Hood Cleaning Service

The shortcut: Land 5-10 quarterly restaurant accounts and let the fire code sell for you. NFPA 96 already tells your customers they have to call someone. Be the someone.

Industry: Cleaning & Maintenance Investment level: Low — $5,000-$15,000 Time to launch: 6-10 weeks Best for: People who don't mind night work, can handle a ladder and a degreaser, and would rather sign a 4-cleaning-a-year contract than sell every job from scratch. What you'll likely make: ~$2-$4K/month per route by month 6, and $6-$8K by month 12 if you stack 12-15 quarterly accounts and add semi-annuals on the side. Full math is in Section 3.

Market Opportunity

Every commercial kitchen in the country is legally required to clean its exhaust hood — and most restaurant owners hate doing it. They forget until the fire marshal asks for the certificate, then they panic-call whoever picks up the phone. That's the whole sales pitch.

US Janitorial Services (NAICS 561720): $112.0B in 2026, growing about 1.8% — IBISWorld Janitorial Services Market Size
62,099 firms across 66,471 establishments (2020 Census) in cleaning broadly. Most independent kitchen-exhaust shops have fewer than 5 people — the niche is dominated by small regional crews plus a few national brands like Hood Brigade and FOOD-X.
Broader US cleaning services on path to $147.6B by 2030, growing 5.6% a year — Grand View Research US Cleaning Services Outlook
NFPA 96 §11.4 sets the legal cleaning frequency: quarterly for high-volume kitchens (24-hour ops, char-broilers, wok cooking), semi-annual for moderate-volume restaurants, and annual for low-volume kitchens (churches, day cares) — NFPA 96 standard.

Target customer: Independent full-service restaurants, hotel banquet kitchens, and mid-size commercial kitchens (catering halls, ghost kitchens, hospital cafeterias). Skip national chains — locked into corporate contracts. Skip food trucks — too small to bother.

Why this is a good time to start: Insurance carriers and national restaurant brands now require IKECA-certified (International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association) cleaners on file. Five years ago, "the guy with a pressure washer" was good enough. Now insurers quietly reject claims when the certificate isn't from a recognized program. Certified shops charge 20-30% more.

Launch With AI

Pro section. Hood cleaning is a NFPA-96-frequency-and-IKECA-credential business — AI doesn't strap on a fall harness, run a 4,000 PSI hot-water washer through a duct, or sign an inspection certificate the fire marshal accepts. But the time you waste hand-typing the restaurant-row door-knock script for the Tuesday 2-4pm walk-in window, drafting the quarterly contract auto-bill terms, and writing the post-cleaning inspection certificate is exactly the time you should spend on one more in-person walkthrough. AI does the writing tail. You do the climb.

The trap most first-year hood operators fall into: they paste their service description into ChatGPT and ship "we clean kitchen hoods, call us." AI confidently writes "$199 first cleaning" specials — which trains the lowest-tier restaurant that you'll eat the 8-hour caked-grease job, plus disqualifies you from every IKECA-required hotel chain account. AI is for the writing tail (door-knock script, IKECA quarterly cadence pitch, NFPA 96 inspection certificate template, 90-day-renewal SMS). Every spray decision, every UL-listed-degreaser-vs-substitute call, every fire-suppression-system handoff is yours.

Important up-front: AI cannot test the bare-metal cleaning standard, identify the soft-spot in a 25-year-old duct that's about to fail inspection, or have the conversation with the kitchen manager about why hot-water-only is not optional. It will also confidently miss the NFPA 96 quarterly-vs-semi-annual classification for char-broilers, the IKECA cert requirement that insurers now ask for, and the NICET Level II / state fire-suppression license trap if you try to inspect Ansul systems without it. You own every spray decision, every certificate signature, every bare-metal verdict; AI scales the writing around them.

