COVID-19 Update: FastKlean will remain fully operational during the national lockdown. 
People often view private cleaners as a way to save money. This brings to mind the “there is always someone, willing to do it cheaper” saying. And no, the existence of it isn’t just a gimmick by the evil corporations who want to steal the work of these poor, hardworking freelance cleaners. There definitely is merit to the saying, and today, we’ll show you just why that is.
Hello everyone and welcome back to our blog. With today’s post, we are going to tackle the “companies or freelancers” situation. In our line of work, this is one of the so-called “evergreen” debates. It’s a topic that is always discussed both by the clients and the professionals. This is why we’ve decided that it deserves a thorough look. We will try our best to be objective here, and we’ll tackle both sides of the situation, showing you the ups and downs of each option.
Cleaning services are a very lucrative and competitive niche. A niche in which the demand is always high, but the competent service providers are in short supply. The situation has given rise to numerous cleaning companies, staffed by only a handful of employees. Yet they all have their own websites, professional pages, accreditations, offices and so on. But are they all the same?
Are they all on equal footing? Of course not. The free market allows, encourages and thrives on competition. But for your average customer, picking out the right service providers, who are actually worth their salt, can be quite challenging.
Cleaning Companies vs Freelancers– Overview
The simple truth of the matter is that too many choices can be overwhelming. Looking into so many professional cleaning companies, reading through their websites and making phone calls is both time consuming and annoying. That’s exactly what happens to most people – they get confused and eventually annoyed by the sheer length of their search.
On the other hand, you also have freelance cleaners. Cleaners that work on their own, without being employed by a company. Online platforms and ads make it much easier to find and compare freelancers by reviews and ratings. There are, however, a few glaring downsides that come with choosing a freelancer.
There are no guarantees for experience
While it’s easy to check how long ago a cleaning company was founded, there is no way to reliably tell how experienced a private cleaner is. They might have thirty years of experience under their belt, or they might be doing this temporarily while looking for a position in some other field.
You have to trust a complete outsider
Companies have a brand name and years of reputation on the line. Private cleaners, on the other hand, don’t have to worry about that nearly as much. Sure, reputation is also important for a dedicated freelancer but, in the grand scheme of things, losing a large number of clients or having to rebrand and start over isn’t really worth the risk for an established business.
Replacements and days off
Finding an experienced and trustworthy service provider is difficult enough, even when you don’t account for vacations, days off or working hours. On such occasions, a reputable company will be able to provide you with a temporary replacement quickly. A private cleaner, on the other hand, will have no choice but to leave you hanging.
At the end of the day, we all need some downtime. The dust and bacteria in your home, however, don’t take days off. The dust will keep piling up until there is someone who can deal with it. When neglected, the cleaning tasks will pile up, requiring twice or even thrice the amount of work (and naturally – the price tag).
Despite what some might claim, cleaning is by no means an easy job. Not if you want to do it right, at least. There are a lot of things a good cleaner needs to know, and obtaining this know-how comes with experience and training.
Are Private Cleaners Really Cheaper?
Okay, now let’s see where the price discrepancy comes from. Your average private cleaner will charge you somewhere between £10 and £15. Most cleaning companies (FastKlean included) will ask for about £15. This is because, unlike private cleaning contractors, established companies offer a complete service package, rather than “just cleaning”.
- Cleaning companies will almost always be able to provide you with a replacement expert in case your designated cleaner can’t make it in time. Freelancers are unable to do that, by virtue of working alone. When they are tired, busy, ill or otherwise preoccupied, you will have no choice but to postpone your cleaning session.
- Cleaning companies will be more than happy to listen to complaints and will do everything in their power to provide you with top-of-the-line service. Private cleaners only have their own skillset and experience to draw from, while a business can send a different expert, provide more tools for the job or take a different approach altogether, based on your specific requirements.
- Cleaning companies will always provide a designated supervisor for your project. Private cleaners only have themselves to rely on.
- Cleaning companies offer extensive customer support. You can pick up your phone and get in touch with your service provider at any point in time. You can make adjustments, ask questions or request assistance at your leisure. A one-man-show is no match for an entire full-time customer support team.
