If you love to clean and organize, you’re not alone. Prepping rental apartments for new tenants is an excellent side hustle because it lets you enjoy your interests while helping others live more comfortably in their own homes.
Apartment prepping businesses exist in many locations across the United States. If you live in a large city, it can be incredibly lucrative depending on how you choose to run your business. For those interested in starting their apartment prepping business, here are some tips and pointers to keep in mind as you start from scratch and begin growing your new business from the ground up.
What Is Apartment Prepping?
If you’re wondering what exactly apartment prepping is, there are a few things that apartment preppers do for apartments that new renters will appreciate. The main goal of apartment prepper is to make it easy for new tenants. In addition, they want these renters to feel welcome and comfortable in their new homes. To be an apartment prepper, one must consider basic household cleaning tasks as well as general maintenance.
Common duties include dusting baseboards and light fixtures, vacuuming carpets, cleaning toilets and sinks, checking caulking around tubs and showers, etc. These jobs can often take hours depending on how many units one owns or cleans! Apartment preppers also have access to specific tools, which help them complete many jobs faster than by hand alone.
Preparing The Apartments
You can either work on commission for a property management company or market your apartment preparation services. Landlords pay from $100–$300 per apartment, depending on its size and how difficult it is to clean. Some landlords will expect you to do the job yourself, but others will pay for you and your team’s time. You can hire subcontractors who work directly with you or through a staffing agency.
Ask the landlord if they are okay with you painting and transforming the apartment into something new depending on the theme you want. When you pre-paint an apartment, you are essentially giving your customer a blank canvas. You get to choose every color, texture, and design element in each room, from wall coverings and flooring to window treatments and artwork.
Prepare other materials you might need when designing the whole apartment, like curtains and sheets. If there’s a balcony, make use of the space and add a resting room with furniture that they can relax in. Add cushions and dress them up in high-quality outdoor cushion covers to make them more homey and comfortable.
Most prep jobs take a week or two, but it’s wise to take on more than one job at a time so that your schedule is always full. Make sure you have enough supplies so that you can complete multiple jobs simultaneously.
Organize Your Cleaning Supplies
Before you can even begin cleaning, you’ll need all of your cleaning products, sponges, paper towels, and other supplies easily accessible in a location that’s not just easy for you to find but also easy for clients. A good way to make sure that happens is by purchasing a commercial shelving unit or two— these are sturdy and will hold all of your cleaning materials in an organized fashion that keeps everything within arm’s reach.
In addition to purchasing shelves, take time before each job to lay out all of your cleaning tools so that they’re ready to use when needed. For example, have paper towels at hand on your mop bucket; if you think about it beforehand, there won’t be any reason why they shouldn’t be there once jobs start rolling in.
Reach Out to Clients
If you’re going into business for yourself, it’s a good idea to establish client relationships as soon as possible. Ideally, these clients will be able to provide repeat business and referrals, but even if they don’t become recurring customers, you must develop long-term relationships. It can be done through networking events or simply talking with friends or family. You may need some handouts with your contact information printed on them to help in these endeavors. Keep a list of everyone you meet so that when it comes time to market, email, or phone every single person who was nice enough to speak with you.
Figure Out A Way To Market Yourself
Just because you have an awesome idea doesn’t mean people will notice. Making sure your business has a solid foundation involves having a plan for marketing yourself and your new venture.
If you think about ways you might market yourself or your business before actually starting it, you may see some holes in your plan or potential issues that could arise from poor marketing. Doing a little research and talking with other entrepreneurs makes it possible to see what might work for you and what may not be worth it. Then it’s just up to putting in the effort!
The apartment prepping business is a high-growth industry and an excellent source of income for those with a strong work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit. If you’re committed to starting an apartment prepping business, there are three important steps you need to take: plan out your costs, determine what services you can offer, and decide on how you will market your company.