AI Tools You'll Use

Tool	Price	What it does
ChatGPT (free or Plus)	$0-$20/mo	Door-knock script, IKECA quarterly pitch, inspection certificate template, renewal SMS
Canva (free)	$0	NFPA 96 frequency tri-fold, sample inspection certificate, magnetic truck signage
Jobber Core	$29/mo	Quarterly auto-billing, route clustering, certificate auto-generation, 90-day renewal automation
Google Business Profile + ChatGPT	free	Review replies, "what NFPA 96 says" weekly post, before/after IG cross-post
Loom AI (free)	$0	Pre-cleaning walk-through videos for the kitchen manager who can't be on-site at 11pm

The Workflow

Restaurant-row door-knock script + Tuesday 2-4pm walk-in batch (ChatGPT + Canva, ~30 min one-time setup). 12-15 quarterly accounts at $500-$700 = your $5-7K/month base. Paste:

"I'm a hood-cleaning operator in [city] with $1M GL + commercial auto + IKECA membership (or in progress) + CECS cert (or in progress) + $10K janitorial bond. I want 12-15 quarterly accounts by month 6 from door-knocking restaurant rows in the Tue/Wed 2-4pm dead window. Build me the package: (a) the targeting — pick 1 restaurant row of 30-50 independents in 1 sq mile, prioritize full-service kitchens (char-broilers, wok lines, fryers — quarterly under NFPA 96 §11.4) over sandwich shops (annual), (b) the in-person walk-in pitch I deliver Tue/Wed 2-4pm: 'hi, I'm [name] from [my brand], local hood-cleaning. Brought you my NFPA 96 frequency one-pager + a sample inspection certificate the fire marshal accepts. Quarterly cleanings $500-$700 with the certificate included, auto-billed via Jobber, $399 introductory rate on the first one. Who's your kitchen manager?,' (c) the leave-behind tri-fold (Canva: NFPA 96 §11.4 frequency rules — quarterly for char-broilers + 24-hour kitchens, semi-annual for moderate, annual for low-volume; my IKECA cert + bond + COI; sample inspection certificate; $399 first-cleaning rate that reverts to $550 on visit 2), (d) the 5-day phone follow-up to the kitchen manager ('hi, [my name] from [my brand] — dropped by Tuesday. Want me to do the free walkthrough this Thursday? 15 minutes, I'll show you what bare-metal looks like vs. your current grease cake'), (e) the post-walkthrough quote text ('hi [first name], walkthrough done — single hood + duct + fan = $550/quarter, $399 introductory first one. I'll auto-bill via Jobber + send the certificate to the fire marshal. Reply Y to schedule, T for Thursday or F for Friday'), (f) the absolute don'ts: NEVER quote sight-unseen (triple-stacked char-broiler is 4x a sandwich shop), NEVER discount below $399 first-cleaning (attracts 3-year-uncleaned dump-jobs), NEVER skip the certificate (it's the entire fire-marshal-defense story). Tone: confident pro + NFPA-aware. Output paste-ready door-knock script + tri-fold."

Door-knock 30-50 restaurants/week. Convert ~1 in 8 to a walkthrough, ~1 in 3 walkthroughs to a quarterly. Hit 12-15 accounts by month 6.
NFPA 96 inspection certificate + fire-marshal-defense template (ChatGPT + Canva, ~20 min one-time setup). Certificate = your renewal hook + the customer's fire-marshal defense. Paste:

"I'm a hood-cleaning operator. Build me the per-cleaning inspection certificate template I hand to every customer + auto-file in Jobber: (a) the certificate header — date of cleaning, customer business name + address, my IKECA cert # + CECS designation, my janitorial bond #, my $1M GL COI #, fire marshal jurisdiction, (b) the cleaning scope I document — hood plenum cleaned to bare metal, duct run from hood to rooftop fan cleaned to bare metal, exhaust fan housing + grease cup cleaned, access panels installed where missing, kitchen exhaust system meets NFPA 96 §7 cleaning standards, (c) the per-cleaning frequency assignment per NFPA 96 §11.4 — quarterly (char-broilers, 24-hour ops, wok cooking), semi-annual (moderate-volume restaurants), annual (low-volume kitchens like churches + day cares), (d) the 'areas not accessible' disclosure — list any duct sections I couldn't access + recommend access-panel install ($150-$300 add-on), (e) the next-cleaning date — auto-set per frequency + auto-bill via Jobber, (f) the customer signature + my signature + IKECA cert # + date, (g) the absolute don'ts: NEVER skip the 'areas not accessible' line (legal CYA), NEVER promise the system is fire-safe (you cleaned it, you didn't fire-suppression-test it), NEVER inspect the Ansul / Range Guard suppression system without NICET Level II or state fire-suppression-systems contractor license (misdemeanor in most states + voids your liability coverage). Tone: confident pro + NFPA + IKECA-fluent. Output paste-ready Jobber certificate template + customer signature line."

