[Progress] Growing a Cleaning Business

[GuitarManDan]

If any questions come up, I'm happy to help. What area of the US do you work in IB?

Corporate world was incredibly draining for me. Stayed up til 3AM every night reading books just to prolong going to sleep since it was a fast track to going back to work the next day. Outside looking in my situation looked great. Decent salary w/ bonus, couple vacations overseas each year, bills paid, made more than most of my friends back home, but couldn't stand it.

Some seek those things out and I don't knock them, but I knew within a month of starting my job that corporate life wasn't going to be for me. Sad part was I assumed no matter what I did or where I went I'd feel the exact same way. Friends and family would just say "Go find another job. The reason you feel this way is you haven't found a job you love". So I'd make a half hearted effort at looking for other jobs just so friends and family thought that was my way out. My sister is very successful in the corporate world. Went to Harvard Business School, and makes a boat load. She sends me jobs that she thinks fit me a few times each month. It's incredibly hard for me to explain to successful people in the corporate world that It's just not for me without making them out to look bad. So, I'll say thanks, do a quick google search about the job and respond with something that shows I looked at it. But I never actually do it.

I can't say I thought running a local service business was going to be my transition out, but I was and still am seeking freedom, not any specific business. If it produces great cashflow and won't take any intellectual ability to operate once it's established, I'm all for it. Could care less what the actual product or service is.

Sorry for the litany!

Hey Nzott,

I honestly felt like I was reading something I typed up! This perfectly describes the situation I'm in at the moment. I work for a large investment bank on the wealth mgmt side in New York City. To follow what you said, I also have a great salary (compared to my friends my age), I've been able to go on a few awesome trips to Europe, and I'm making much more than I need for my expenses (I'm a pretty frugal person, so besides rent and food my expenses are low). People on the outside look in at my situation and think I have it made and that I'm "set for life". Yet, I'm miserable going to work every day.

My family has also told me that if I'm unhappy I should either go to grad school or find another job I "love". I worked at one investment bank for 3 years and got very complacent because things were just okay enough that I could justify telling myself "my friends have it much worse, I'm lucky". When I moved to my current role (been almost a year), I realized I fell into a toxic work culture where everyone is extremely paranoid/miserable all day. I feel so fortunate that this kicked my a$$ enough to venture out and find some alternatives which luckily landed me to these forums and MJ's book.

Lately I've been in a similar pattern that you were in as well (reading and researching after work until the last possible moment that you have to go to sleep). It's really inspiring to hear your story to know that I can fight my way out of this spot I'm in and make a better life for myself.

 

[JLawrence]

Hey Nzott,

I honestly felt like I was reading something I typed up! This perfectly describes the situation I'm in at the moment. I work for a large investment bank on the wealth mgmt side in New York City. To follow what you said, I also have a great salary (compared to my friends my age), I've been able to go on a few awesome trips to Europe, and I'm making much more than I need for my expenses (I'm a pretty frugal person, so besides rent and food my expenses are low). People on the outside look in at my situation and think I have it made and that I'm "set for life". Yet, I'm miserable going to work every day.

My family has also told me that if I'm unhappy I should either go to grad school or find another job I "love". I worked at one investment bank for 3 years and got very complacent because things were just okay enough that I could justify telling myself "my friends have it much worse, I'm lucky". When I moved to my current role (been almost a year), I realized I fell into a toxic work culture where everyone is extremely paranoid/miserable all day. I feel so fortunate that this kicked my a$$ enough to venture out and find some alternatives which luckily landed me to these forums and MJ's book.

Lately I've been in a similar pattern that you were in as well (reading and researching after work until the last possible moment that you have to go to sleep). It's really inspiring to hear your story to know that I can fight my way out of this spot I'm in and make a better life for myself.

Absolutely man, I feel for you. I'm in NYC as well. Great part about where we're at is the opportunities are endless. The city allows what would be traditionally considered a "slow lane" business, fast lane potential because of the sheer number of people you're able to impact. Not that I recommend opening a food cart, but I guarantee there's a multi millionaire in NYC who operates a fleet of food carts solely in NYC.

