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Starting a residential cleaning company

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

killa_graham

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Hey Fastlaners,

I've been doing some deep reflection lately.

Why don't I have the level of success that I thought I would have by now?
How is it that others have build businesses in the same areas I tried and failed?
What really separates the wealthy entrepreneurs from the people struggle their entire lives?


And the answer, at least for me, keeps coming back to COMMITMENT.

I want to start this little progress thread with a little story to give context to my situation, and so future Fastlaners may be able to pick out some useful nuggets from my mistakes.

See, after reading MJ's book I dove in head first. Dropped out of college because I knew it wasn't for me. Got a sales job, learned all I could to get good, and started leading teams. Plucked up the courage (and possibly stupidity) to leave the corporate world when a layoff happened with no business or backup plan, but a feeling that if I didn't I might be stuck forever.

But then my progress stalled out.

First, it was a half-hearted attempt at freelance copywriting. Then I tried starting a residential cleaning company. Hit some roadblocks with marketing and couldn't get customers. So I quit. (But for something "better" -- really!)

To start an Amazon FBA biz. Spent ages and tons of money on samples, info products, all that jazz. But never launched a product. (Because I really had to get in on this new thing NOW)

You can probably guess how it went when I tried starting a digital marketing agency. Yeah, basically zero progress. But boy, was I onto something when I started!

Seriously, WTF dude?!

Now sure, I've learned lots during my "failures" that can't even really be called that because they never got off the ground. But when I take an objective look at where I'm at, I could be in a much MUCH better spot if I had just stuck to one of these lanes and KEPT GOING.

There are dozens of millionaires that started cleaning businesses around when I did. There are probably thousands of people that stuck with their Amazon FBA businesses and many are selling theirs now for 7- and 8-figure exits. Others have crushed it in digital marketing agencies.

Which leads us to my current situation. I've been a bright-shiny-opportunity seeker for the past three years. And only I am to blame for my lack of progress.

All because I didn't EXECUTE.

So all that ends now. I need to go for a "single" and get a win under my belt in the game of business. This progress thread will chronicle my starting a residential cleaning company. Why? Because it's really not all that hard and I know just about anyone can do it.

The target is to launch in 30 days and get my first customer in 60 days. I'll be happy with this business when I get it to $4k/mo in profit that I can count on as a semi-passive income stream enough to cover living expenses. And we'll see where things go from there.

I'll probably be updating weekly during the first month, so feel free to ride along and textually berate me if you don't see an update.

Oh and to make sure I get things done, I've put a good chunk of money on the line at Stickk.com. Great tool for anyone who has commitment or accountability issues they want to solve.

This level of public (and monetary) accountability gives me some hesitation, but I know I need it if I ever want to make the progress I'm looking for.

LET'S GO.
 
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NaPal

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You’re not alone. Your post sounds as if I could of wrote it.

I’ve also tried and failed at many different businesses.

Why did they fail? Who was to blame?
MYSELF. I was the problem.

I was super pumped getting my ideas off the ground but I lacked the process.

I was not DEDICATED, CONSISTENT, nor MOTIVATED OR DETERMINED. All my ideas fizzled out. It’s as if I started day 1 at 100% effort and each day that decreased by 5%.

The good news my friend is that we have both identified this issue.

Stay focused,
Keep pushing,
Move forward into the unknown,
We know which path to take,
And we know what needs to be done to succeed.

REMEMBER:
Our greatest enemy is ourselves.
If you keep stepping up to the plate eventually you’ll hit a home run.
Get your first sale!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Lee Wright

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I had a government cleaning contract for 10 years & ran it as a passive business. It wasn't bad. I made about 5K a year for minimal work. You didn't need highly skilled workers which was a big plus.

I also used to do the accounts for a small, niche commercial cleaning company. They did OK & were able to delegate OK to go on holidays for a few weeks every now & then. They're marketing was very poor but they still did OK.

In the book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T Harv Eker he moved from business to business but only had success when he picked one thing & made a commitment to stick to it till he had a breakthrough. I also love his idea of becoming a "bigger person" to tackle obstacles i.e a "Level 5" person can't solve a "Level 8" problem but a "Level 10" person can. i.e. the old Jim Rohn quote about the your business only growing as much as you do.

Hope this helps.
 

killa_graham

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Oct 25, 2014
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You’re not alone. Your post sounds as if I could of wrote it.

I’ve also tried and failed at many different businesses.

Why did they fail? Who was to blame?
MYSELF. I was the problem.

I was super pumped getting my ideas off the ground but I lacked the process.

I was not DEDICATED, CONSISTENT, nor MOTIVATED OR DETERMINED. All my ideas fizzled out. It’s as if I started day 1 at 100% effort and each day that decreased by 5%.

The good news my friend is that we have both identified this issue.

Stay focused,
Keep pushing,
Move forward into the unknown,
We know which path to take,
And we know what needs to be done to succeed.

REMEMBER:
Our greatest enemy is ourselves.
If you keep stepping up to the plate eventually you’ll hit a home run.
Get your first sale!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks @NaPal, I always thought I had grit from pushing through hard things in other areas in life but for some reason haven't transferred it to business. Time to fix it and stick to the process no matter what obstacles come up.
 
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killa_graham

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I had a government cleaning contract for 10 years & ran it as a passive business. It wasn't bad. I made about 5K a year for minimal work. You didn't need highly skilled workers which was a big plus.

