Hi Caitlin. Here's your business, start to first regular.

Work the same way every time, so nothing gets missed and you get faster.

• Spray tubs, showers and toilets first, so the cleaner works while you do the rest.
• Top to bottom: dust high, then surfaces, then floors.
• Dry before wet: dust and vacuum before you mop.
• Back of the house to the front door, so you never walk on a clean floor.
• Kitchen: counters, outside of appliances, stovetop, inside the microwave, sink and faucet, cabinet fronts, floor.
• Bathrooms: mirror, sink, counter, toilet inside and out, tub and shower, fixtures, floor.
• Bedrooms and living areas: dust reachable surfaces, make beds if sheets are left out, empty bins, vacuum, mop hard floors.
• Last: walk through with the checklist, turn off lights you turned on, lock up as the notes say.

Deep cleans add baseboards by hand, door frames, light switches, vents and the extras booked. Keep a printed copy in your caddy for the first month.

The site books jobs with these times. Your goal is to finish within them.

Each extra adds 10 to 40 minutes. Regular visits are booked for the same time as a one-time standard clean. Write down your start and end time for your first 10 cleans. If you're over on most of them, the times and prices go up. If regular visits run well under, tell Garrett: they're earning more than planned.

The site can't book more than 8 hours in a day, so the biggest move-outs show a price but no open times. If a client asks about one, plan it with them by text.

• A HEPA vacuum of your own (canister or backpack). Client vacuums vary too much. This is the big purchase.
• A flat microfiber mop with washable pads.
• About 40 microfiber cloths in two colors: one color for bathrooms only, one for everything else. Never mix them.
• All-purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, bathroom cleaner, degreaser, and a stone-safe cleaner for granite and marble.
• Scrub brushes, a grout brush, melamine sponges, an extendable duster.
• Nitrile gloves, knee pads, shoe covers, a two-step stool, trash bags, a caddy.

A rough guess is $500–800 all in, most of it the vacuum. Price it before you buy. Wash cloths hot, without fabric softener. Restock every Friday. Keep receipts for everything.

If you'll be more than 10 minutes late, text as soon as you know, with a new arrival time. Still do the full clean. Being late twice with the same client is worth a small discount next visit.

Stop. Take a photo. Tell the client the same day, before they find it. Offer to repair or replace. Write down what happened. If it's worth more than your insurance deductible, call your insurer that day. Never hide damage. Owning it is how you keep the client.

• Prefer door codes or a lockbox to keys.
• If you hold a key, tag it with a number, never a name or address. Keep the number list in your phone, not on the key ring.
• Door codes live in the client's booking notes only. Don't write them anywhere else.
• Return keys the day a client leaves.

Learn every pet's name. Ask how they react to the vacuum. Never let an indoor cat out: check before you open doors. If a dog is anxious or protective, the client secures it before you start. If a pet seems unwell, text the client.

• Never mix bleach with ammonia or with acidic cleaners. Open a window in small bathrooms.
• Gloves for chemicals, knee pads for floors. Lift with your legs; don't move heavy furniture.
• Nothing higher than your two-step stool.
• Not your job: biohazards, mold, pests, hoarding cleanups. Decline politely (script below).
• If anything about a home feels unsafe, leave, then text the client. You don't need a reason beyond that.

If you're contagious, don't go. Text the client, offer the next open day, and don't charge for the change. Find one other solo cleaner you trust and agree to cover each other's emergencies. Keep a month of expenses saved so a sick week isn't a crisis.

Register "Dust til Dawn" with the Colorado Secretary of State as a sole proprietor: $20, online only. It doesn't stop anyone else using the name; it just makes yours official. Note the renewal date the state gives you.

Denver has no general business license. It licenses specific kinds of business, and house cleaning doesn't appear to be one. Confirm with a short email to licenses@denvergov.org.

Denver does charge an occupational privilege tax: $4 a month for any month you work in Denver, even as a one-person business. You can prepay the year ($48) by January 31.

Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Englewood, Littleton, Centennial, Wheat Ridge and Edgewater each set their own rules, and a few nearby cities have their own occupational tax. Check each city's website, or call, before you take a job there.