Andy's right, I go into a bit more detail about my background in our opening chat back in December. The interview was soon after leaving my job, living off a dream of what I felt I could make happen if I just stuck with it. Financially it was the dumbest short term decision I could make. As you know we aren't in cheapest place in the world. So, I became a hermit for a few months and focused solely on my business. Buckling down and giving 100% everything I had just to survive another month and pour all my funds back into the business for faster growth. I tell Andy about how I was posting on craigslist offering to build websites on wordpress for people. I'd literally show up at their office and spend all day with them making little tweaks to wordpress for $25/hr. I'm no expert and would literally youtube how to do something while I was sitting there. But it made rent for the next month and allowed me to keep all the business revenue inside the business. If I hadn't done that, the business would have never made enough to support me, and it'd take years to grow to any sustainable level.

The route I've taken is to live like a peasant for the next 6 months and plow everything back into the business. I made a spreadsheet back in January drafting out all the different marketing channels I was using. Average revenue from each channel, their corresponding cost, conversions rates, and overall retention rate. Then I extrapolated this out for the next 12 and 24 months. This gave me a sense of how long and how much I'd need to invest back in the business before I reached my goals.

January Estimate = $8,788
February Estimate = $10,816
March Estimate = $12,844
April Estimate = $14,872

January Real = $8,533.65
February Real = $9,619.65
March Real = $12,319.12
April (Currently Booked) = $11,390.55

It blow's my mind that just using simple math I could so accurately predict my growth pattern. Sure it's only 4 months, but it makes me feel so much better when I'm putting money back into the business because I know if I just do it X more months, revenue with then be 50% higher or whatever the case may be.

Since we're obviously close by, I'm happy to chat over a drink some time.

 

[GuitarManDan]

We actually do interior home cleaning. We've just now begun offering exterior window cleaning and pressure washing as well to take advantage of the spring cleaning rush.

My first job in high school was for a window cleaning company in Michigan. The owner was a crappy marketer, but was able to build a decent size business over the course of 20 years via word of mouth. I saw so many things I felt I could do better that I wanted to give it a shot on my own at some point. Fast forward to getting my first job, and that sort of fell by the wayside. I came across a guy who was doing lead gen for a snow plow service in the Boston/New England area and thought I could emulate that since I was working full time. I'd get the jobs but outsource the work. Unfortunately I didn't go about it the right way, and it just kind of fizzled out.

About a year later I came across this reddit thread: DAY 26: From Zero to Website Launch-A recap of everything that got us here! • r/EntrepreneurRideAlong

This guy had built a home cleaning company from 0 to $2 Million in just a few years. He used lead gen, but operated the actual cleaning service as well. I reached out to him directly and he was so incredibly open and willing to offer advice it blew my mind. Since I was in such a big market, I figured I could emulate his process and operate the same model where I was located. Literally any local service business would work using what he laid out. His 26 day process will take you from 0-60 in no time. It's up to you to take it from 60-100. I built the entire site using Weebly.com for free in a single weekend, just to test the concept, and had my first booking from Adwords that Monday. The second booking didn't come for quite some time, but it seemed promising.

I set up a basic Adwords campaign and sort of let it sit. I didn't market anything else extensively and just managed the few bookings that came in each month. I was working full time, so stepping out to take phone calls, questions, complaints, was intimidating. It wasn't until I left my job that I put my full weight behind growing the business. I knew the concept worked, but underestimated the amount of hustle it takes to get it off the ground.

The guys I see that start this and fail fall for that same mistake. They underestimate the amount of brute force effort, time, and money it takes to get the ball rolling. Most give up before they can create that momentum.

