Cleaning business simulator
See what your cleaning service would turn over, how many clients you'd win and who you'd lose them to — month by month for two years — before you spend real money.
Rounds, reliable staff and the clients who notice when it slips. This one opens as Spotless Rounds: A domestic and office cleaning service working regular rounds across a few towns. Rename it, reprice it, or describe your own cleaning service and let Nova rewrite it to fit.
What a steady cleaning business ends up with
Played steadily for all two years — quality first, then growth, a fair share of the bank spent each year — a steady cleaning business here ends its last year on $278k of revenue and $31k of profit, with 130 clients and 4% of the market (#5 of 5).
It starts from nothing: $30k in the bank and you, 50 hours a week, with no clients yet.
People who play it well do better, and a bad plan runs out of money.
Revenue in the last year: $278k
Profit in the last year: $31k
Clients at the end: 130
Share of the market: From nothing to 4%
Where it finishes: #5 of 5
Years and decisions: 2 years, monthly
What you'll decide each month
Each month you set your rates, how many people are on the books and how many clients each can look after, what you spend on being found, and which areas you cover.
Each decision shows on a forecast before you file it, and every period resolves against the rivals and the economy.
Who your clients are
A local service is booked on trust and lost on a missed job. Every client needs somebody's time, so the people you can put on the work are the limit, and word of mouth is the cheapest marketing there is.
4,000 clients in all, across your town, the next town over, the villages around, the county town and out by the ring road.
Busy households: People who want it done and will not chase you twice. About 2,000 of them, worth $2k a year each.
Bigger homes: More work, higher standards, and recommendations to their friends. About 800 of them, worth $4.3k a year each.
Offices and shops: Contract cleaning, evenings, and a manager who checks. About 400 of them, worth $6.2k a year each.
End-of-tenancy jobs: An emergency or a move — found on a search, gone afterwards. About 800 of them, worth $1.1k a year each.
Who you're up against
Three rivals are already in it, and they play to win: they cut prices, spend on marketing and answer what you do. Most of the market is theirs on day one.
The national cleaning franchise: The biggest, and slow to change — it has stopped listening to its smaller customers. Holds about 25% of the market.
Cash-in-hand cleaners: Wins on price and little else; its customers leave the moment somebody is better. Holds about 20% of the market.
The booking app: Clever and quick, but stretched thin and hard to get hold of. Holds about 10% of the market.
How it works
Free until you start: building and previewing cost nothing, and starting is $10, once.
Build it — free: Press build and you get your own copy of this market: four kinds of client, three rivals and five areas.
Make it yours: Change any number, describe your cleaning service in a sentence or two and let Nova fill it in, or upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history to fit it to your real figures.
Preview — free: See what a steady cleaning business ends up with, and every warning worth reading, before you pay anything.
Start — $10: Pay once to start, your seat included. Then run it month by month for two years.
Also for
cleaning · cleaner · domestic · office cleaning · janitorial · maid
How much does the cleaning business simulator cost?
Building and previewing are free: make your own copy of this cleaning service market, change anything in it and see what a steady cleaning business ends up with without paying. Starting the simulation is $10, once, and your own seat is included.
Can I make it match my own cleaning service?
Yes. Every number can be changed — the clients and what they pay, the rivals, the areas, the costs and the starting cash. Or describe your cleaning service in a sentence or two and Nova, SparkTower's AI, fills every section in for one Nova action. If you already trade, upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history and the simulation is fitted to your real numbers, starting from where your business stands today.
Are the numbers realistic for a cleaning service?
The template is checked against what real ones do: played steadily, a believable one finishes year two turning over between $60k and $400k, with between 25 and 250 clients. This one's preview comes to about $278k and 130. Your own prices, costs and figures change that, which is the point of trying it here first.
Can I use it to test a cleaning service business plan?
That is what it is for. Put your plan's prices, costs and starting cash in, play it forward month by month, and see whether the money lasts, how many clients you would need and what a rival's price cut does to you — before you put real money in.
More local & small business simulators
- Small business simulator — One shop on the high street, the big-box store out of town, and the internet.
- Café business simulator — Coffee, cake and the regulars who decide whether you last a year.
- Restaurant business simulator — Covers, tables and the review that makes or breaks a month.
- Salon & barber shop simulator — Chairs, appointments and clients who follow a stylist, not a shop.
- Gym business simulator — Memberships, January sign-ups and the March drop-off.
- Food truck business simulator — One van, a lunch rush, and a spot worth fighting for.
- Bakery business simulator — Early starts, wholesale to cafés, and bread that sells out by noon.
- Retail store simulator — Stock, footfall and what the shop next door has in the window.
- Landscaping business simulator — Seasons, crews and the big job that books out a month.
- Auto repair shop simulator — Bays, MOTs and the trust that keeps a driver coming back.
- Daycare business simulator — Places, ratios and the waiting list that tells you you're good.
- Plumbing & electrical business simulator — Call-outs, quotes and the van on the drive.
- Construction company simulator — Bids, subcontractors, a materials bill and the job that runs over.
- Trucking company simulator — Loads, lanes, diesel and the broker who wants it there tomorrow.
- Solar installation business simulator — Roofs, permits, the utility's sign-off and a sales team on commission.
- Property development simulator — Land, planning, a build loan and the months before anything sells.
- Every business simulator