The Pros Can Help You Clean Up
Q: I’m a 23-year-old business administration student interested in launching a cleaning and janitorial service. I have seen the great potential this field has to offer, but I think I am underbidding myself when I give estimates to customers. I was hoping you could help me figure out a standard procedure or average pricing guide for my field. Also, are there associations that deal with janitorial and cleaning services?
--Milo Inda, Monterey Park
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A: There truly is potential in this field. A market data report issued in 1995 estimated the nationwide commercial cleaning industry’s sales at $49.5 billion and predicted it would grow to $52.8 billion in 1996.
There are many professional associations that deal with the cleaning industry, including the Assn. of Specialists in Cleaning and Restoration International in Annapolis Junction, Md. ([301] 604-4411), the International Sanitary Supply Assn. in Lincolnwood, Ill. ([847] 982-0800), and the International Executive Housekeepers Assn. in Westerville, Ohio ([614] 895-7166).
Our organization also provides seminars, printed materials and conferences on the cleaning industry. A conference in San Diego is scheduled May 5-7. For more information, call Robin Rischbieter at (518) 783-1281, Ext. 3134.
Our monthly magazine, Cleaning and Maintenance Management, publishes a statistical survey each year that covers contract cleaners’ annual expenses, customer profiles, operating costs, contracts and employee benefits. It also gives some pricing data on minimum service charges and carpet cleaning fees by region. The survey appeared in our December 1996 issue, which you can request by contacting Rischbieter.
--Dominic Tom
Managing editor, Cleaning and Maintenance Management, the Cleaning Management Institute,
Latham, N.Y.
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Q: I have an idea for an invention, but before proceeding I want to determine if a like product is on the market. What procedure should I follow?
--E.W. Erwin, North Hollywood
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A: First, you should undertake a preliminary patent search to determine if your idea has already been patented. Our group ([805] 962-5722) has professional patent searchers for hire who carry out searches at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington. You can also hire an attorney to do a patent search, or you can go online and check out one of the databases available there. Try searching for words like “patent,” “patent search” or “intellectual property.”
The Science, Technology and Patents Department of the Los Angeles Public Library downtown has a computer system on which you can schedule time to do a patent search, and it also has copies of the U.S. Patent Gazette, a weekly publication that lists new patent information. Obviously, if someone else already holds the patent on your invention, you will not be able to market the same product.
You should also consider doing some field research. That means visiting stores that might typically carry your product, talking to store managers and looking through mail order catalogs and trade publications.
Also at the library, you can find directories, such as the “Gale’s Guide,” that list trade associations, consumer publications and trade publications that relate to your product. These are excellent sources of information on new products and on your potential competitors.
Hunting through old issues of manufacturing and trade association publications will help you discover whether your product was invented sometime in the past but never put on the market or placed on the market and later pulled.
--Alan Arthur Tratner
President, Inventors Workshop, Santa Barbara
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If you have a question about how to start or operate a small business, please mail it to Karen E. Klein in care of the Los Angeles Times, 1333 S. Mayflower Ave., Suite 100, Monrovia 91016, or e-mail it to business@ latimes.com. Include your name and address. The column is designed to answer questions of general interest. It should not be construed as legal advice.