I think there's huge value potential in the local service space. Read up on Brian Scudamore, the founder of 1-800-Got-Junk. He took a fragmented local service business, Junk Removal, and built a system that focused 100% on delivering a highly customer-centric experience, then franchised it out to the rest of the country. He's now doing the same for Painting with WOW 1-Day Painting, moving with You Move Me, and exterior home cleaning with Shack Shine. The guy is a high school drop out worth $250 Million.

It's amazing how a guy lays out the exact steps required to start your own local services business and it only gets 26 upvotes on Reddit! Just reinforces the point in MJ's book and some other posts on here that people would rather pay thousands for a "get rich ASAP" seminar instead of doing research and trying things out that are free online.

This is awesome and honestly much needed after another long day at work. I'm going to look into this and really digest it. Also a great point about how NYC is such an enormous market, even starting off by following what someone else does can be enough to get your business off the ground because there's just so many potential clients.

 

[JLawrence]

Great conversation.

This might interest you both too:

• Lead Gen for Local Service Businesses

Read through all your stuff before contacting you directly @Andy Black. Your short youtube video on geo modified keywords is awesome.

 

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[HustleHard]

Incoming Information Dump my compadre's ...

4 years ago I wrote a case study on reddit on my $4k per month local business. I've since built that company into a multi-million dollar company and the redditors that followed are now doing a combined $50 million dollars per year! Updated case study and AMA. • r/Entrepreneur

DAY 26: From Zero to Website Launch-A recap of everything that got us here! • r/EntrepreneurRideAlong

Most recent posts — Rohan Gilkes

http://localcasestudy.com

Rohan Gilkes’ 27 Days to Building a Business Once and For All: Channels - 27 weeks coaching

http://www.maidsinblack.com

http://howardpartridge.com

NEW Rich Cleaner System Special Offer - Piranha Marketing Kit for Cleaners & Restorers by Joe Polish

Hiring agencies internal referrals how myclean gets worker. Company aquistion how to grow your company. Also Buy cleaning business contracts who are going out of business.

https://www.myclean.com/blog/we-boo...vice-into-a-4-million-dollar-a-year-business/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bi...ker-revamps-cleaning-service-with-an.amp.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mixerg...chaparro-karen-la-spina-gmaids-interview/amp/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mixergy.com/interviews/rohan-gilkes-maidsinblack-interview/amp/

http://www.cleanguru.com

http://321mobi.com/janquest/

http://www.cleaningtalk.com/#/topics/2996?page=1

http://www.jondon.com/equipment-accessories/truck-mounts-and-accessories.html

https://www.myhousecleaningbiz.com/public/main.cfm

http://www.isetoday.com

https://www.quora.com/As-a-cleaning-company-owner-do-you-hire-or-contract-your-workers

http://cleaningbusinesstoday.com/blog/the-great-debate-employees-versus-independent-contractors

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...tors-avoid-classification-problems-35463.html

https://www.thejanitorialstore.com/public/Employees-or-Subcontractors-338-2.cfm

https://www.google.com/search?safe=...ws-serp..4.1.228...30i10k1.Cj_P-7svirg#xxri=2

http://arcsi.org

http://gary-goranson.blogspot.com/?m=1

http://www.powerwash.com/articles/add-on-pressure-washing-service.html

http://cleaningbusinesstoday.com/Mobile

http://themaidcoach.com/10-rules-for-success/

https://www.issa.com/member-benefits/arcsi.html#.WSYf6p8pDqC

http://online-cleaning-coach.com/start-a-cleaning-business-with-no-money/

http://sfs.jondon.com/guide/grow-cleaning-business

http://www.cleaningtalk.com/#/

https://www.truckmountforums.com

https://www.score.org

https://nationalproclean.com/start-a-janitorial-or-office-cleaning-service/

http://cleaningbusinessbuilders.com

http://cleaningbusinesstoday.com/blog/how-to-be-the-biggest-cleaning-business-in-town

https://speedcleaning.com

https://fundbox.com/blog/8-surefire-ways-grow-your-cleaning-business/

http://www.growmycleaningcompany.com

https://www.cleaning-4-profit.com/2013/10/27/how-to-make-more-money-with-your-cleaning-business/