Certificate is your renewal trigger + the customer's fire-marshal-defense + your liability shield.
Hotel + apartment chief-engineer cold-pitch (ChatGPT + Canva, ~30 min one-time setup). One regional hotel franchise group = 8-12 kitchens × $1.8K/quarter = $58K-$86K/year. Paste:

"I'm a hood-cleaning operator with IKECA + CECS. Build me the cold-pitch package for 5 mid-tier hotels (Holiday Inn / Hampton / La Quinta franchisees) + 3 multi-property restaurant groups + 5 large-kitchen institutional accounts (hospital cafeterias, university dining, country clubs) in [city]: (a) the per-property research — pull kitchen count, banquet-kitchen status, last cleaning date if visible, chief engineer name on LinkedIn, (b) the cold email subject 'IKECA-certified quarterly hood cleaning — [N] kitchens at [property] for $[X]/year,' (c) the email body — 'hi [first name], I'm [my name], IKECA-certified hood cleaner in [city]. Most regional hotel groups your size run 8-12 kitchens with quarterly NFPA 96 frequency on the banquet line + semi-annual on the smaller hot lines = $7K-$15K/year per property. Insurance carriers + corporate compliance increasingly require IKECA-cleaned vendors — most local cleaners aren't certified. Brought you my IKECA cert + COI + a sample inspection certificate per kitchen + a multi-property quarterly bid. Want me to do a free walkthrough at one property this week?,' (d) the leave-behind 1-pager (Canva: IKECA + CECS cert, COI, 5-property case studies, multi-property bid template, Net-30 invoicing), (e) the per-walkthrough quote template per kitchen (line-item: hood + duct + fan + access panels needed + frequency assignment per NFPA 96 + annual contract value), (f) the absolute don'ts: NEVER quote per-kitchen below $400 at scale (you bleed margin), NEVER skip the chief engineer cold-walk (the GM doesn't make this call), NEVER promise to handle Ansul inspection without NICET (refer it out + take a $50-$100 referral fee). Tone: senior pro + facilities-manager-fluent. Output paste-ready."

One regional hotel group signed = $20K-$35K/year of recurring quarterly + multi-property scale + IKECA-required-vendor moat.
Property-insurance-broker referral fee setup (ChatGPT, ~20 min one-time setup). Brokers know which kitchens are about to fail audits. Paste:

"I'm a hood-cleaning operator. Build me the cold-walk pitch for 5 commercial-property insurance brokers in [city]: (a) the targeting — independent commercial-property brokers who write restaurant + hotel policies, (b) the in-person pitch (drop in business hours): 'hi, I'm [name] from [my brand], IKECA-certified hood cleaner. Carriers increasingly require documented IKECA-cleaned vendors when they audit your insured restaurants — without it the claim can be denied on a kitchen-fire loss. I want to be your default referral for any restaurant that doesn't have a current cleaning certificate on file. $50 per signed quarterly contract, paid Friday cash via Zelle, no kickback paperwork (it's a referral, not a fee-split — your office isn't on my COI),' (c) the leave-behind sticker for the broker's desk (24/7 number + IKECA cert # + sample inspection certificate they can show insureds), (d) the per-referral thank-you text ('hi [first name], [my brand] just signed [restaurant name] to a quarterly cleaning per your referral. Your $50 is in your inbox via Zelle. Got the next one?'), (e) the absolute don'ts: NEVER kick back to the broker's office (RESPA-adjacent for some lines), NEVER offer a percentage of contract value (kills your margin + is the kind of thing that lands brokers in trouble), NEVER skip the post-job thank-you. Tone: confident pro + broker-respectful. Output paste-ready broker pitch + thank-you template."

