What does the owner of a cleaning company do day to day?

The crews do the cleaning. The owner handles client relationships, scheduling and staffing. Before you buy, you want to know which of those jobs the current owner does, how many hours it takes, and whether you could do it or would need to hire it done.

Selling and quoting

Someone has to walk through a new site, judge how long the work will take and put a price on it. In many small companies that is the owner. Ask who handles quotes, how they decide on a price, and who talks to a client when the quote is questioned. If every client knows only the owner, that relationship is part of what you are buying, so ask how it will pass to you.

Scheduling and covering gaps

Crews need routes, keys, supplies and a plan for the morning someone calls in sick. Ask the seller whether they ever step in to clean a site themselves, and what happens when two people are off at once. A company that runs smoothly only because the owner fills every gap is a different job from one with a supervisor who handles it.

Quality checks, payroll and the phone

Ask who visits the sites to check the work, and when, and who deals with a complaint before a client decides to leave. Then there is payroll, supply orders and invoicing. Ask to see a real week from the calendar and the phone. How to tell if a janitorial company’s profit depends on the owner’s own work goes deeper on that question.

Deciding what you would do yourself

Write the owner’s tasks in a list and mark each one as yours, a manager’s or a crew leader’s. Then ask whether the business can afford to pay for the tasks you will not do. Your accountant can help you look at that, and a transition period with the seller can give you time to learn the routine.