http://www.city-data.com/forum/business/1975084-office-cleaning-profitable.html

http://cleaningbusinesstoday.com/blog/wealth-first


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/winniesun/2016/02/09/mattpaxton/amp/

https://www.myclean.com

https://mixergy.com/interviews/myclean-with-michael-scharf/

https://mixergy.com/interviews/michael-scharf-myclean-interview/#transcript

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7795676

http://howtostartcleaningbusiness.net/how-to-start-a-cleaning-business/


http://howtostartcleaningbusiness.net

https://www.cleaning-4-profit.com/2010/07/25/secret-to-wealth-cleaning-business/

http://www.advisoryhq.com/articles/how-to-start-a-cleaning-business/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fo...glar-10-quotes-that-can-change-your-life/amp/

http://online-cleaning-coach.com/cleaning-contracts-for-sale/

http://www.manta.com/c/mm8c3y4/golden-services-inc

https://startupjungle.com/start-maid-service-business/

https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/i-...ailing-around-the-world-with-his-338929c4e8c9

 

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[HustleHard]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071793429/?tag=tff-amazonparser-20

The strategy is composed of three parts:

Rollup: The acquisition of similar businesses serving a specific market to build a competitive mass and gain economies of scale to drive profits while improving the efficiencies of operations, promotion, and centralized administration

Rollout: The replication of the business model in new geographic territories or market segments to leverage the infrastructure and increase the economies of scale

Innovate: The adoption of new processes and creation of innovative products or services that strengthen the entity's bond with old patrons while attracting new customers, thus driving long-term success in the midst of turbulent change




Roll-up integration.
My mantra for executing a roll-up of businesses is “Do No Harm!” Do not try to integrate these businesses day-one. There are too many personalities, company cultures and skill sets involved. Instead, think of it as three phases:

1. Phase one is simply rolling-up the financials into one entity, keeping the businesses running largely the same as they were before the deal;
2. Phase two is integrating all the back-office functions across all companies, e.g., payroll, insurance, overhead; and
3. Phase three is integrating the front-office functions, e.g., cross-selling products, cross-training sales teams, centralizing company-wide branding.

Don’t try to do it all at once, as it will most likely not work out as planned, and could result in disgruntled staff quitting and revenues falling far short of plan, which could endanger any debt service. Phase it in over a couple years.



How to add more revenue (and profits to your bottom line) by adding different services


When most people think about adding different types of services they generally think it must be hard to do. This isn’t really the case. Like I already mentioned, most new services can be learned rather quickly and without mortgaging your future. I’ll quickly review some affordable options.

Window cleaning – Entry costs of roughly $100 to $300 depending on requirements. This has to be one of the easiest services to add to your cleaning company. Whether you own a residential or commercial company this would be a perfect fit.

The PROS are the extremely low start up cost and potential for high earning from doing something as simple as cleaning windows. I’ve had window jobs that averaged anywhere from $175 to $350. I’ve even had jobs where I charged the customer over $1,000!

The CONS of window cleaning would include the necessity of climbing a ladder from time to time and increased insurance costs. The possibility of injury for you or your staff would also be a concern. You would also need a collection of ladders if you did this work regularly (to handle the different situations).

An Unger window cleaning kit will hardly break the bank if you go this route. I’ve purchased a few of these kits and have found them to be very durable. One or two ladders with needed ladder stand offs would get you started.

VCT Floor-care services – Entry costs of roughly $1,000 to $2,000 depending on requirements. This service is a better fit for commercial as it’s geared towards that market. This involves stripping and waxing floors as well as other remedial services (buffing, wax top coating to name a few).

The PROS of VCT floor-care is the fact it’s rather easy to learn on the whole. It’s also rather inexpensive in relation to how much you can earn performing this type work. Small jobs can run from $450 to $700 for just a few hours work to well into the thousands. My very first job was over $1,751 (over ten years ago).