Colorado doesn't generally tax services, and neither the state nor Denver lists house cleaning as a taxable service. Keep supplies inside your price, never as a separate line item, and you shouldn't need a sales tax license. For certainty, ask the Colorado Department of Revenue in writing.

Free from the IRS in ten minutes. Use it instead of your Social Security number on W-9s and bank forms.

General liability, usually $1 million per claim and $2 million a year, runs about $45–50 a month for house cleaners. Ask each insurer: "Does this cover damage to a client's things while I'm working on them?" Some policies limit that, so get the answer in writing. A janitorial bond is optional, about $9 a month, and covers theft claims.

Tell your auto insurer you drive to jobs. A personal policy can refuse a claim on the way to work. Ask what business use costs.

Colorado's rules are written for employers. Before you hire anyone, even part-time, check what you need.

Optional. Filing costs $50, plus a $25 report each year. It mostly keeps business debts separate; it doesn't protect you from your own mistakes on the job. Insurance does that. Revisit with a CPA once you're busy.

Same afternoon:

Hi [Name], it's Caitlin. Your home is all done. If you're happy with it, a short Google review helps me more than anything: [link]. Thank you for having me.

Three days later, once:

Hi [Name], a gentle nudge in case my review link got buried: [link]. No worries if not.

Before I go: would you like me to keep this time for you every two weeks? Your regular clean would be $[X] instead of $[Y], and you can skip or pause online any time.

No problem, I hope everything's okay. Because it's inside 24 hours, my policy is 50% ($[X]) for the held time. Or I can move you to [day] instead and we'll call it even.

Offering the move instead of the fee is fine once per client per year.

Hi [Name], I'm at your door and can't get in. I'll wait until [time, 20 minutes from now]. If we can't sort it out, my lockout policy applies. Let me know how you'd like to handle it.

Hi [Name], I'm running about [15] minutes behind. I'll be there by [time] and you'll still get the full clean.

Hi [Name], I'm sorry: I [broke / damaged] your [item] today. Here's a photo. I'd like to make it right by [repairing / replacing] it. Can we talk this evening?

Thank you for thinking of me. This one isn't a good fit for what I do, so I'd rather point you to someone who'll do it well. [Optional: name a specialist.]

Use it for biohazards, mold, pests, hoarding, too far, unsafe, or a client who wants the price lowered.

Hi [Name], a quick heads-up: starting [date, 30 days out], your regular clean will be $[new], up from $[old]. Costs have gone up, and this keeps me doing the job the way you're used to. Thank you for having me every [two weeks].

Hi [Name], I'm sick and don't want to bring it into your home. Can I move you to [day]? There's no charge for the change.

When you tap Charge after a clean, Stripe charges the client's saved card. Your first payout usually takes 7 to 14 days while Stripe sets up your account. After that, money arrives about two business days after you charge. Stripe keeps about 3%. You can see everything in the Stripe app.

The admin page shows it as failed. If the bank just wants the client to confirm, the site emails them a link to approve the payment and updates when they do. Otherwise, text them; they can pay another way, and you mark it "paid another way" in admin.

If they cancel through their link within 24 hours, the 50% fee is charged automatically. If you're locked out, open the job in admin and tap "Locked out / no-show"; it charges the fee you set. You can always waive a fee by entering $0.

Yes. The easiest way is to send them your booking link so they pick a time and save a card. If they'd rather not, just put them on your Google Calendar and they can pay you however you agree.

Any time, from the "Prices & hours" page in admin. The website updates immediately. Existing bookings keep the price they were quoted.

The website costs nothing beyond about $15 a year for the domain. Stripe takes about 3% of each charge. Insurance is about $45–50 a month. The full list is under Money & legal.

Not to start. A registered trade name is enough. An LLC ($50 to file, plus a $25 report each year) keeps business debts separate, but it doesn't protect you if something goes wrong on a job; insurance does. Ask a CPA once you're busy.

Text the client, offer the next open day, and don't charge for the change. The script is under Scripts.