Starting a cleaning business does not require a warehouse full of equipment. The awkward part comes later: making sure the work actually pays. A diary can look reassuringly full while tram rides, products, key collections and evening messages quietly consume the earnings.
So forget the logo for a month. This 30-day plan begins with a less glamorous question: what does each job need to earn? By day 30, you are aiming for three paid trial cleans and one recurring client. That is a small business taking shape, not merely a busy month.
Days 1-3: choose services you can deliver repeatedly
“All cleaning services” sounds flexible. In practice, it tells a client almost nothing and leaves you guessing when they ask for a price. Start with routine home cleaning: accessible surfaces, vacuuming and mopping, the bathroom and toilet, plus kitchen worktops. Put windows, ovens, fridges and post-renovation cleaning in a separate list of add-ons.
There is a practical reason for the split. On the second visit to a 2+kk flat, routine cleaning is usually fairly predictable. An oven coated in old grease is not. Neither is fine building dust or limescale that has been sitting on a shower screen for years. Those jobs need different products, more time and sometimes techniques you may not yet have tested. It is perfectly reasonable to say, “I don’t offer that yet.”
Now choose whom you want to serve and how far you will travel. “Recurring cleaning for one- to three-bedroom homes in Prague 3, 8 and 9” is useful. A long menu of vague promises is not. Open a map and draw a real boundary, preferably one you would still accept on a wet Tuesday morning.
I have seen new cleaners take one booking in Zličín, another in Holešovice and a window job in Hostivař. On paper, that is a successful day. In reality, it can mean three unpaid hours on public transport and a bag of damp cloths on the metro. Crossing Prague from Černý Most to Dejvice at rush hour can take almost as long as cleaning a studio.
By day three, you should have one core service, two optional extras, a travel limit and a short list of work you will decline for now.
Day-three check: Can you describe the offer in one sentence and make a sensible time estimate for a routine visit?
Days 4-7: sort out the trade licence, insurance and records
Domestic cleaning commonly falls under a Czech free trade, but confirm the correct activity and current registration process with the trade licensing office or the Czech government portal. The unified registration form can pass information to other authorities. Do not assume that means every detail has landed correctly. Keep the confirmations, then check that your health insurer and the Czech Social Security Administration have the right start date and know whether this is your main or secondary activity.
The paperwork is manageable. The risk is more physical: you are working inside somebody else’s home, often close to glass, electronics, wood, stone and objects with sentimental value. Business liability insurance makes sense even when it is not compulsory. Ask direct questions before buying it. Does it cover damage caused while cleaning? What about entrusted keys or property in your care? A cheap policy that excludes your actual work is just an extra monthly payment.
Start keeping records before the first invoice, not after the first confusing pile of receipts. A simple sheet is enough. Record the date, client, revenue, paid cleaning time, travel, supplies, transport and receipt number. Photograph each receipt while it is still in your hand; the faded slip found in a coat pocket three months later is rarely helpful.
An accountant can advise on Czech expense regimes and tax treatment. Your own job log answers a different question: did this particular booking make money?
Use a separate account or at least a dedicated business pot, and move part of each payment aside for tax and insurance contributions. The amount depends on whether the activity is primary or secondary and on your tax setup. Check current obligations in the Financial Administration’s start-up guidance and official social-security information. An old forum thread may sound confident and still be wrong.
By the end of week one, you need an active trade authorisation, checked registrations, a suitable insurance quote, a receipt folder and the first row in your records.
Week 2: calculate the price you will not go below
The hourly rate a customer sees is not your hourly wage. Four paid cleaning hours may also involve an hour of travel, half an hour of messages and fifteen minutes washing cloths. Then there are chemicals, gloves, tickets or parking. What remains has to pay for your work, contributions, tax and the inevitable job that takes longer than expected.
Keep the formula simple:
minimum job price = labour time + travel + supplies + admin share + buffer
Say you want 320 CZK per working hour before contributions. The clean takes four hours, while travel and preparation add another hour. Supplies cost 90 CZK. You also include a ten-percent buffer for risk and wear. Multiplying four by 320 CZK gives the wrong answer because you worked for five hours, not four. Those five hours are worth 1,600 CZK; with supplies and the buffer, the booking comes to roughly 1,860 CZK. Quote 1,400 CZK and your real return slips below 260 CZK an hour before contributions.
Set a minimum call-out price as well. A studio can still require a three-hour minimum because the messages, journey and unpacking cost nearly as much as they do for a larger flat. The figures above are an example, not a national cleaning price list. Prague centre, Brno and Kolín have different costs and customer expectations. Your calculation is the useful part.
