial cleaning can also include specialist cleaning such as window cleaning, builders cleans, deep cleans (cleaning kitchens etc) or one off post-event cleans such as music festivals. Commercial cleaning companies also offer clients janitorial products such as paper towels, hand detergent and so on.
Commercial cleaning is usually carried out on a contract basis for a minimum period of time. By contrast with domestic cleaning, paying for commercial cleaning is seen as a necessity by businesses and is far less likely to be cut as long as the business is trading. That, and the fact that businesses have a higher ongoing need for the cleaning, means that commercial cleaning revenues tend to be more stable.
Buying a Cleaning Company
Cleaning companies can be set up by just about anyone, as they are relatively easy to run and supervise, requiring no special skills or qualifications. The main skill involved is recruiting and organising cleaners to carry out cleans to customer requirements, and marketing the business to increase the number of clients. However, buyers of cleaning companies for sale will usually be professional businesses looking to expand.
Cleaning companies are valued on a ‘pence in the pound’ basis – i.e. a percentage of turnover. Typically the contracts currently held by the cleaning company are sold and transferred to the new owner. Having contracts in place on a long term basis will therefore increase the value of the business, and buyers will want to look at the number of size of contracts in place and how long they have left to run (where applicable).
How Axis Partnership Can Help You Buy a Cleaning Company
We can help you find a cleaning company to suit your requirements in one of two ways.
The first involves simply registering with us and letting us know the type of business you are interested in acquiring. Cleaning companies form one of our largest sectors and we have new companies coming up for sale on a regular basis. When a company comes onto the market which matches your requirements we will let you know immediately.
However, we can also proactively search for and target companies on your behalf. This is especially popular with larger operating companies who want to seek out suitable acquisitions rather than hope and wait for something suitable to come up. In this case, the buyer retains us to research candidate companies and approach them, to see if they are interested in selling. If so, Axis arranges introductions and helps with negotiations to secure a deal.
To find out more about how Axis can help you find your next cleaning company acquisition or to sell your cleaning business, please contact us or register your requirements.