One active broker referrer = 3-5 restaurants/year × $2.2K/year quarterly = $7K-$11K/year zero-CAC.
90-day quarterly renewal SMS automation (Jobber + ChatGPT, ~15 min one-time setup). Renewals fall through cracks without an auto-trigger. Paste:

"I'm a hood-cleaning operator with [N] quarterly accounts on Jobber auto-bill. Build me the renewal automation: (a) the 90-day-out renewal nudge SMS to the kitchen manager ('hi [first name], your next quarterly hood cleaning at [restaurant name] is due [date] — Jobber will auto-bill the $550. I'll arrive Tuesday 11pm + send the certificate to your fire marshal Wednesday morning. Reply Y to confirm or R to reschedule'), (b) the post-cleaning text + certificate delivery ('hi [first name], hood + duct + fan cleaned to bare metal. Inspection certificate attached + auto-filed with [fire marshal jurisdiction]. Next quarterly: [date]. If you'd leave a Google review while it's fresh: [URL]'), (c) the 30-day-pre-renewal up-sell text ('hi [first name], noticed Door 4 access panel was tight last cleaning — recommend $200 install before next quarterly to make future cleanings 30 min faster. Want me to add it to next visit's invoice?'), (d) the annual NFPA 96 frequency review email I send every January ('hi [first name], yearly NFPA 96 frequency review for [restaurant]. Your kitchen volume + cooking style = quarterly remains right (char-broiler + 24-hour). If your menu shifts to lower-volume, switch to semi-annual saves you $1.1K/year. Reply with menu changes if any'), (e) the absolute don'ts: NEVER auto-bill without written authorization (set in Jobber at signing), NEVER skip the fire-marshal certificate filing (your customer's audit defense), NEVER push more than 4x/year per customer (becomes spam). Tone: warm pro + NFPA-aware. Output paste-ready Jobber automation templates."

90-day renewal SMS keeps quarterly retention at 85-95% vs. 60-70% on memory-only renewal.

Time Saved Per Week

Roughly 3-4 hours/week once your door-knock script + certificate template + renewal automation are built:

Restaurant-row door-knock + tri-fold: 1-time setup → reused per door-knock day
NFPA 96 inspection certificate template: 1-time setup → reused on every job
Hotel + multi-property cold-pitch: 1-time setup → reused per outreach
Property-insurance broker pitch: 1-time setup → reused per cold-walk
90-day renewal SMS automation: 1-time setup → fires automatically

Trade that time for: the IKECA CECS cert exam if you don't have it (commercial pricing power), the NICET Level II if you want fire-suppression as an add-on, and 5 more restaurant-row door-knocks per week.

Total AI Stack Cost

Budget tier ($29/mo): Jobber Core ($29) + ChatGPT free + Canva free + Google Business Profile.
Full tier ($49/mo): Add ChatGPT Plus ($20). Worth it the day you sign quarterly account #5 — pitch quality + multi-property bid templates jump materially with GPT-4.
Compare: A part-time office manager for renewal coordination + certificate filing + cold-walk follow-ups runs $400-$700/month. Full AI stack is one-tenth that cost.

Cancel anything you don't open in a 7-day window. Skip Thumbtack + Google LSA — restaurant owners don't search for hood cleaners, they walk in to whoever knocked Tuesday at 2pm.

