There's no shortage of opportunities for you to test your interest in cleaning. Many different organizations in your community need volunteers for such work. The social services departments that assist the elderly and the disabled in many towns rely on volunteers and part-time workers to go into homes and clean for those who can't do it themselves. Those jobs will generally involve only light cleaning and vacuuming. Because most of your work will involve solutions and equipment, rent a carpet cleaning machine and try it out. Clean all the carpets in your house, and you'll get a sense of the daily duties of a cleaning service owner (though professional cleaning tools are often larger and more complex than the ones you rent from a store). Large cleaning services that clean office buildings and stores often hire high school students for evening hours and weekends. Working even part time, you'll learn a lot about the cleaning equipment and requirements of the work.
Read publications such as ISSA Today and Clean Update (both are available on https://www.issa.com/media/newsletters) to learn more about the field. Check out the RIA Restoration Blog (https://www.restorationindustry.org/restoration-blog) to learn more about damage restoration.
Visit the U.S. Small Business Administration's Web site, https://www.sba.gov, to learn more about starting a business. This federal government agency offers information and seminars on funding, starting, and operating a successful business.
You'll need strong business skills to operate your cleaning company, so it's a good idea to join student business organizations—such as Junior Achievement (https://jausa.ja.org), DECA (www.deca.org), Future Business Leaders of America (https://www.fbla.org), and Business Professionals of America (http://bpa.org). Student members learn more about the business world and participate in activities that develop their leadership, managerial, and financial management skills.
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