The UAE has seen a boom in business over the past couple of decades, thanks to its huge oil reserves and political stability. It’s no surprise that people from all around the world are relocating to this region to try their hand at opening a business.
The UAE is notoriously clean and pristine. Tourists are often amazed at how well-kept the city is. The locals here want to keep it that way, so it’s no surprise that a thriving cleaning industry exists here. Demand for cleaners is high, but it’s not easy to navigate through all the red tape to get your business up and running.
Important Points to Consider Before You Start a Cleaning Business in Dubai:
If you want to open a cleaning company in Dubai, there are some things you should know:
- Business licenses are difficult to get in the UAE; you will have to do some serious hunting for information on where and how to apply for one.
- The market is saturated with professional cleaners; you will have to find ways of standing out from the competition if you want your business to be successful.
- Be wary of fly-by-night opportunists offering their services; ask plenty of questions when hiring someone, and make sure they have decent references before you agree on anything.
Requirements to Open a Cleaning Business in Dubai
If you want to start a cleaning business, it is important to be aware of certain requirements.
- The main requirement is having a valid work visa for the United Arab Emirates.
- The company must have a minimum capital of AED 100,000.
- The company must have at least three shareholders with a minimum shareholding of AED 20,000 each.
- Businesses who wish to apply for the license should be located in Dubai, both the owner and the premises must be physically located within the emirate.
- You’ll need a copy of your passport and another form of identification, as well as proof of your address.
- You will also need to pay an annual fee every year in order to stay in good standing with the registry office.
Cost to Start a Cleaning Business in Dubai
The cost of starting a cleaning business in Dubai is dependent on the type of business you want to start. For example, if you want to work as an individual and want to clean only residential properties, then the total cost will be less than if you wanted to start a company that will provide cleaning services for both residential and commercial properties.
The cost of starting a cleaning business in Dubai will depend largely on your choice of supplies and equipment. Supplies like cleaning tools and vacuum cleaners are relatively inexpensive. You can buy them online or from a local store at affordable prices. The most expensive part of starting a cleaning business in Dubai is transportation. If you own or rent a van or truck, you will incur extra expenses in terms of maintenance and insurance, which could be expensive during emergencies like accidents and break-downs.
There are many expenses that are involved in starting a cleaning business in Dubai; however, there are many ways through which these expenses can be reduced significantly without compromising on quality.
Approximately expenses to start up a cleaning business could be as low as 55,000 AED for an office cleaning service or up to 367,301.50 AED for a luxury residential cleaning company.
Start Your Cleaning Business in Dubai in Just 10 Steps
When you’re considering starting a cleaning business in Dubai, there are a few steps that you need to take to make sure that it’s going to be successful.
- Find A Good Location
- Get a Valid Commercial Licence
- Register Your Company
- Get VAT Registration Number
- Get an Office Address
- Get a Registered Company Phone Number
- Open a Company Bank Account
- Insurance of Your Cleaning Company
- Hire Working Staff
- Start Advertisement for Your Cleaning Business
1. Find A Good Location
The first thing to do is to find a good location for your business. You can choose your own place or rent a place for your business. It’s advisable that you choose the place where you want to start your business because you will have a better chance of getting customers from there and you can easily find the way to go and back home.
In addition, it is better that the place is near the road to be visible to people who are passing by. In addition, you should think about the furniture in your cleaning company as well, like tables and chairs, so that your customers will feel comfortable in your cleaning company.
2. Get a Valid Commercial Licence
When Starting a Business in Dubai the basic requirement is to have a valid commercial license. The commercial license may be issued after submitting the required documents to the Department of Economic Development (DED) of the Government of Dubai. You can go directly to this department or you can use a registered agent to help you with your registration process. Many commercial agents provide their services at a fee.
3. Register Your Company
If you plan to start your own cleaning business in Dubai, it is essential that you register your company with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Company name registration to start up a cleaning business in Dubai can be done through DMCC Business Gateway. The registration procedure normally takes around 2-3 working days from the day of submission of all the required documents.
There are various benefits of registering your company with the Chamber, such as access to relevant information that will help your business grow, networking opportunities, and government contacts.
4. Get VAT Registration Number
Business owners looking to start a cleaning business in Dubai need to provide their company with a valid VAT registration number. VAT, or value-added tax, is a tax on the purchase of goods and services. The United Arab Emirates allows businesses that sell goods and services within its borders to register for VAT. You’ll need your company’s VAT registration number if you’re planning on hiring professional cleaners or buying cleaning products or equipment. Providers will often ask for this number when selling you any product or service related to your cleaning business.
5. Get an Office Address
When starting a cleaning business, you must have an office address in Dubai. You can use your home or rent a commercial space. To get a lease contract, you need to show the available space to the landlord with your ID and two witnesses. You will get a tenancy contract as well.
6. Get a Registered Company Phone Number
The laws of the UAE require you to have a registered phone number, a landline or mobile phone number, and a UAE commercial license. These are easy to get.
To apply for a phone number, visit your local Etisalat office (there’s one on every other corner in most Dubai neighborhoods) and bring your passport. You’ll need to fill out an application form and pay the fee.
Once you’ve got your number, register it with the service provider by filling out another application form at the same office.
7. Open a Company Bank Account
It is important to have a personal bank account for the cleaning business in Dubai, any business that generates income should be separate from the owner’s personal income. This will help you to get away with paying less tax.
The procedure takes some time and effort, but it is worth it if you are operating legally. In order to open a bank account in UAE, you need to apply for an identification card (employment visa) and submit your passport as well as all other necessary documents to the authorities. Once approved you can then proceed with opening a bank account for your cleaning or other business.
8. Insure Your Cleaning Company
As part of your cleaning business in Dubai, it’s important to set up an insurance policy that protects your business from the unexpected. While you may feel like you’re a hard worker, and that you do everything in your power to avoid accidents, some things are completely outside of your control and if you don’t have insurance for them, it could put your whole business at risk. Your best bet is to take care of all the little details, like insurance, from the very start.
9. Hire Working Staff
To ensure that your business is on the right track to a successful future, you will want to make sure that you can hire staff to work for your cleaning business in Dubai.
Some of the most important things that you will want to look at are:
1. You need to make sure that they have enough experience and knowledge of what they are doing. They will need to know how important it is to have a clean place and how important it is to have a clean environment.
2. A good business always has great reviews from past clients. You need to make sure that the company you are dealing with has a good reputation based on the services they provide.
3. Make sure you do your research about the cost of hiring staff for your cleaning business. This can be a difficult thing for some people, but don’t worry because there are plenty of online resources that can help you with this.
10. Start Advertisement for Your Cleaning Business
Many people who have cleaning businesses started to advertise it by putting ads in the local papers, websites, and social media.
If you really want to increase the number of customers and make money, the first thing you need to do is to create a website. You can also hire someone to create one for you at a reasonable cost. After creating a website, you need to promote your business on it. You can put some work samples on the site so that people can see how good your service is.
Read More: 5 Rules of Long Term Business Success
Conclusion
The most important thing when it comes to starting your own business is the experience. While building a company from scratch, you must constantly work on growing it and introducing new features that would attract more customers. As a result, you have to become a professional in a certain field so that people would get familiar with your name. Also, it is important to find your target audience, and learn more about their needs and preferences, so you could provide them with a great service in the long term.