Your First Win

30 minutes from now your restaurant-row door-knock script is laminated + your first restaurant row is mapped — you're walking 30-50 kitchens this Tuesday 2-4pm. Open ChatGPT (free tier works). Paste:

"I'm a hood-cleaning operator in [my city] with: $1M GL + commercial auto + $10K janitorial bond + IKECA membership (or in progress) + CECS cert (or in progress) + 4,000 PSI hot-water gas pressure washer. The single biggest leverage in this trade is the Tue/Wed 2-4pm restaurant-row door-knock — every quarterly contract I sign = $1,920-$2,880/year of recurring revenue + zero CAC + the customer's fire-marshal-defense story. Build me the 1-page laminated door-knock script + the first-restaurant-row map: (a) the targeting — pick 1 restaurant row of 30-50 independent full-service kitchens in 1 sq mile within 12 minutes of my home base, prioritize char-broilers + wok lines + 24-hour ops (NFPA 96 §11.4 = quarterly), skip national chains (locked into corporate contracts), skip food trucks (too small), (b) the in-person walk-in pitch I deliver Tuesday + Wednesday 2-4pm — 'hi, I'm [name] from [my brand], local hood-cleaning. Brought you my NFPA 96 frequency one-pager + a sample inspection certificate the fire marshal accepts when you get your annual audit. Quarterly cleanings $550 with the certificate filed for you, auto-billed via Jobber, $399 introductory rate on the first one. Who's your kitchen manager?,' (c) the tri-fold leave-behind content (NFPA 96 §11.4 frequency rules + my IKECA cert + my $10K bond + my $1M GL COI + sample inspection certificate the fire marshal will sign off on + my $399 first-cleaning rate that reverts to $550 on visit 2 + my Calendly), (d) the 5-day phone follow-up to the kitchen manager — 'hi, [my name] from [my brand] — dropped by Tuesday. Want me to do the free 15-minute walkthrough this Thursday? I'll show you what bare-metal looks like vs. your current grease cake. No charge', (e) the post-walkthrough quote text — 'hi [first name], walkthrough done — single hood + duct + fan = $550/quarter, $399 introductory first one. Auto-bill via Jobber + certificate to your fire marshal Wednesday morning. Reply Y to schedule, T for Thursday or F for Friday', (f) the absolute don'ts: NEVER quote sight-unseen (triple-stacked char-broiler with 60-ft duct = 4x sandwich shop), NEVER discount below $399 first-cleaning (attracts dump-jobs that haven't been cleaned in 3 years and take 8 hours), NEVER skip the certificate (it's the entire fire-marshal-defense story + your renewal hook), NEVER inspect Ansul or Range Guard fire-suppression without NICET Level II or state fire-suppression-systems contractor license (misdemeanor + voids liability coverage — refer it out + take $50-$100 referral fee instead). Tone: confident pro + NFPA + IKECA-fluent + senior tradesperson. Output paste-ready as a 1-page laminated door-knock script + a Tuesday + Wednesday 2-4pm route map for 30-50 independent full-service kitchens within 12 minutes of [my home base zip]."

Print + laminate it Sunday. Walk 30-50 kitchens Tuesday 2-4pm. 4-6 walkthroughs scheduled = 2-3 quarterly contracts signed = $4K-$8K/year of recurring revenue from one Tuesday.

Product / Service Offering

Quarterly contracts are the heart of the business. Semi-annual restaurants are the second tier. Emergency cleans (kitchens that failed inspection) fund slow weeks and convert to recurring at a high rate.

Core offerings (typical commercial kitchen ranges, 2026):

Quarterly hood + duct + fan cleaning (full system): $400-$800 per visit for a single-hood restaurant, $1,000-$2,500 for a multi-line hotel kitchen. Includes hood plenum, duct run to the rooftop fan, fan housing, grease cup, and the inspection certificate filed with the local fire marshal.
Semi-annual cleaning (most restaurants): Same scope, twice a year.
Annual cleaning (low-volume kitchens): $500-$900 once a year.
Emergency / failed-inspection clean: $600-$1,200 same-week. Premium pricing for the rush.
Add-ons: Access panel install ($150-$300), grease containment swap ($75-$150), exhaust fan belt + filter ($100-$200).

Pricing model: Flat per-visit rate based on a walkthrough. Never quote sight-unseen — a triple-stacked char-broiler line takes 3x as long as a single sandwich shop hood. Quarterly contracts auto-bill through Square or Jobber. Emergency jobs get paid before you leave the kitchen.

Revenue Model

A full month for a single-truck shop in steady state looks like 8-12 quarterly accounts on staggered weeks, plus 2-3 semi-annual restaurants and 1-2 emergency jobs.

