Moonlighting as a house cleaner.
What do you need to know?
Wow, that's a great question, and we're going to talk about that today.
Hi there, I'm Angela Brown and this is Ask a House Cleaner.
This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find
an answer, even if it's an unpopular answer, which today is going to be.
All right, today's show is brought to us by HouseCleaning360.com and if you have broken
pipes or if you have something that needs to be replaced like your garbage disposal
or maybe your toilet got clogged up and you need to call a plumber, you can find a plumber
on HouseCleaning360.com
Now, if you are a plumber and you have not listed your business, race over there right
now and list your business because there are a bunch of houses that get clogged up every
day and you guys are awful busy, but you're still looking for customers, so this is another
way for you to partner with home owners that are in our network.
HouseCleaning360.com for a plumber near you.
All right, onto today's question, which is from a house cleaner who is moonlighting on the side.
Here's what she has to say.
Hannah: Hi Angela.
My name is Hannah.
I really enjoy your blog and your podcast.
Just finished reading your free Kindle book on how to start a cleaning business, and I
currently work for a cleaning company and I'm wanting to make some extra cash, so that
is why I started reading your book.
My question is, in your book, you pointed out the importance of being insured and bonded.
My question is, do I need a business license, because I don't want to start running ads
or fliers like you talk about and then not have the legal coverage that I need to and
get faced with a bunch of fines.
I'm all new to this and I'm doing research, but things are just kind of overwhelming and
confusing at times, so I was wondering if you had some clarification on that.
Thanks for your help.
Angela: All right.
The term moonlighting is where you are working for a company and you do something on the side.
It's a really sticky situation where you're working as a house cleaner and then you have
house cleaning clients on the side, and probably somewhere along the way, I'm guessing you
signed a non-compete.
Here's what I have to say to you right upfront before you do anything.
You asked about fees and getting fined and what have you.
The very first thing that you want to do is go out of the area that you're being paid
to clean in.
If you clean in this particular zip code, go to a different zip code to start your house
cleaning business on the side, because we do not want to compete with the current job
that you have right now.
Please, I'm telling you this from Angela Brown, so Angela Brown told me, do not sell my services
to any existing customers that currently employ me, okay?
If your company sends you to clean houses, do not go to any of those clients.
If they beg you and they say, "Please come to us," you know what?
That would be unethical of me.
I'm not able to go to any current existing clients because that just would not be ethical,
and remember that I said that, because that in and of itself will keep you out of a lot
of hot water and it will keep you from being fined or sued or whatever, and you don't want
bad will with your current employer.
Your current employer believes in you, and therefore, they have hired you and they are
hoping that you will succeed in their business.
The fact that you're going outside of the business and you're picking up other business
on the side is to be negotiated.
Usually when you spin out on your own, you spin out on your own, you quit this job, and
you go over here and you start your own company.
If you're doing it on the side, I don't know what your reasons are, but please, please,
please cover your bases.
All right, the next thing that I want to talk about is you talked about being a real business
and having a license.
Okay, so not having a license does not make you a real business.
Being a real business happens up here.
It happens up here first.
You wake up one day and you say, "I'm a real business," okay?
It's got to happen in your head first.
What that means is I make appointments.
I confirm my appointments.
I show up on time.
I have clean cleaning supplies.
I have my own cleaning supplies.
You are not under any circumstances allowed to use the current cleaning supplies from
your existing company for your moonlighting jobs.
Please make that very clear.
You go out and buy your own cleaning supplies, have your own storage cabinet, use your own
worksheets, have your own everything for yourself.
This business over here, if you've decided it's different from this business, keep them
very separate.
It's like selling pizzas and cleaning houses.
They're two completely separate businesses.
In this particular case, they happen to be the same business.
You don't ever want to get caught using this company's vacuum or this company's cleaning
supplies on your moonlighting job.
That's going to get you in more trouble than anything quicker than anything.
All right, so once you've decided in your head that you're a business, you've got to
act like a business.
Even if you're only one person and only if you have part-time jobs, it doesn't matter.
If you're going inside someone's house and you are taking money in exchange for house
cleaning, I recommend that you be bonded and insured.
You can say, "Well, I'm not a full business.
I'm just doing this on the side."
If you take money for cleaning, please be bonded and insured.
Now, how much does it cost for bonding and insurance?
It depends on where you live, and so there are different prices and there are different
packages.
The standard package across the board is between one and two million dollars.
