Anyone have experience with commercial cleaning?

October 07, 2025

by a searcher from Utah Valley University - Woodbury School of Business in Arizona, USA

I am looking to purchase a commercial cleaning company, would love to get some insight into the industry from other searchers, business is 20 years old and focus's mainly on cleaning common areas of apartment buildings.

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Reply by a lender
from Cornell University in Los Angeles, CA, USA

Hi Jared - nice to meet you. I’ve spent a fair bit of time analyzing commercial cleaning businesses, especially ones that focus on common-area maintenance for multifamily and condo buildings. When reviewing the business, check the durability of its contracts and workforce structure. Confirm that service agreements-often annual or multi-year-renew automatically and that relationships with property managers or HOAs are stable and diversified, not dependent on just a few clients. This helps avoid customer concentration risks, if you're using the SBA to fund your deal. In my opinion however, the single most important factor to evaluate is labor. These companies depend almost entirely on their workforce, and issues like high turnover, underpaid staff, or misclassified 1099 contractors can quickly lead to service failures, client loss, or even legal penalties. Strong employee retention, competitive wages, and proper worker classification will ultimately determine whether the business can maintain reliable service, stay compliant, and keep its contracts. From a valuation standpoint, most commercial cleaning companies trade in roughly the 2x-4x EBITDA range, depending on size, contract stability, and customer concentration. Given that the work is recurring but price competitive, premiums are often derived from contract quality and route density, not just revenue. That's why its important to have a knowledgeable broker on your deal. We have a lot experience financing cleaning companies via the SBA. If you ever need help talking through a deal, I am happy to help. We work with all the major SBA lenders. The bank pays us after your loan closes, so this is a 100% free service for you. You can email me directly at redacted or schedule a meeting with me: https://cal.com/francodeguzman/30min. Look forward to chatting!

Reply by a lender
from Eastern Illinois University in 900 E Diehl Rd, Naperville, IL 60563, USA

We have provided financing on many commercial cleaning businesses over the years. If you need any feedback from a lenders perspective, I would be happy to assist you. You can reach me here or directly at redacted We also offer a free review of deals as well.

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