Unit economics example (steady-state month, year 1, single-truck shop, as of 2026):

Line item	Amount
10 quarterly accounts ÷ 3 months × $550 avg	$1,830
4 semi-annual accounts ÷ 6 months × $650 avg	$430
3 emergency / one-time cleans × $750	$2,250
1 hotel banquet kitchen × $1,800	$1,800
Gross revenue	$6,310
Degreaser + chemicals + plastic sheeting	-$280
Fuel (~$0.40/mi, 800 mi route)	-$320
Square processing (2.6% + 15¢ in-person, 2026 rate per Square pricing)	-$165
Jobber Core ($29/mo prepaid annual, 2026 rate per Jobber pricing)	-$29
Liability insurance + janitorial bond + commercial auto (blended monthly)	-$340
IKECA membership / continuing-ed amortized	-$50
Net	~$5,126

Path to your first $5K month: 12-15 quarterly accounts at $500-$700 average, cleanings spread across the month so you're not buried one week and idle the next. That's roughly 4-5 cleanings a week, all between 10pm and 6am. Hit this in month 5-6 if you door-knock 30 restaurants in your first 60 days.

Path to your first $10K month: Add a second crew member and a second truck, or stack a hotel-chain regional contract on top of independents. A regional Hilton or Marriott franchise group can be 8-12 kitchens — $20K-$35K a year from one contract. Expect that around month 12-18. Run the numbers carefully before hiring — labor plus workers' comp plus payroll tax can eat 30-40% of what your second cleaner brings in.

Startup Costs

Item	Low	Mid	High
LLC filing (state-dependent, $35-$500 per LLC University)	$35	$200	$500
Hot-water pressure washer (3,500-4,000 PSI, gas-powered — Simpson, Northstar, BE)	$1,800	$3,200	$5,500
Degreaser drums + chemical kit (caustic kitchen-exhaust degreaser, 30-day supply)	$400	$700	$1,100
Scrapers, plastic sheeting (6 mil, 100' rolls × 4), tarps, bucket pumps	$250	$450	$700
Extension ladders + harness + fall-arrest gear (rooftop fan access)	$400	$700	$1,200
PPE — respirators, chemical-rated suits, face shields, gloves	$200	$350	$550
IKECA membership year 1 + Certified Exhaust Cleaning Specialist (CECS) training	$700	$1,100	$1,500
Liability insurance year 1 ($1M / $2M, heavier than residential — caustics + heights + fire liability — per Insureon)	$900	$1,400	$2,200
Janitorial bond ($10K, $100-$1,500/yr)	$100	$200	$500
Commercial auto (cargo van or pickup, chemicals on board)	$900	$1,400	$2,200
Jobber Core year 1 (annual prepaid $29/mo × 12)	$348	$348	$348
Domain + simple Squarespace site (year 1, annual billing)	$190	$250	$300
Door-to-door sales kit — printed tri-folds, business cards, sample certificates	$150	$300	$500
Buffer (first-month fuel + chemical refill + repair)	$200	$400	$700
Total	$6,573	$10,800	$17,800

Note on LLC fees: California is $70 plus an $800 annual franchise tax (waived the first year for LLCs formed in 2024 or later). Texas is $300 with no annual fee. Florida is $125 plus $138.75/yr. Full state-by-state list at LLC University 50-state table.

Legal & Formation

Business entity. Form an LLC from day one. You're working at height, with caustic chemicals, in a building full of gas appliances, and the customer's fire-suppression system depends on your work. One slip-and-fall or one flash fire two weeks after a missed grease pocket can run $50K-$500K in lawsuits. Sole proprietorship gives zero personal-asset protection. The $200-$500 LLC filing is the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy.

NFPA 96 — the rule that creates your business. NFPA 96 (Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations) is the model code adopted by nearly every state and city. It mandates that exhaust systems be cleaned "to bare metal" at the frequency tied to cooking volume. After every cleaning you file a certificate of inspection (date, scope, areas not accessible, your IKECA cert number) with the building owner — the fire marshal can ask to see it during inspections. Restaurants that can't produce a current certificate get cited.