- Cleaning companies are fully insured. There are numerous laws, regulations and requirements (not to mention competition!), necessitating comprehensive insurance policies. Private cleaners are under no such obligations (and some plans are only available on company-level).
- Cleaning companies treasure their reputation. In a highly competitive field like ours, reputation is everything. The bigger the company, the harder it will try to protect its good name. A private cleaner can always rebrand or change their platform.
- Cleaning companies offer consistency. There are always replacement cleaners, ready to pick up your project should something unexpected happen. Private cleaners offer no such continuity. They might just decide they’re done with this type of business, and you’ll have to go through the entire process of finding a new cleaner from scratch.
- Cleaning companies invest in their employees. A decent portion of our resources goes towards ensuring that our employees are up-to-speed with the best practices in the field.
We provide them with extensive training courses and modern equipment. Private cleaners, on the other hand, are unlikely to spend their income on training.
- Are these private cleaners vetted?
- Are they adequately trained?
- Are they properly insured?
- Can you even call someone other than the cleaner in case any problems arise?
- Is there a way to actually speak with the cleaner, be it face-to-face or by phone?
Usually, the answers to the first three questions are going to be left unanswered. You will simply have to take their word for it. The last point, however, is almost always going to be a “no”, at least until you actually hire someone. The reason is quite simple – these platforms provide a valuable service, and naturally, take a commission from the cleaners in return. But if you could just get a hold of the cleaner’s phone number and go to them directly, the platform doesn’t have a way of earning any money out of it.
As a side-note, all of these problems are very prominent, no matter the industry. This is why most people prefer working with agencies and companies, rather than trusting freelancers (which creates an even fiercer competition on platforms, decreasing the average cleaning prices even further, driving away skilled individuals and lowering the overall quality of service as a result).
The Final Verdict
The one thing that private cleaners have on companies is the lower price tag, but, as we already discussed, that’s only an illusion. A company, backed up by a professional team has the ability to provide you with a comprehensive service, while a freelancer only has themselves to rely on.
There’s no realistic way for any single individual to match the overall quality of service that a group of dedicated experts can reliably deliver. And while we are a tad biased, being a cleaning company and all that, we do really have your best interests in mind. If we believed that private cleaners are better than companies, we wouldn’t be in this business.
Still, we felt that a thorough overview of the situation would be beneficial, both for you as a client and for us as a service provider. Before we wrap it up for today, we’ll naturally also give you a quick pitch for our services.
Why FastKlean?
Choose FastKlean as your dedicated provider of domestic or commercial cleaning services and enjoy the following benefits:
- Fully vetted, trained and insured cleaners (over 20 years of experience)
- Quick, efficient and effective cleaning methods (the job gets done before you know it)
- Innovative techniques and eco-friendly initiatives (modern approaches and green solutions)
- Exceptional continuity (dedicated cleaners for your projects & subscriptions)
- Professional Account management (a dedicated account manager for your contract)
- Friendly customer support (available at all times)
- Modern Mobile App (receive real-time updates on your cleaner’s progress)
- Innovative online system, featuring automated login, allowing access to your dedicated account (complete with detailed reports and before & after pictures
- Exclusive bonuses and special deals
Our innovative digital system allows you to quickly and easily get in touch with your dedicated cleaning expert, check up on their progress, receive real-time updates and enjoy detailed reports, complete with before and after pictures.
Furthermore, our cleaning company frequently offers promotional deals with discounts and various bonuses:
- Enjoy lucrative discounts on gardening, rubbish removal, oven, carpet, upholstery or window cleaning.
- Benefit from exceptional continuity and package deals for household maintenance and chores – ironing, shopping, painting, handyman work and more
And, with this, we’ve reached the end of today’s blog post. We hope that you’ve found this information interesting and that we’ve made your choice at least a tad easier. If you enjoyed this article, and we would like you to share it with your friends and give it a thumbs up on social media. We really appreciate it. As always, if you have any questions or you think that we’ve missed something, please do not hesitate to let us know in the comments below – we’re always happy to hear from you.
Thank you all for reading, and we’ll see you next time!
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