Janitorial Liability: Protecting The Owner Of A Cleaning Company


By D. Brownlee


Let’s face it, running a janitorial company is not easy. It’s not glamorous. And, at time’s, it’s not very profitable. But, when you add the ever lingering possibility of lawsuits by your employees and customers and worker compensation claims, you begin to see why a lot of company’s don’t make it past their 3rd year!

Look in your local yellow pages, and you’ll discover an unending line of lawyers, all waiting to file a claim against someone, anyone, for just about any reason imaginable.

If you’re a small company, you may be dependant on your customers paying you on time, so that you can meet your payroll cost. That’s too bad. Why? Because, many business owners are habitually LATE on their Account Payables. And, this means that you have to borrow the money to pay your employees and of course, pay it back with interest OR you have to tell your employees that payroll will be a few days late, and risk them quitting or worse, going to the Labor Board.

Now, consider the cost of dealing with Workers Compensation claims. Even if the claims are true, you have to stop running your business (sales, management, supervision, etc.) and fill out papers, possibly meet with their attorney, and a hundred other task related to the case.

But, what if it’s a false claim (your employees wouldn’t file a bogus claim against you, would they?)

Now, you have to hire your own attorney, and gather witnesses, and drudge up documentation supporting your case PLUS stop running your business, filling out forms and meeting with the plaintiffs attorneys, etc.

What’s at risk? For starters, your time, and lots of it. And, thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees and damages. And, quite possibly your personal assets (if you’re not incorporated).

There are a couple of ways to protect yourself.

The first way is to clean all of your buildings yourself. That’s right. Every square inch of buildings that you currently have…. Clean them yourself. After all, you’re not going to file a claim against yourself, right? If you did, YOU would have to pay YOU!

Of course, you wouldn’t be able to take on any new business, if you couldn’t find the time to clean it yourself. This would basically create a ‘glass ceiling’ on your income, and lock you into being an employee for as long as your company continued to operate.

If this doesn’t sound like the way to go, you’re right… it isn’t. A more feasible alternative is to merge with another company, and allow them to bill your customers, train your employees, and deal with the headaches of running a janitorial company.

This would free up your time to do more selling, quality control, etc. Furthermore, you would have more time for your family and friends, social activities or anything else you’d like to do. But, most importantly, you would transfer all liability to the other company, thus protecting your company’s name, assets and reputation.

In return, you would pay them a small percentage of the business that they’re managing for you. The percentage would have to be negotiated in advance, but expect to pay around 10-15% of your gross billing. But, when you factor in the protection from liability AND the freedom of time that you receive in return, 10% is a steal.

It’s better than hiring an employee to do it for you. After all, if you hire an employee and your company is sued, YOU (the business owner) are still at risk.

For more information on how to find and select a company to merger with, visit http://www.breakthecycleokc.com/Opportunities.html .

D. Brownlee http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com

D. Brownlee currently works as a Territorial Area Developer for a large janitorial company. He manages in excess of $1.5 million dollars of volume, overseeing hundreds of janitors. For more information on his company, you may contact him at http://www.BreakTheCycleOKC.com


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