Maintaining a clean and stocked office is a need for every business. And Chicago startup OfficeLuv thinks its tech-savvy approach is the modern solution companies need for managing their offices.
OfficeLuv, which launched in March, uses an iPad and web-based platform for companies to manage their office cleanings. The company has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Chicago angel investors Paul Lee and Dick Kiphart, along with 500 Startups. Some of OfficeLuv's customers include GiveForward, SpotHero and Luxury Garage Sale.
Currently, OfficeLuv's customers are mostly Chicago startup and tech companies, and the core of the business is office cleanings. But both of those are areas where OfficeLuv founder Christopher Hartman says the company can greatly expand. The key isn't to just attract tech offices that are quick adopters to new technology and other startups, but to enter the real estate, accounting, law firms and other offices that have a lot of in-and-out traffic and need cleanings on a daily basis, Hartman says.
There are a handful of competing office cleaning startups in Chicago, such as Managed by Q, but Hartman said OfficeLuv's true competition is against the traditional cleaning companies with large contracts in Chicago's bigger offices.
"If you look at pure marketshare within the city, neither of us (Managed by Q) have a strong foothold," Hartman said. "I think for now, the way we’re building trust and growing this business so quickly is through changing that dynamic between the cleaning solution, cleaning company, and the customer."
While cleanings may be OfficeLuv's focus now, its future plans are to create a full-service office management experience that's tailored to the needs of each specific company. For example, OfficeLuv currently handles the dry cleaning at GiveForward. Other specific jobs could include providing office lunches or stocking break rooms with certain snacks.
"When we schedule a walkthrough (with new clients), we understand the layout of the space," Hartman said. "We see how frequently their current cleaning comes, what the scope of work looks like. And we survey the office and see what other aspects of the business we can handle."
OfficeLuv's platform allows for back and forth communication between cleaners and office tenants, letting cleaners leave notes when things in the office need fixing and letting businesses create to-do lists for cleaning staff.
Cleaning costs $25/hour, and OfficeLuv says it uses software to estimate the number of cleaning hours needed based on things like square footage and number of employees.
OfficeLuv says it plans to have 21 team members by the end of June and expects to add 30-40 new jobs over the next year. Hartman added that the company does plan to expand outside of Chicago at some point, but it wants focus on growth locally before launching elsewhere.
"What excites me is being ale to give back to the city and being able to create meaningful jobs for folks," Hartman said. "We’re embedded in Chicago. Our roots are here. We're going to focus on growth here, and hopefully in future that could be a model taken outside of the city."
Screengrab via OfficeLuv