IKECA certification. International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning Association certification separates you from the guy with a pressure washer. Most insurers and national restaurant brands require IKECA-cleaned for compliance — without it you lose access to higher-paying chain accounts. Get the Certified Exhaust Cleaning Specialist (CECS) designation in your first 60 days. Membership is around $400/yr and the cert course $500-$700.

Licenses & permits. No federal license. Most cities require a general business license ($25-$100/yr). A few jurisdictions also require a separate kitchen-exhaust-cleaning registration — Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago. Janitorial bonding isn't legally required, but commercial customers will ask. A $10K bond runs $100-$200/yr.

EIN. Apply free at IRS EIN Online. It's free — never pay a third party for an EIN.

Fire-suppression-system inspections — separate cert needed. A natural add-on is inspecting the Ansul or Range Guard suppression system over the cooking line. Don't pitch this until you've got the right credentials — most states require NICET Level II or a state-issued fire-suppression-systems contractor license (e.g., Florida State Fire Marshal Form II). Until then, refer suppression work out and take a referral fee.

Labor & employment. Once you hire a second cleaner, calling them a 1099 contractor (independent contractor — you don't withhold tax or carry workers' comp) when they should be W-2 (employee, you withhold tax and carry workers' comp) is the most-litigated issue in cleaning. The DOL economic-realities 6-factor test governs federally — plaintiffs can sue under the 2024 rule even though DOL paused enforcement in May 2025. California's AB5 imposes a 3-prong "ABC" test cleaning can't pass. Workers' comp is mandatory at 1 employee in CA, NY, PA, IL, OH, MI. Florida triggers at 4 non-construction employees. Texas private employers can opt out.

Sales tax. 17 states plus DC tax cleaning services per ISSA. All your customers are commercial, so commercial-cleaning rules apply. Florida taxes nonresidential cleaning at 6%. Texas taxes commercial cleaning. Pennsylvania taxes building cleaning at 6% state plus 1-2% local. New York taxes interior cleaning. Register with your state's Department of Revenue before you invoice your first restaurant.

Marketing & First Customers

Restaurant owners don't shop online for hood cleaners. They use whoever the previous owner used, or whoever walks in during the 2pm lull. Door-knocking — walking into kitchens between 2pm and 4pm with a tri-fold and a business card — is the highest-converting channel in this niche. Skip Thumbtack and Google LSA for now. Thumbtack charges $15-$50 per cleaning lead (Thumbtack help) and most leads are residential.

Channels that work for this idea:

Door-knocking restaurant rows 2-4pm — the dead hours. Bring a tri-fold with NFPA 96 frequency rules, a sample inspection certificate, your IKECA cert number, and a printed price. Ask for the kitchen manager, not the owner. Convert about 1 in 8 into a walkthrough quote.
Local restaurant associations — your state association (Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, California Restaurant Association) runs trade shows and member vendor lists. Annual membership $300-$600 pays for itself with one signed account.
Insurance broker referrals — call 5 commercial-property brokers in your area. They write the restaurant policies and know which kitchens are about to get audited. Offer $50 per signed quarterly contract.
Fire marshal introduction — stop by the local fire marshal's office. They're not allowed to recommend, but they'll hand restaurants a list of certified cleaners when one fails inspection.
Google Business Profile — only matters for emergency searches. "Hood cleaning near me" at 6am the morning of an inspection is the highest-intent search in this niche.

Your first 10 customers. Pick a single restaurant row — 30-50 restaurants in a square mile. Door-knock all of them in two weeks during the 2-4pm window. Quote $399 for the first quarterly cleaning (normally $550) for the first 10 sign-ups. Tell them upfront the introductory rate is one cleaning only. Get them on auto-bill before you leave the kitchen.

