How To Start a Sanitizing Business? [Steps + Business Opportunities]

The global surface disinfectant market size will expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% by 2028.

Starting this substantial-growth business during COVID-19 is a good idea. It provides you with different opportunities to include more healthy and safe services for your customers. But, on the other hand, there are many challenges that you need to face like selecting the tools, purchasing sanitizing tools, analyzing the list of cleaning service offerings, and even performing legal formalities before starting your business of cleaning services and sanitizing.

Along with that, you need to deal with business planning, purchasing equipment, and creating marketing strategies. This article will make you understand the concept of how to start a sanitizing business from scratch and help you overcome the complexities that you might face during starting your business.

What is Sanitization?

Sanitization is the process of cleaning a specific area or surface to ensure that it is bacteria-free and free from all forms of germs and viruses that may infect the human body and cause various ailments.

Generally, there are two types of sanitization: hand sanitization and surface sanitization. The standard difference between them is mentioned in the below table:

Essential Things You Need To Start a Sanitizing Business

Let’s highlight some of the important things that you must have for starting your new sanitizing business. We have come up with a detailed table that showcases the equipment.

1. Disinfecting Weapons

   Electrostatic Sprayer	A 360-degree coating is possible using an electrostatic sprayer. It allows the solution to adhere to selected surfaces for a uniform application electromagnetically.
   HHVLP/ULV Fogger   (High Volume Low Pressure/Ultra Low Volume)	Non-solvent-based liquids such as disinfectants for viruses, moulds, and other forms of biological disinfection are removed with this device. The high compressed air volume breaks up the solutions into tiny particles. At the same time, the low pressure reduces forward velocity, preventing solutions from blowing past or deflecting off of the target surface. It is even used to apply paint.
   Handheld UV-C Lighting Devices	This device destroys bacteria’ genetic material by utilizing the strength of UV light at specific wavelengths. These devices can disinfect water and sterilize surfaces, and germs cannot develop resistance to them.
   Conventional Pump Sprayer/Bottle Sprayer	Bottle sprayers are one of the essential tools for sanitizing, disinfecting, and deodorizing tiny spaces. It may be used by janitors or at home. You still need them for personal use, and they’re cheap and don’t need any training or upkeep, but it applies solutions unevenly.

2. Essential Parts and Accessories

   Tyvek Suit	Tyvek protective suits are the first independent protection against germs and other severe conditions such as biohazard, chemical, radioactive, and environmental protection. The suit is composed of high-density polythene fibres that provide excellent wear and tear resistance. However, the suit is light, and a hood offers an additional layer of protection above the neck.
   Respirator or Ventilator	A respirator is a must-have item on the list to prevent yourself from breathing toxic solutions or microbe particles. On the other hand, a ventilator will protect you from the same dangers while also allowing you to breathe fresh air while filtering out hazardous particles. If you’re on a budget, though, a reusable face mask or gaiter will suffice.
   Protective Eyewear	To safeguard your eyes, you should get a face shield or safety goggles of some type. No worries if the unappealing appearance of safety goggles turns you off; you’ll find stylish safety goggles online. Still, all that counts in the end is that you use eye protection to keep your eyes from becoming irritated by the solutions you’re spraying.
   Bootees	These disposable shoe coverings will help prevent germs from adhering to your shoes or boots, just like newborns might wear to keep their feet warm. They’re available in bundle packs of 100 online, so it’s essential to have some on hand—they’re a must-have.
   Disposable Gloves	You should buy a box of disposable gloves, either nitrile or non-powdered latex gloves, that are waterproof. Keep in mind that gloves might develop pinholes with time, so don’t reuse them. Don’t be stingy with your gloves. Even if it doesn’t appear to be contaminated, change your gloves regularly during the day—don’t take any chances!
   Distilled Water	This may be used after applying your disinfectant since it can rinse away any leftover residues without interfering with the disinfection process. Many companies take distilled water with them to dilute their Genesis HOCl solution into a sanitizer for touch-ups, and they don’t have to worry about hazardous residues.
   Microfiber Wipes	This is an essential item to have in your inventory. While your disinfectant performs most of the hard lifting in killing germs, a microfiber wipe will help remove any remaining ones from a surface. To avoid cross-contamination, simply sterilize and rinse your cloth after wiping away germs and bacteria from the surface.
   Measuring Cup	Unless you’ve worked as an incredibly accurate bartender in the past, you might consider including a measuring cup in your toolkit. This enables you to dilute your disinfectant into a sanitizer precisely. For example, assume your HOCl solution is sufficiently concentrated to disinfect 500 parts per million (PPM). You assume you may reduce it to 200 PPM in such a scenario and use it as an all-purpose sanitizer for food contact surfaces and electronic equipment.

