Janitorial growth opportunities in 2023: Niche verticals and service trends

The pandemic era brought an economic resurgence for cleaning services worldwide. The global market for commercial cleaning is expected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.3% from 2023 to 2030. 

This growth increase isn’t limited to one sector of the cleaning industry either. The growth is widespread, bringing life to niche and specialized services across the board. That’s good news for medium and slow-growing janitorial businesses in North America that are worried about competition.  

IBIS World janitorial services market report shows the number of commercial cleaning businesses in the U.S. has increased by 20% since 2019.

For some, that signifies an exciting shift in the industry. But only a portion of businesses will thrive in this new economic environment. With the density of the industry becoming a concern, niche and specialized janitorial services offer new avenues for janitorial businesses seeking to keep growth momentum alive and increase their market share. 

Growing cleaning service trends  

Back in 2013, a survey was conducted with consumers about their top priorities during spring cleaning.

The top tasks in the house cleaning services industry were listed as:

• Window cleaning (80%)

• Cleaning around furniture (80%)

• Cleaning appliances (72%)

• Floor care and vacuuming (70%)

• Washing linens (64%)

• Washing curtains (59%)

• Upholstery (55%)

• Cleaning the garage (44%)

• Cleaning the basement (28%)

These cleaning tasks represent many of the cleaning services most commercial cleaning companies already offer. Since the increased awareness of hygiene post-COVID-19 and a growing concern over proper disinfectant cleaning procedures, many residential customers have sought out professional service providers for their cleaning needs. 

In the past five years, specialty cleaning services for both commercial and residential buildings are experiencing market growth, including: 

• Pressure washing

• Carpet cleaning

• Restoration cleaning

• Chimney cleaning

• Exterior cleaning

On average, the combined growth of these industries has resulted in a 25% growth rate over the past five years. 

While the Exterior Cleaning Market stands out as one of the largest market values, at $11.9 billion, pressure washing has experienced the fastest growth over the past five years, with a staggering 60% growth rate on average. 

Even though some markets took a dip in 2020, likely due to the overall decline in the economy that year, every market returned to a growth uptick post-pandemic era, with an upward market trend in the coming years. 

Accounting for declines, market research reports show year-to-year upward industry trends for cleaning services, inspiring janitorial businesses seeking to diversify their offerings or expand in 2023 or beyond. 

Market

Forecasted Five-Year Increase in Value (USD)

Pressure Washing

$600 Million

Carpet Cleaning

$1 Billion

Restoration Cleaning

$450 Million

Chimney Cleaning

$54 Million

Exterior Cleaners

$2 Billion

Other highly specific service product types are also aligning with these growth trends.

Revenue for the window-washing industry is rising at a year-to-year rate of 2.2%. 

Over the five years leading up to 2021, market insights show the industry revenue increased to $1.9 billion, including an increase of 6.9% in 2021 alone.

The same is being discovered in the pet cleaning industry as well.

A survey of 2,000 respondents found that pet owners spend over 800 hours each year cleaning up after their pets. 

That’s 800 possible cleaning jobs janitorial businesses could expand into.

Audience segment trends 

While an increase in vacant office buildings affected the commercial cleaning industry, the return from at-home work has aided in the industry’s steady climb in value. But many janitorial businesses' top commercial properties aren’t office work or corporate buildings. 

Janitors and building cleaners held about 2.3 million jobs in 2021.

Of those jobs, the cleaning services market size for top employers of janitors and commercial cleaners ranked as follows:

• Services to buildings and dwellings (36%)

• Elementary and secondary schools; state, local, and private (13%)

• Healthcare and social assistance (7%)

• Government (5%)

• Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations (4%)

The need to maintain sanitized and hygienic public spaces has only increased due to the heightened awareness brought on by COVID-19.

A market analysis on facility mopping found that:

• 90% of hospitals

• 85% of colleges/universities

• 80% of K-12 schools

• 65% of multi-tenant offices 

Require floors to be mopped daily, if not multiple times a day.

The hospital cleaning market alone was nearly $18 billion in value by 2021. This growth comes in conjunction with the increased investment in technology in hospital sanitation as well.

The global hospital cleaning technologies market was valued at $389.4 million in 2021, with a growth rate of 9.3%. That’s an estimated projected value of $948.1 million for the forecast period of 2021 to 2031. 

Each of these niche markets provide huge impact areas for growing janitorial services to invest in. While the market dynamics for every sector have unique requirements and policies, translating your commercial services or investing in subcontractors is a viable pivot to quickly tap into these verticals.

Even the government recognizes the value of contracting out cleaning. About 38% of cleaning services are contracted out by the government. 

Tap into market expansions with ease

The strategic pivot is becoming a clear move for property management companies across various maintenance services. Key players in the commercial cleaning industry are following suit, investing in market segmentation research to develop diversified offerings, and targeting new audience segments to expand their growth in a competitive landscape. While there are challenges in skill set variety, experience, and overall management of unique service types, the right tools can help streamline the process.

Business management software can help companies streamline and manage their growing operations to become major players in their market. Without automating processes, standardizing workflows, and creating new efficiencies, a service expansion can often be more risk than reward. 

With access to management tools that allow you to streamline, scale, and manage your growing operations, any janitorial business can quickly tap into this rise in service diversity.

Aspire’s cloud-based janitorial business software provides a suite of features that enable property management businesses to expand in various cleaning services.

See it in action! Learn how Aspire software powers ServiceMaster Clean’s growth.