One-off jobs normally deserve a higher price. You do not know the starting condition, the questions take longer and the requested scope tends to spread once you arrive. A recurring home becomes easier to plan after two visits: you know the door code, where the vacuum lives and which bathroom needs more time. Offer a lower recurring price only when that predictability genuinely saves you something. Otherwise, the “loyalty discount” is simply a permanent hole in your margin.
Day-14 cash-flow check: Does every quote cover the call-out minimum, all time spent and a visible amount left after direct costs?
Week 3: win the first three jobs without a permanent discount
At this point, you need paid experience rather than a hundred likes. On CistýKout or another marketplace, write a profile that answers ordinary client questions: which districts you cover, what routine cleaning includes, when you are available and how you prepare a quote. A normal photograph of your kit, or a result you have permission to show, is useful. “I love cleanliness” is pleasant but does not help someone book.
For a wider checklist on the trade licence, basic equipment and pricing, see how to start a cleaning business step by step. This week is narrower. The point is to turn your new offer into paid work.
Define each trial clean before you enter the home: its size, requested tasks, expected duration, price or calculation method, and what happens if the real condition is much tougher than described. Ask for photos of the bathroom, kitchen and floors. They will not reveal everything, but they can prevent a two-hour estimate for a five-hour job.
If you want an introductory gesture, make it small and one-off. You might offer an oven at a reduced add-on price. Do not clean an entire flat for free. Free work tests whether people like free cleaning; it tells you nothing about whether they accept your actual rate.
The easiest first bookings often come from places where some trust already exists: a personal recommendation, a neighbourhood group or a service marketplace. Be specific when posting. For example: “I have Tuesday and Thursday slots for routine cleaning in Prague 8, for homes up to 3+kk. I quote after a short scope check; the minimum visit is 1,500 CZK.” Use your own calculated minimum, of course.
When the clean is done, walk through the result with the client. Ask something concrete: “Are the bathroom and kitchen finished to the scope we agreed?” A vague “Is everything okay?” invites a vague answer. If the client is happy, ask for a two-sentence review and one referral. A mention of punctual arrival or a properly cleaned shower sounds far more credible than five lines of praise.
Your week-three result is modest but useful: three paid jobs, three honest records of actual time, and at least one request for a review or referral.
Week 4: turn a one-off clean into recurring work
A clean floor does not book the next appointment for you. You have to suggest it. The final walkthrough is the natural moment, and it need not feel pushy: “Given the dust level and bathroom use, a fortnightly visit would suit this flat. I have alternate Wednesday mornings available.”
Base the frequency on the home you just cleaned. Someone living alone in a studio may need you every three weeks. A family with a dog in a 3+1 flat may genuinely benefit from a weekly visit. Recommending the most frequent option to everybody feels like a sales script. Referring to the paw marks you just mopped does not.
Once the client agrees, put the ordinary details in writing: fixed day and time, standard scope, price, key handover and cancellation rules. Who supplies the products? How much notice is needed to move a booking? What happens after a cancellation the night before? A one-page agreement or a clear message can save a surprisingly uncomfortable conversation later.
Time the second visit and compare it with your estimate. Perhaps the job falls from four hours to three and a half. Good. That does not mean you must immediately cut the price. The saved half-hour helps cover messages, occasional harder visits and the fact that you reserved a regular slot. On the other hand, if the client adds “one quick thing” every week, raise the scope and price early. Quiet resentment is not a pricing strategy.
By the end of week four, make a specific recurring offer to every suitable customer and put at least one repeat booking in the calendar.
After 30 days: make decisions from numbers, not mood
Now calculate the effective hourly return for every job: subtract direct costs from revenue, then divide by all hours spent, including travel and administration. Also count the steps between an enquiry and a regular client. How many people replied to your scope questions? How many booked? How many wanted another visit?
Suppose ten relevant enquiries came in. Six people answered, three booked and one became a regular. That is not a disappointing month. It is your first conversion funnel, built from real behaviour rather than guesses. If most prospects disappear when they hear the price, look first at whether your offer is clear and whether you are reaching the right households. Cutting the number is not automatically the fix.
Finish the month with three decisions. Reprice or reshape work that loses money. Drop a distant area if the journey consumes the margin. Give more space to the service that brings good results, credible reviews and repeat demand. This is how to start a cleaning business without quietly subsidising every booking yourself: do the work, write down what happened, and adjust.
If you would like to see how a clear enquiry and scope discussion works from the customer’s side, send a no-obligation enquiry through the CistýKout contact form. CistýKout is a Prague-based cleaning option connecting households with providers, with the scope and timing agreed before the visit.
