I recently moved to a very small rural town in SW Virginia (right on the border of Kentucky & Tennessee) and am interested starting a house cleaning business.

My cleaning skills are basic, mostly from just cleaning my own home and I have not cleaned professionally before.

If anyone has any tips or suggestions, I'm definitely willing to listen!

Some questions that I have are:

-What someone who is just starting out should charge?

-Charge by the hour or by the job?

-Are there any cleaning products any of you swear by as far as what works/what doesn't work as well?

-Would it be wise to offer a lower cost (or even FREE) cleaning to someone in exchange for a reference? (I have no references because I've never cleaned houses professionally before)

-What does a "basic cleaning" usually include?

I'd like to make up a caddy of supplies that will work rather than using the trial & error approach in customers' homes. And I'd hate to have to constantly buy new supplies until I find what works.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Elizabeth :)