If you've decided your business needs commercial cleaning, you'll need to have a cleaning schedule in mind before you book a regular service. Here's how to decide how often you should have your premises cleaned and what time of day you should get cleaners on-site.

How Often Should You Clean?

The frequency of your cleanings will mostly depend on how many staff members and patrons your business has.

If you run a very small business that only sees a handful of employees and customers each day, you may only need to schedule weekly or monthly cleanings. A lawyer's office with a limited client base, for example, usually takes a long time to get dirty. Of course, if you schedule cleanings as infrequently as once a month, you will need staff to chip in and help with daily and weekly tidying of rubbish and clutter.

High volume businesses, on the other hand, may need a professional cleaning every day. Shops with high footfall, for example, can get dirty quickly as customers bring in debris and bacteria from outdoors. You may also need daily cleaning if you run a business with a lot of employees, especially if they tend to leave break rooms and desks in a mess. Of course, unless your business requires it, not every clean has to be a deep one. You can schedule one intense cleaning session each week alongside brief daily cleans to save money.

Many businesses will fall somewhere in between, so don't hesitate to come up with your own unique cleaning schedule if that's what works for your business. A good cleaning company will be happy to accommodate your specific requirements, whether that's bi-monthly cleaning, cleaning every other day or something else entirely.

Remember that businesses serving food should be cleaned thoroughly every single day (by staff or professionals), whether they have a high volume of customers or not.

What Time Should You Clean?

Once you've decided how often to have your business cleaned, you need to decide when you want cleaning sessions to take place.

One of the most common times to schedule cleanings is after the business closes. This is a good idea for businesses where some staff stay behind after all the customers are gone. Alternatively, you can try the opposite: cleaning before the business opens. Either of these are great ways to ensure the building is always clean as soon as staff and customers arrive in the morning.

However, keep in mind that not all cleaning companies will agree to clean a building when there are no staff on the premises for liability reasons. You may need to spend some time looking around for a cleaning service who are happy to lock up (or unlock) themselves.

If neither of those options sounds right for you, try midday cleaning after lunch. One of the biggest benefits of midday cleaning is that it swiftly gets rid of staff mealtime mess. However, be aware that cleaners and cleaning equipment can get in the way of staff and customers if your business premises is small.