Cleaning is one of the few businesses in the United States you can start with a few hundred dollars, no degree, and no special permit at the federal level. It is also one of the most common first businesses for Hispanic and immigrant entrepreneurs: over a third of the janitorial workforce in the US is Hispanic, and thousands of those workers make the jump from employee to owner every year.
This guide walks you through every step in order — legal structure, tax ID, licenses, insurance, costs, pricing and clients — with the details that most English-language guides skip: what to do if you have an ITIN instead of a Social Security number, which states charge sales tax on cleaning, and how to hire family members without getting in trouble with the IRS.
1. Pick your niche before you pick a name
«Cleaning business» is too broad. Your licenses, insurance, pricing and marketing all depend on which of these you choose:
- Residential cleaning — houses and apartments. Lowest startup cost, fastest first client, paid per visit. Most solo owners start here.
- Commercial / janitorial — offices, clinics, churches, small retail. Contracts are monthly, evenings and weekends, and usually require proof of insurance and a bond before you get the keys.
- Specialty — move-out cleaning, post-construction, carpet, windows, Airbnb turnovers. Higher price per job, more equipment.
Start with one. You can add the others once you have cash flow and a second person.
2. Choose a legal structure: sole proprietor or LLC
You can legally clean houses tomorrow as a sole proprietor using your own name and a DBA («doing business as») filed at the county or state. It costs almost nothing. The problem is liability: if a client slips on a wet floor or you damage a $3,000 rug, your personal savings are on the line.
An LLC (Limited Liability Company) separates your personal assets from the business, looks more professional to commercial clients, and is what most banks and property managers expect. Filing fees vary by state — from about $50 to $500 (Tennessee charges $300 for an LLC with up to six members; Texas $300; Florida $125). You file with your state’s Secretary of State, online, in one sitting.
If you don’t have a Social Security number: you can still form an LLC. State filings do not ask for an SSN. What you will need is an ITIN to file your taxes and, in most cases, to open a bank account.
3. Get your EIN (free, from the IRS)
The Employer Identification Number is your business’s tax ID. You need it to open a business bank account, to hire anyone, and to avoid giving clients your personal SSN or ITIN on W-9 forms. It is free and takes minutes at irs.gov.
- With an SSN or ITIN: apply online and get the number immediately.
- Without either: fill out Form SS-4, write «Foreign» on line 7b, and send it by fax. The IRS returns the EIN in about four business days by fax, or four to five weeks by mail.
Never pay a website for an EIN. Any site charging for it is reselling a free service.
4. Licenses and permits: what you actually need
There is no federal license for cleaning. What you need is local:
- Business license or business tax registration from your city and/or county. In Tennessee, for example, a business with more than $3,000 in gross receipts registers with the county clerk and pays an annual business tax; in Clarksville–Montgomery County that means one filing with the county and one with the city if you operate inside city limits.
- DBA / fictitious name if you operate under a name different from your LLC’s legal name.
- Sales tax registration — only in some states. Cleaning services are taxable in Texas (janitorial is a taxable «real property service»), in Florida for nonresidential cleaning, and in a handful of others. Tennessee does not tax most cleaning services. Check your state’s Department of Revenue before you send your first invoice — charging tax you don’t owe, or failing to charge it when you do, is the most common early mistake.
- Home occupation permit in some cities if you run the business from your apartment or house (usually a one-page form).
5. Insurance and bonding: the two documents that win contracts
- General liability insurance covers damage to a client’s property and injuries. For a solo residential cleaner it typically runs $30 to $70 per month. Most commercial clients will not let you in the door without a certificate of insurance.
- Janitorial bond (surety bond) protects the client if an employee steals something. It is cheap — often $100 to $200 per year for $10,000 of coverage — and the word «bonded» on your flyer closes deals.
- Workers’ compensation becomes mandatory once you hire, at thresholds that vary by state. Tennessee requires it at five or more employees; many states require it from the first hire. Paying people cash to avoid it is the fastest way to lose the business.
- Commercial auto if you use a vehicle for the business. Personal auto policies frequently deny claims that happen «on the job».
