The current trend of aggressive expansion in office space has boosted the demand for professional cleaning and maintenance services. As a result, companies that started out in this business a few years ago, with original investments worth several thousands of euros, are today running operations worth hundreds of thousands of euros and register profit margins between 30% and 35%.
"I chose this professional cleaning and maintenance business due to a rise in demand for specialised services on the Romanian market, along with the development of the real estate, office buildings and shopping centres market," says Nita Stelian, the general manager of ActivStedo company in Bucharest. The company first entered the market in 2001 and takes care of building management, monitoring and security.
Nita Stelian started his business when he was 46 and the first step he took was to research professional equipment, materials, substances and types of services required. He initially invested 10,000 euros in buying equipment, tools, materials and vehicles. All the profit derived along the way has been invested in equipment and retooling in order to keep up with the pace of the market. The price for the services provided is set depending on the type of services required, the surface area, traffic and the number of employees, the products needed for the services, as well as how frequently the services are performed and other additional requirements.
General cleaning services can cost a client between 55 and 200 euros per 100 square metres, plus additional service costs. Daily cleaning and maintenance services for a 100 square metre area range between 55 and 100 euros, while cleaning and finishing services provided after a builder or repair crew have completed their job range between 100 and 250 euros.
The turnover registered by the company in 2005 stood at 99,000 eur
