Mum-of-two Bree O'Connor said it was "mind-blowing" to see how successful cleaning companies could be. ·Source: Supplied/TikTok
A Queensland mum has shared how she is earning between $65 to $70 an hour after quitting her full-time job to start her own cleaning business. The 30-year-old said she had more than replaced her previous income and was only working three days a week.
Bree O’Connor started her own cleaning business, Flourish Cleaning Co, in December last year. The mum-of-two told Yahoo Finance she was feeling “drained” from her corporate customer service job, which she had been doing for nine years, and was ready for a change.
“Once I had [my son] Hudson, seven months ago, I was like, ‘I cannot go back to that job. It’s sucking the life out of me’,” O’Connor said.
“I had no energy for my daughter when I was getting home because I’d been speaking to people all day and it just made me need a break.”
O’Connor started up her cleaning business while she was on maternity leave, focusing on ongoing weekly and fortnightly residential properties.
She found clients through local community pages and secured her first regular on December 9. By January 22, she said she was fully booked out.
O’Connor said it was “mind-blowing” to see how successful a cleaning business could be, particularly since she is only working three days a week.
“I’m turning over about $58,000 and my previous income was about $45,000,” she told Yahoo Finance.
“At the moment because I’m solo, it’s about 77 per cent profit, so there’s very low costs even with insurance and things like that it’s quite minimal.”
O'Connor said she no longer feels drained at the end of the work day and has energy when she comes home to her kids. ·Source: Supplied
O’Connor recently hired two casual employees and is currently training them up. She also has another person currently on a paid trial.
“When we’ve got staff on board and fully trained, we’re looking at about 25 to 30 per cent profit from them,” she explained.
She charges customers cleaning packages, which depend on the home, but said her hourly rate worked out to about $65 to $70 an hour.
“It depends on the home, I’ve got a lot of two-storey houses, so anywhere from $195 to $260 depending on the size of the house and what they want included,” she said.
‘Really doable’: Earning more for less work
O’Connor works six-hour days, three days a week, and said it’s perfect for her as a mum.
“It makes it really doable for mums and people who need school hours and things like that too. I’m only doing two cleans a day so it’s about three hours each clean,” she said.
“I start the first clean at 8:30 in the morning. Most people just want the main areas done, so bathrooms, kitchens and floors. Some of the clients also want things dusted, so window sills, bedside tables, any furniture and things like that.
“Because they’re ongoing cleans, it’s all pretty well maintained and just keeping the dust off surfaces. It’s nothing too strenuous.”
She said you didn’t need too much money upfront to get into the cleaning business either.
“It’s a very low-cost barrier to entry. So you can start with as little as $850, that would include your vacuum, basic chemicals and equipment. However I did invest a bit in my branding and I also invested in the website,” she said.
Aussie praised over career switch
O’Connor shared a video online about starting her own cleaning business and how quickly she was able to get it started.
Aussies praised O’Connor for making the move, with someone commenting “that’s fantastic” and others sharing they were excited to see what the future held for her.
“This is awesome! A huge congrats on taking the leap. It doesn’t take much to get a good reputation as a cleaner - so many do below average jobs. Excited for your year ahead!” one wrote.
“Congratulations! I know first hand how amazing it can be. We hit seven figures in our first 12 months and won the Australian business award and have since grown to four locations. The cleaning industry is awesome,” another said.
O’Connor said she’d encourage other Aussies interested in the cleaning business to give it a go.
“There’s room for everyone in the cleaning industry. There’s so many houses, so there’s a lot of room,” she told Yahoo Finance.
O’Connor encouraged people to set their prices right from the start and ensure they had a professional image online to allow them to find the clients they wanted and to grow their business from there.
Along with the good pay and flexible working hours, O’Connor said she no longer feels drained after work and has the energy to enjoy time with her kids.
“I feel amazing. I’m so excited to see my kids and spend time with them at the end of the day because I’ve had that time to just be in my own head while I’m doing cleaning,” she said.
She also loves that she can make a difference in her client’s lives.
“A lot of them are working professionals, they don’t want to spend their time after work or the weekends cleaning themselves, so they really appreciate having the clean home and providing the extra touches,” she said.
“It’s like a hotel clean, so everything’s streak-free, facing the right way. I do the little toilet paper fold for them, and it’s just that little bit of luxury when they come home.”
O’Connor said she hopes to grow the business to six staff by the end of the year and get to the point where she can take a step back from cleaning and focus on managing the business.
