It's something plenty of small business owners have said, particularly when they're just starting out in their own real office for the first time. "Getting a cleaner in is expensive, and at this stage we need to save as much money as we can. Why not just do it ourselves? We all clean our homes, after all!"

Unbeknownst to the rookie, this is a major "famous last words" moment. There are a tonne of things that make this not as great an idea as it sounds--and here are five of the most compelling.

#1: At least one of your employees is going to wind up resenting you--and everyone else in the office--way more than is conducive to a healthy working environment.

When you say "we'll all pitch in!", you don't really mean it. Oh, sure, you'll all do a bit, but the majority of the work will inevitably fall to whoever is in charge of admin or whoever's role is the most assistant-like. That person will grow to loathe you all.

Alternatively, a lot of the work will fall to the one person most prone to doing the stuff nobody else wants to do--the 'office mum' type--and they will understandably come to resent the fact that not everyone is pulling their weight. You won't even notice that it's happening--and before you know it you've got a serious morale issue on your hands.

#2: You and the people who work for you need to be able to concentrate on your actual jobs, rather than getting distracted by stuff like this.

Cleaning an office takes longer than you think it does, and the working hours you'll lose while everyone is getting the vacuums out and wiping down their PC screens will add up surprisingly quickly. You need your employees to be doing what you've hired them to do--and dusting probably doesn't come into their job description.

Speaking of which, job descriptions are important. In most states, employees can complain to a higher authority if they're being asked to perform tasks that aren't in theirs--and you could find yourself in a sticky situation if you expect them to take on cleaning as well as their main role.

#3: There's a pretty good chance that your employees won't have the same opinions about acceptable levels of cleanliness as you, and that's an issue no matter which direction it's going in.

If you're a naturally clean and tidy person, you'll quickly get annoyed with employees who don't seem to be able to see the dirt that's winding you up. If you're a little more relaxed, your cleaner and tidier employees will hate working in an environment that's not up to their exacting standards. Either way, why make an issue of it rather than just getting it done?

#4: Getting your office professionally cleaned isn't actually as expensive as you probably think it is.

Cleaning services are more affordable than you might imagine. There's a good chance your cleaners will be charging you less than the hourly rate of anyone else who works for you--and they're only working a couple of hours a day. There will be a way to make room in the budget for this.

#5: An office that has been insufficiently cleaned presents way more problems than you might imagine it would--and some of them are absolutely unsupportable.

You know what computers don't like? Having their cables chewed through by mice. Mice turn up when there are crumbs around, and crumbs are inevitable when people who eat at their desks have to clean up the floor themselves. Roaches, mould and other biological invasions are all pretty serious risks, too.

At the end of the day, there are loads of great reasons to shell out for cleaning--and very few not to. Get in touch with a local firm ASAP and get a quote. It'll pay for itself more quickly than you realise.