6. Real startup costs
A realistic budget for a solo residential cleaning business in 2026:
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| LLC filing (state fee) | $50 – $500 |
| Business license / county registration | $15 – $100 |
| Supplies and equipment (vacuum, mop system, microfiber, caddies, products) | $300 – $800 |
| General liability + bond (first year) | $500 – $900 |
| Uniform shirts, business cards, Google Business Profile photos | $100 – $250 |
| Website or booking page (optional the first months) | $0 – $300 |
| Total | $1,000 – $2,900 |
Commercial cleaning adds a floor machine, a backpack vacuum and a bigger bond — plan on $3,000 to $6,000. You do not need a truck with a logo on day one; you need insurance and a phone that gets answered.
7. How to price your work
- Residential: most markets sit between $25 and $50 per labor hour, or a flat rate per house. A standard 3-bedroom recurring clean runs roughly $120 to $200 in mid-size cities and more in metro areas. Charge more for the first («deep») clean — it takes twice as long.
- Commercial: priced per square foot per visit (commonly $0.05 to $0.20 depending on frequency and type of space) or as a flat monthly contract.
- Move-out and post-construction: flat quote after seeing the space; never over the phone.
The mistake immigrant owners make most often is charging what they were paid as employees. Your price has to cover insurance, taxes, supplies, driving time and the hours you spend quoting — not just the hours you clean. Set your hourly target, add 30 percent, and hold it.
8. Getting your first ten clients
- Google Business Profile, free, with real photos of your work and reviews from your first clients. This is where «cleaning service near me» searches land.
- Your own community first. Church, kids’ school, the Hispanic grocery, WhatsApp groups. Offer the first three clients a discount in exchange for a Google review.
- Property managers and realtors need move-out and turnover cleaning every week. One property manager can be worth ten households.
- Nextdoor and local Facebook groups, answering «does anyone know a cleaner?» posts within minutes.
- Bilingual as a selling point. Many clients — landlords, Hispanic business owners, clinics — want someone who can talk to their Spanish-speaking staff and tenants. Say it on your card.
- Bid on small commercial contracts once you have insurance: dentist offices, daycares, churches, small warehouses. They rarely need the cheapest bid; they need reliability.
In this video (in Spanish) we go deeper into how to land commercial cleaning clients — one of the most-watched guides on our YouTube channel:
9. Hiring family and your first employee
Paying your cousin cash «under the table» is not a gray area — it is unreported payroll. Once you pay anyone regularly, you are an employer: Form W-4, I-9, payroll taxes, and workers’ comp when your state requires it. Hiring a spouse or adult child is completely legal and can even reduce taxes, but they go on payroll like anyone else. A payroll service costs $40 to $80 a month and keeps you out of the audit letters that arrive two years later.
10. Taxes: what to set aside
A single-member LLC reports on Schedule C of your personal return (Form 1040, with an SSN or ITIN). You owe income tax plus 15.3 percent self-employment tax on net profit, paid in quarterly estimated payments. A safe rule for a new owner is to move 25 to 30 percent of every payment into a separate account and not touch it. Keep every supply receipt and log your mileage — both are deductible and both are where new owners leave money on the table.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start a cleaning business without a Social Security number?
Yes. You can form an LLC, get an EIN by fax, and file taxes with an ITIN. What an ITIN does not give you is work authorization as an employee — the business structure is what makes self-employment income reportable.
Do I need a license to clean houses?
Not a professional license. You need your local business registration, and in some states a sales tax account. Commercial clients will ask for insurance and a bond, not a license.
How much can I make?
An employed cleaner in the US earns a median of roughly $35,000 a year. A solo owner with a full residential route in a mid-size city commonly clears $50,000 to $70,000 before taxes; owners with two or three crews on commercial contracts are in a different bracket entirely. The difference is not the cleaning — it is the pricing, the insurance and the contracts.
Sources and official links
- IRS — Apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- IRS — Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
- SBA — Apply for licenses and permits
- Tennessee Secretary of State — Business Services
- BLS — Janitors and Building Cleaners, Occupational Outlook
Lee esta guía en español: Licencias para abrir un negocio de limpieza. Need help forming your LLC or getting your ITIN? Contact us — we work with entrepreneurs in Tennessee and across the US.
