Ever heard of a naked golf club cleaning service?

Hi,

Now this may come as a surprise, but when it comes to proven moneymaking ideas I’m a big fan of cleaning-related businesses.

Before you drop off to sleep with sheer lack of excitement at the thought that cleaning can be a lucrative business opportunity, think again. Cleaning businesses have a lot going for them ….

* They’re cheap to start.

* They’re refreshingly low tech. You don’t need to know anything about e-commerce, Internet marketing and so on. Why, you don’t even need a computer for this type of business.

* They’re low skilled. You don’t need any previous experience or expertise.

* They always enjoy good demand. Even in a recession there are people who are willing and who can afford to pay you to clean up after them.

Maybe you don’t fancy cleaning yourself. No problem. Cleaning businesses are perfect as simple run-and-manage opportunities where you can outsource the actual ‘dirty work’ to employees.

But – and you just knew there would be a ‘but’ didn’t you – cleaning has one very significant flaw as a business model. You see, because cleaning businesses are easy and cheap to start VIRTUALLY ANYONE can set one up. And that’s a snag, because it means there can be a lot of competition, which also pushes prices down.

What you need if you really want to succeed in this sort of business (or most kinds of business for that matter) is something that will make your business different. Something that will give you a unique angle on the market and help it stand out head and shoulders above the competition. Ideally something that will allow you to charge more too. In short, you need a unique twist, or a unique selling proposition …. a USP as it’s known in the marketing industry.

The other week on the local TV news I saw a feature on one guy who had set up a naked cleaning service, and was apparently very busy!

Now I’m not for a minute suggesting you go that far. But it proves my point perfectly. A naked cleaning service is a very specialist niche maybe. But he’d obviously found enough people who were willing to pay for it. And, I bet, pay a big premium over what a regular cleaning service would charge. If nothing else, his unique angle got him £30,000 worth of free TV exposure – if you’ll pardon the pun. Free publicity that a normal, clothed cleaning service could only dream about getting.

So how about an idea for a unique, profitable cleaning business you could start …. and one that doesn’t involve taking your clothes off?

I think I’ve found a really novel one here. Actually, I have to thank chief opportunity researcher Mark Hempshell for tipping me off about this one so I’ll let me take it from here:

Opportunity Review: Sonic Golf

Could you make £1,900 a month in just 3 days a week cleaning golf clubs?

Here’s a really clever golf club cleaning opportunity.

Sonic Golf was formed in 2006 by Joel Bissitt. Joel is an entrepreneur and has been a keen golfer since the age of 7 getting down to a 4 handicap by the age of 15.

Now golf is a very interesting niche market. One that is well worth a closer look for its moneymaking potential. Firstly, it’s an affluent market – even in a recession. Golfers are willing to spend lots of money on their equipment – particularly on products and services which will help them steal a march on their fellow golfers. And golfers usually aren’t the sort of people who want to spend hours cleaning their kit.

Sonic Golf have pioneered a clever ultrasonic machine that is portable and easy to use and which can clean a full set of golf clubs in just two minutes. Joel tells me that the benefits of ultrasonically cleaning golf clubs include returning the grips to a slightly tacky finish and cleaning the grooves on the club’s face, so improving ball control. The company already have hundreds of machines in operation across the UK, Spain, Ireland and Australia with ambitious plans to expand. Putting my marketing head on for a moment, it’s just the sort of USP you need to turn what could otherwise be quite a dreary activity into a marketable, high value-added business.

Sonic Golf operates as a franchise where you are licensed to operate on a mobile basis at golf courses, choosing to work on busy golfing days to suit your schedule. You get a package including the Sonic Golf machine, detergent, valet station, signage packs, stationery, training, help with finding clubs to operate at and ongoing support for a fee of £6,495+VAT – which as franchises go nowadays is a pretty modest sum really. You collect all the money directly from golfers and you do not pay Sonic a percentage of your revenue – only an annual licence fee (the first year is free).

 
So what sort of money can you make from golf club cleaning?

Joel tells me, very sensibly, that your income will depend on how you operate and how much you wish to work. However, an independent business using their machine for the last three years and working around three days per week has achieved revenue up to £1,900 in a month. I think you’ll agree that’s pretty impressive from what is essentially just a cleaning service.

As I said earlier, maybe cleaning golf clubs isn’t the sort of work that really appeals to you. No matter with Sonic Golf. This is the type of cleaning opportunity you could easily outsource to part time staff and never have to touch a dirty golf club yourself. Sonic Golf also appoint regional partners who get the rights to run a fleet of machines across their region. This might be of interest if you are looking for a run-and-manage opportunity (albeit for a much higher investment) particularly if you live in an area where there are a lot of clubs. They also have opportunities to get involved with golf buggies, golf simulators and even a golf shoe cleaning system. (If you have an affinity with the golfing fraternity you will really be able to see the potential in these.)

If you’d like to know more about how Sonic Golf works you can find details here

Of course, there’s absolutely nothing to stop you getting started in this sort of business by yourself – without buying a franchise like this. But this is a great example of how you can use a clever USP to turn a simple idea into something that is much more marketable and profitable too.

Thanks Mark.

If golf club cleaning really isn’t for you or you don’t have the cash to stump up for a franchise there are lots of other cleaning business opportunities you could think about starting. I’ve covered these in What Really Makes Money over the last year or so. For example, last month we studied dog washing and grooming. Or services like laundry and ironing, and carpet and upholstery cleaning would be really cheap and easy to set up. At the end of last year I reported on reader Nigel White’s very clever UPVC window, facia and conservatory cleaning service. It wouldn’t take a lot of time or money to set up a business like this in your area right now.

Just remember, whatever kind of cleaning business – or any other business – you want to set up try and give it some kind of special twist or USP if you want to boost your chances of success.


Have a great weekend

Nick