I also used to do the accounts for a small, niche commercial cleaning company. They did OK & were able to delegate OK to go on holidays for a few weeks every now & then. They're marketing was very poor but they still did OK.

In the book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T Harv Eker he moved from business to business but only had success when he picked one thing & made a commitment to stick to it till he had a breakthrough. I also love his idea of becoming a "bigger person" to tackle obstacles i.e a "Level 5" person can't solve a "Level 8" problem but a "Level 10" person can. i.e. the old Jim Rohn quote about the your business only growing as much as you do.

Hope this helps.

Appreciate the encouragement @Lee Wright. I heard something similar recently -- that most business problems after you've learned the basics are really just personal shortcomings manifesting in business.

This has proven true in my experience as well. I realize I have to "become a bigger person" through cultivating a strong mindset, then I'll have the capacity do what is needed to get the results I want.
 

KeepGoin

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Appreciate the encouragement @Lee Wright. I heard something similar recently -- that most business problems after you've learned the basics are really just personal shortcomings manifesting in business.

This has proven true in my experience as well. I realize I have to "become a bigger person" through cultivating a strong mindset, then I'll have the capacity do what is needed to get the results I want.

Have you read ,"The War of Art"? Not that you need another distraction but it help
 

minivanman

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What city are you in? You can send me a private message if you don't want everyone to know.

I owned a residential cleaning business for 19 years.

You want to start the business in 30 days and have 1 customer 30 days after that??? How about this, start the business in 30 days (What's going to take so long?) and have a minimum of 1 customer within 24 hours! Hell, I'd be starving right now if it would have taken 30 days to get 1 customer and that was before the internet was in every hand of every American!
 
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Lee Wright

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What city are you in? You can send me a private message if you don't want everyone to know.

I owned a residential cleaning business for 19 years.

You want to start the business in 30 days and have 1 customer 30 days after that??? How about this, start the business in 30 days (What's going to take so long?) and have a minimum of 1 customer within 24 hours! Hell, I'd be starving right now if it would have taken 30 days to get 1 customer and that was before the internet was in every hand of every American!

To the OP. Here's someone that's already done what you want to do & sounds like they're willing to give some advice. I'd make the most of that & learn from their mistakes. Much faster than making those mistakes yourself.
 

minivanman

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To the OP. Here's someone that's already done what you want to do & sounds like they're willing to give some advice. I'd make the most of that & learn from their mistakes. Much faster than making those mistakes yourself.

People don't like my advice because I don't sugarcoat it. There are 99 ways to make money in the residential cleaning business but 1 customer in 30 days is not 1.

There are actually a LOT of mistakes to be made and sometimes people want to make the mistakes themselves (I guess to prove something?). The bad thing is, most of the time once they make those mistakes they are worn out and don't continue on with the business (this happens in a lot of businesses). House cleaning is tough.... finding good workers is tough, finding good customers is tough (we didn't just take ANY customer) and finding the good customers that will pay what you are worth instead of $10-$20 an hour is really tough nowadays, figuring out the correct cleaning chemicals that saves time is tough (even most house cleaning business owners don't know this answer because they never thought of it before)..... but it can be done if one really wants to do it. People never believed me when I told them that I can clean a house 2x better than they do and all I will use is a China made .07c magic eraser, 8 microfiber towels and a bottle of water.... but by golly our customers sure did believe it. We had life time customers. Once I discovered this trick it saved me over 33% because it cut our cleaning time by 33% (magic erasers kick a$$!) and it cut our chemical cost. Luckily, early on I found that Zep non-tinted window cleaner could be bought for $10 (at that time) a gallon and when mixed with water that gallon will last a good 5 years depending how many customers a company has. For a 2 person business it would last atleast a lifetime.
 

Lee Wright

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Thanks minivanman,
Hope I'm not hijacking the OP's post but good points. What you say about all clients not being equal is so true. Perry Marshall's 80/20 Marketing comes to mind. You want to find those 20% of customers who are willing to pay above market rates for quality work (and then of course find a way to deliver quality work at low cost to you). Did you end up selling your business? If so, what type of multiples can you get in residential cleaning?
 
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minivanman

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My goal wasn't to get any 'real' money for it. All I did was ask for a small percentage. The one in Lincoln I just closed. It was always more trouble than it was worth. In Kansas City the lady paid me for a while.... she was up to date and everything and then one day she stopped paying. I feel she took advantage of me because she knew all I wanted was for her to keep everyone working. I never did anything about it because she still has everyone working and that was my goal. I thought she had gone out of business but my buddy said she is still around. The one in Omaha I sold 3 times before getting any money and commitment from it. It was by far my biggest. As with the one in Kansas City, money wasn't really my thing, I just wanted someone to show me they would stay committed. In the end, the girl thought she knew better than me and it is now gone with the wind.... but I did get a little money, only because her father-in-law paid me.

I told my one lady in Omaha, Kelley, if she would take it over I would give it to her for FREE!!! She was very dependable. She declined and once I was gone she went to work for a telemarketing place making $12.16 an hour.

I used to make every girl that worked for me this deal.... I will help you get up and running and get you 20 customers to start you off...... but if you fail within the first 2 years, you gotta work for FREE for me for 1 year. No one ever took me up on that offer.

I only tried to sell to my workers and only really wanted them to keep the other girls working. I didn't care about the money they needed to pay me. I could have probably sold out to another cleaning business in town but I wanted to help one of my girls.... and it didn't work. :(
 

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