If something malfunctions between one and two million dollars, you're covered.
My suggestion is then only clean houses that fall under the one or two million dollar range.
If you have a two million dollar policy, don't go out and clean a 10 million dollar property.
You're not covered.
Does that make sense?
Okay, good.
Now, the policies are going to be 400, $500 a year.
You go, "Wow, that's a lot of money."
It's not a lot of money when you consider what you get.
Now, what you get for being insured is insurance.
Here's how that works.
If you go into a customer's house and you screw something up, and we've had so many
house cleaners that have screwed stuff up, and they're cheap and they're like, "Well,
I didn't get insurance because I didn't think I'd ever need it," and then they're forking
out of their own pocket, stuff for hardwood floors and replacements for stainless steel
appliances and they're replacing oven doors that they've broken or shower doors that they've
broken.
There are so many different things that can malfunction in the homes that are built today.
They're not built like they were 100 years ago where stuff lasts forever.
There's a bunch of shoddy workmanship that's out there and I'm sorry to say that, but stuff
breaks.
Stuff falls apart.
You lean on a wall and it topples over.
If you're the one that leaned on it, you've got to replace it.
The reality is if you have insurance, it's going to cover it.
Now, the home owner might have their own insurance, so there will always be a debate.
Is it your insurance or the home owner's insurance that will cover it?
If you don't have insurance and it's determined that it's your fault, you've got to come up
with that money out of your pocket.
My suggestion is yes, get insurance.
The insurance companies are great about breaking it down into payments, so your monthly payment
is going to be $30 or $40 a month.
It's not a lot of money.
You'll earn that back in one or two hours' worth of time and it's the peace of mind of
knowing, "No matter what happens, I'm covered.
Yay.
I'm a real business."
All right, the next thing that I would recommend as you're moonlighting on the side, you don't
necessarily need a license, but if it will give you peace of mind of having one, you
can go down to the county courthouse and you can get a license.
All the license is a piece of paper that says you're in business.
Like I said, having a license doesn't make you in business.
There are so many small business owners that are legal, and yet they have no idea how to
run a business and they're actually not in business at all.
This is like a hobby to them and they don't earn any money and every year they claim on
their taxes and they get a refund and they have nothing to show for it ever and they
never pay the taxes.
My suggestion to you is if you're a real business, treat it like a business.
Make a schedule.
Get up every day at a certain time.
Plan in your regular job, and then plan in your regular clients that are going to be
for your moonlighting business, and then show up and do your walk throughs and wear your
uniform, and it is not the same uniform that you wear over here to this company.
This company has a brand and a name.
Over here, you have a new brand and a new name.
You do not get to piggyback off the goodwill of this company.
Please be very clear about that, but if you come over here and you have a business, then
yeah, I want you to be licensed and bonded and insured and I want you to pay your taxes
and I want you to treat it like a business, because if you are in fact spinning out on
your own, this is going to become so profound that you will have to say goodbye to these
people.
When you say goodbye to these people, you want to leave on good terms, because as their
business grows, as their business expands, you can always be a fill in.
If they like you and they trust you and you now are on your own, if something happens
and somebody calls in sick and they're stranded at the last minute, and this happens all the
time, they might call you and say, "Hey, listen, do you have any openings in a bind?
I really need some help."
They already know you.
They already like you.
They already trust you.
When you went out on your own, you did everything by the book and you did everything legally
and you left on good terms.
Now, this whole doorway is open where if they have clients they can't serve, they can send
them to you.
If they have extra business where people have called out, they can send that to you.
You have this ongoing revenue that keeps coming in, even though you left this company and
you said goodbye.
My suggestion to you is please, please, if you're starting your own business, that's
awesome, but treat it like a business.
One last thing that I would say before I leave is please go to the employer that you have
and clue them in on what you're doing and give them a heads up and let them know, because
if you try to do this under the table and you try to be sneaky about what you're doing
and you're about to run ads or whatever it is, you don't ever want this to happen without
their knowledge.
Again, these are people that hired you.
They trust you.
They believe in you, and they wish for the best for you and your family.
If they find out that you've betrayed them somehow, they can rip that rug out from underneath
you so quickly.
You don't want any mortal enemies in this business.
This business is really tough by itself, if everybody's your friend.
To make enemies on top of it will just make your life miserable, especially if you're
working in similar or nearby areas.
That is my two cents for today.
Treat it like a business, even if you're just moonlighting.
All right, until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found
it.
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