Appearances matter. If your business is cluttered and messy and everything in it is covered in dirt it does make a difference when customers come in. It can make you and your employees seem unorganized and unreliable, and it can make your customers wonder if they should really be doing business with you. A messy business can also make it difficult to find what you need when you need it, wasting time and money (and making you look bad if a customer is standing there waiting). It is worth the effort to make sure your business is clean. Here are 8 tips to make sure that your business is as clean as it can be.
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Start with a thorough cleaning. Cleaning here and there when you have a spare moment won’t cut it, and if you start out with a spotless office it will make things a lot easier. If this seems a bit overwhelming, take heart that you don’t have to do it alone. Hire a cleaning franchise for a good, thorough cleaning of your entire office. They can do a deep cleaning of surfaces, floors, and bathrooms.
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Once you have a sparkling clean building to start with, keep it up! We all know how easy it is for dirt to accumulate. Hire a cleaning crew to come in once a week or every two weeks. This will help to ensure that nooks and crannies are taken care of, as well as those areas that need special attention, such as bathrooms.
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In the meantime, enact some daily cleaning procedures, both at the end of the day and before customers come in. If you and your staff get in the habit of doing this every day it won’t seem like as much of a chore. It doesn’t have to be anything major. Simply emptying trashes and cleaning off desks at the end of the day can make a big difference in how the office looks.
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Make sure you have cleaning supplies handy, such as rags, glass cleaner, disinfecting wipes, and maybe even a vacuum. You’ll need them for some everyday touch up in between the cleaning crew visits, and you’ll also need them in case there are any cleaning emergencies. Here is a good list of supplies and equipment to have – the list was made for the home, but much of it applies to businesses too.
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Start by removing everything from surfaces such as desks, counters, and table tops (then take that opportunity to clean those surfaces!). Then decide if you really need to keep those items, especially if they are out where customers can see everything. Invest in some cute bins for organizing things that you use often and can’t hide away. Consider decluttering areas such as waiting rooms, too. Do you have magazines that are decades old? Get rid of them! Decluttering is not only neat and tidy, but it makes it easier to wipe down surfaces if you don’t have to move a lot of stuff out of the way.
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Rearrange things. How long has it been since you moved all that furniture into your business? If it was a while ago, your needs have probably changed. Does anyone really ever sit on that old couch anymore? Does that shelf do anything but collect dust? Getting rid of furniture and rearranging the room can give your business a whole new clean, organized, customer-welcoming look. (And make sure you vacuum the whole room once the furniture is moved!)
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Wipe down surfaces that are used often. Don’t forget keyboards, light switches, and door knobs! Pay special attention to toys or other items you might have in your waiting room for children, which very easily get dirty.
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Take care of repairs. You may not think anything about that ceiling tile that’s drooping (after all, it’s been that way for years), but you should definitely consider this as a “mess” that needs to be taken care of. It is especially important to take care of repairs that might result in an accident, such as torn carpet that could trip someone.
Appearances do make a difference, and paying attention to how your office looks and what repairs need to be made is important. You have probably gone to a lot of trouble getting customers into your business – once they are there, don’t scare them off by showing them unorganized, messy piles of junk or a counter covered in dust and grime. It may take some professional cleaning help and some daily effort, but it is worth the trouble to keep your business clean!