3. Disinfecting Weapon

   You’ll need a vehicle in your disinfecting company that can accommodate your equipment, which narrows your options to pickup trucks, vans, large SUVs, or even a tiny box truck.

   To minimize spillage, make sure you properly store your equipment and fasten it securely. Operating a franchise business with a reasonably new car with less than 50,000 miles on it and in great shape is one of the finest recommendations.

   It’s vital to remember that a clean, well-maintained car will positively impact your clientele, so avoid driving a dingy, filthy vehicle. In addition, because you’re operating in germ-infested settings, you should clean your cars regularly or if a job site has had an epidemic.

4. Set Up Your Business Legally

   The essential thing you should do is complete the required legal formalities. For starting your own business, there are some licensing and legal considerations to make, especially when it comes to sanitizing and disinfecting.

   If you decide to do this on your own, you’ll need to check with your local government to see any business license requirements. Your local Consumer Protection Agency or Department of Agriculture should be your first point of call. You even need to purchase business insurance policies from registered insurance companies.

   This type of business comes under the cleaning or pest control services categories, so check your state to see which one applies to you.

   Depending on your region and local state regulations, you may be required to pay a bond to establish a cleaning service, even if you are only sanitizing and disinfecting rather than cleaning. Your primary intent is to have a good credit score for your business.

How to Start a Sanitizing Business

After looking at the list of equipment and some legal formalities, it’s high time to see the step-by-step guidance on starting your sanitizing business.

1. Do Your Research

   You need to accomplish your studies and educate yourself in whatever you do in life, especially if you’re starting your own cleaning business dealing with people’s health.

   You’ll need to decide if you want to handle business or residential customers. You must think about the best products to use as well as the differences between them.

   You’ll need to figure out how to use them and how effective they are against certain germs. Finally, you’ll need to safeguard both you and your potential employees with the appropriate equipment.

   You must select the appropriate vehicle for transporting your equipment and get the necessary permits and insurances for each element of your operation. To educate customers about your company’s well-versed cleaning services and goods, you must promote your brand name online and historically follow EPA rules.

2. Plan Your Business

   To ensure that your business succeeds, you must plan well before getting started. Your business plan should include the target market, revenue figures, operational cost projections, and even a marketing strategy.

   You should describe the target audience’s specifics in your business strategy, especially if you need to target possible lenders or investors.

   In your business plan, you must include the following points:

   • First, make an executive summary and a business description for your company.
   • Examine market conditions and how your business fits into the local economy.
   • Describe how your business is set up, whether you’re the only proprietor or fall into the franchise.
   • Describe the cleaning services or you’ll provide.
   • Describe how you plan to advertise your services and to whom you plan to market them.

3. Decide For Solo or Franchise

   You can start from zero. In this situation, you’ll need to invest a substantial sum of money in the entire setup and study the subject. All of the procedures of cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing are scientific.

   You’ll need to be an expert in this subject and keep up with the latest developments. As new sanitizing chemicals, technologies, and procedures are released to the market, you must make the appropriate modifications and quickly embrace those methods. It’s all your duty if you start from scratch on your own.

   Another option is to sanitize the franchising business. In a franchise business, you begin at a level you may attain after several years of hard work if you started your own small business. There are several benefits to owning a company franchise; here are a few:

   • You acquire a brand name right away – This provides you with a solid foundation to earn right away. You don’t need to spend much time thinking about marketing and promotions because most people are familiar with your name and would gladly hire your specific cleaning service.
   • All technical assistance provided by franchisors —This is significant in terms of both money and knowledge. Your franchisor will assist you in obtaining the necessary equipment and materials. In addition, they will help you with marketing and training.
   • Reduced operating costs – When it comes to sanitization company pricing, the franchise option is considerably more advantageous than starting from scratch with an independent business plan.