First 90 Days

Week 1 — Buy or finance the hot-water pressure washer (Simpson 4,000 PSI gas-powered, $2,500-$3,500 new or $1,500-$2,000 used on Facebook Marketplace). Don't buy cold-water — it won't cut baked-on grease. Order chemical-rated PPE, fall-arrest harness, and the first drum of degreaser.
Week 1-2 — Sign up for IKECA membership and enroll in the next CECS course. Schedule a ride-along with a working IKECA member — most let you shadow one cleaning for a $100-$200 day rate.
Week 2 — Get quotes from Hiscox, Next Insurance, and a kitchen-exhaust-specific broker for $1M / $2M general liability, $1M commercial auto, and a $10K janitorial bond. Tell them you do hood cleaning specifically — generic cleaning quotes are 30-40% lower and won't cover the actual risk.
Week 3 — File your LLC and apply for an EIN. Register for sales tax with your state Department of Revenue. Open a separate business checking account at Mercury, Bluevine, or a local bank.
Week 3-4 — Set up Square ($0/mo) and start a Jobber 14-day trial for scheduling and inspection-certificate templates. Get a business phone line through Google Voice or OpenPhone (~$15/mo). Build a one-page Squarespace site with your IKECA cert number.
Week 4-5 — Print 200 tri-folds, 500 business cards, and 30 sample inspection certificates. Pick your first restaurant row. Walk it twice in 10 days during the 2-4pm window.
Week 5-6 — Take your first 1-2 paying jobs at the introductory rate. Photograph before-and-after of the hood, duct, and fan. Target: 2 paid cleanings in month 1 (~$800-$1,400).
Week 6 — At each cleaning, hand the owner the signed inspection certificate plus a printed quarterly schedule with the next 4 dates locked. Auto-bill their card. Convert 80% to recurring on the spot.
Week 8 — Visit 2 commercial-property insurance brokers and 1 restaurant association office. Offer the $50 referral. Target by week 8: 4-6 quarterly accounts = ~$2-3K monthly equivalent.
Week 10 — Pass your CECS exam. Update the website, business cards, and tri-folds with the cert number. Now you can quote chain-restaurant and insurance-required jobs.
Week 12 — Pitch one regional hotel group's chief engineer (Hilton, Marriott, IHG franchisee) on a multi-property quarterly. Target: 8-10 quarterly accounts plus 2-3 emergency cleans by end of month 3 = ~$3.5-$5K monthly run rate.

Common Pitfalls

Quoting sight-unseen over the phone. A triple-stacked char-broiler line with a 60-foot horizontal duct run takes 4x as long as a single sandwich shop hood. Customers who push for a phone quote are usually shopping the cheapest number. Fix: Always do a 15-minute walkthrough before quoting. If the customer won't allow it, walk away.

Skipping the inspection certificate. A cleaning without a signed, dated certificate is a cleaning the fire marshal can't verify. The customer can fail their next inspection and blame you. Fix: Print or PDF a one-page certificate every visit — date, scope, IKECA cert number, areas not accessible. Keep a copy for 2 years.

Cold-water-only pressure washing. Cold water just spreads the grease around. The hood looks clean, the duct is still coated, and the next inspector sees a fire risk. Fix: Hot-water pressure washer rated 3,500+ PSI minimum, with a kitchen-exhaust-rated caustic degreaser. Don't substitute residential degreaser.

Selling fire-suppression inspections without the cert. Most states require NICET Level II or a state fire-suppression-systems license to inspect Ansul or Range Guard systems. Doing it without the license is a misdemeanor in most states and voids your liability coverage. Fix: Refer suppression inspections to a licensed contractor and take a $50-$100 referral fee per job.

1099-ing your second cleaner. Calling a cleaner you control day-to-day a 1099 is the most-litigated issue in cleaning. Plaintiffs can sue under the federal economic-realities test. California's AB5 ABC test makes it almost impossible to defend. Fix: Hire your second cleaner W-2. Carry workers' comp from day one. The premium is cheaper than the lawsuit.

Underpricing the introductory cleaning. A $199 first-cleaning offer attracts bottom-tier restaurants — the ones that haven't cleaned the hood in 3 years and will take you 8 hours instead of 3. Fix: Discount no more than 25-30% off standard rate, pre-screen with a walkthrough, and tell the owner upfront the rate reverts on the next visit.

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