4. Perform Legal Formalities

   A general liability insurance coverage protects your business from claims stemming from customer injuries and property damage. Most small businesses, including yours, require this. Consider increasing your policy’s coverage to include the cost of your damaged products and equipment.

   Business License and permit bonds are necessary if you don’t want to be sued by a customer for any reason. Consider these bonds to be insurance for your customers that you have paid to safeguard them. The benefit of these bonds is that you don’t have to pay the whole amount right away.

   A surety or janitorial bond protects your customers by allowing them to be compensated if your company fails to meet its contractual obligations or if one of your employees steals something.

   States will need you to carry workers’ compensation insurance as soon as you are able to recruit your first employee, which will assist pay injured workers’ medical expenses and reimburse them for lost wages.

5. Select Your Service Offerings

   As mentioned in the introduction above, you need to select the services for your sanitizing business that bring more opportunities. Some of the best services are mentioned below:

   Daily deep cleaning

   COVID-19 and other viruses flourish in filth, dust, and grime. So at least once a day, clean it thoroughly using the proper carpet cleaning solutions to eliminate dirt.

   Nowadays, you need to be aware that treating coronavirus-infected surfaces necessitates a high level of skill. To thoroughly treat surfaces and inactivate the virus, professional cleaning company crews use hospital-grade disinfectants.

   High-touch disinfection

   Any area that sees a lot of traffic should be cleaned at least once a day. First, make a list of these surfaces (light switches, doorknobs, handrails, chairs, worktops, and so on) and clean them with a disinfectant solution and a clean cloth.

   Ascertain that your cleaning staff adheres to a process for reducing cross-contamination and breaking the infection chain.

   Cleaning supplies and PPE

   Disinfectant supplies and personal protective equipment may be challenging to come by. As an alternative, you may use a combination of 1/3 cup bleach in a gallon of water or a 70% alcohol and water mixture. If disposable gloves aren’t available, then you can use disinfect reusable rubber gloves regularly.

   Ventilation and sunshine

   Sunlight and air have the ability to disinfect. Therefore, open windows and expose surfaces and instruments to bright sunshine whenever feasible.

   Personal hygiene

   Every employee must adhere to a strict personal hygiene regimen daily. Staff should often wash their hands, wear a mask, cough or sneeze into a tissue, discard it, use hand sanitizer, and disinfect their work environment using disinfectant wipes or solutions. Now that you’ve learned the procedure, put it into practice!

6. Market Your Business

   You’ll need an online presence for your new cleaning company if you want to stay in the disinfecting business. Brand awareness, leads, search traffic and exposure, social media followers, and sales are all aided by conventional and digital marketing. It also allows you to get to know your audience personally, which may help you build brand loyalty.

   You’ll need:

   • A responsive website with a domain name (business name) for your cleaning company.
   • To create (SEO-friendly) and visible content to attract search engines, visitors, and followers.
   • Set up social media profiles, publish often, and interact with your followers

These are the standard steps that you need to follow to start your cleaning company or we can say cleaning business from scratch.

Business Opportunity as a Sanitization Service Provider

Starting a sanitization business does not necessitate a solid background or a great deal of money.

This industry may support those with a professional attitude, work ethic, and temperament. Households, offices, workstations, factories, stores, other larger companies, and educational institutions will all require your assistance. Sanitization is needed in all areas.

As a result, the service providers will receive several calls each day. Therefore, it becomes essential for the service providers to handle the calls and give customers adequate time.

Almost every day will be a full day of involvement. So naturally, this cleaning and disinfecting business opportunity to get more customers will provide you with a great deal of happiness.

Still, if you have any questions related to sanitizing business, we have come up with frequently asked questions in the next section.

Conclusion

Sanitizing business involves a lot of challenging tasks from the start. First, you must be familiar with the operation of various equipment utilized in providing services to customers. We have highlighted the essential steps that make it easy for you to start your business from scratch.

A complete list of equipment and tools that plays a vital role in the sanitizing business is made available in this article. We have seen almost all such equipment that makes the work easy for you and your cleaners.

Moreover, you have an option to streamline and automate your business operations with FieldCamp, a premier field service scheduling software. FieldCamp helps you to create and manage job schedules for your cleaners and track their job status efficiently.