The CONS are the fact that the cost of the equipment can be considered steep (by beginner standards) and the fact you’ll need a van or large truck to transport the equipment around. This work is also physically demanding at times plus this work tends to be done late at night or on weekends (which some people won’t like).

Standard equipment you’ll need would include a floor machine and wet dry vacuum. This is in addition to the mops & buckets, wax and stripper, floor pads and other smaller items a specialty janitorial retailer offers.

Carpet cleaning – Entry costs of roughly $1,500 to $3,000 for a portable unit ($20,000 plus van for truck mounted system). This service goes just perfectly with any type customer. Houses provide welcome retail type pricing while commercial offers steady contract type work.

The PROS are numerous for this type work. Extremely high income can be achieved with either residential or commercial properties. A two person crew working in harmony can bring in large amounts of income. Small jobs can easily bring in $250 to $450 in as little as an hour or two. Commercial work can easily average $500 to $1,000. Work over $1,000 is common when marketed properly.

The CONS are the larger costs associated with this type work. Portable units will be fine for smaller jobs, but fall short for larger ones. Also portable units will be frowned upon (on the whole) by homeowners. Truck mounts are expensive and require regular maintenance (which can be pricy as well).

You’ll need a portable carpet machine (plus cleaning wand) to get started cleaning carpet. Needless to say you’ll need various cleaning solutions and accessories as well. These can be found online or at a local janitorial cleaning retailer.

Tile & Grout cleaning – Entry costs vary from $400 to several thousand depending upon technique used. A special tile & grout “cleaning wand” will cost only a few hundred but it will require connection to a high powered portable carpet cleaning machine or truck mount system. A stand-alone portable unit can run a few thousand bucks.

The PROS include the high income potential that comes with offering a specialty service. This service is flexible in that you can market it to both residential customers and commercial clients. Bringing bathroom tile, many hard surface kitchen floors and even countertops and showers back to life is a great selling point. Jobs can average $250 to well over $1,000 each.

The CONS include the cost of the equipment to an extent plus the fact this this type work is not in demand as much as the other services we’ve outlined. You’ll also have to do a little more homework as each type of surface will require a slightly different approach when cleaning.

You’ll need to purchase a tile and grout wand / machineof some kind to get started. You will also need different cleaning solutions depending upon the surface you will be required to clean. Once again these can be found online or at a local janitorial cleaning retailer.

How to Build a Multi Million Dollar Cleaning Business (great website)

13 Secrets Your Cleaner Won't Tell You(good cleaning tips)

The Wealthy Contractor Online

How To Get Rich In The Cleaning Business

Getting rich in the cleaning business is not really all that hard IF you can master one thing.

We all know what that “thing” is when starting our cleaning business. In fact we all start out doing it perfectly, then the wheels come off for a variety of reasons.

It happens so slowly it’s hard to detect at first. What starts as a minor distraction soon becomes a train derailment. It happens to all of us at some point, sometimes more frequently than we would like to admit.

You are probably wondering what this “thing” is right now aren’t you? Though you already know the answer, I’ll remind you anyway…

Solving your potential customer’s problems.

You need to have the answers to the problems they are experiencing. When you have that part down, the rest will fall into place (and the money will follow). At the end of the day that is what you need to be an expert at. It is that simple!

Your potential clients don’t need facts and figures. They want answers! Nothing more. In order to have those answers you need to have exceptional knowledge about the cleaning business. Next you have to have the ability to distill that knowledge to them in a way that makes sense.

Each time you meet with a potential cleaning client you have the opportunity to learn what that particular customers problem is. You just need to listen carefully. Though most clients share similar experiences, each one is totally unique.

If you can zero in on one or two of their most pressing problems (and have the answers that solve those problems) you will get the job. To better drive the point home I included some examples. They are based on a five night per week job, but the concept works with any cleaning frequency.

Make use of them by following this format:

1. Listen to customers problem.
2. Look at a solution that will solve it.
3. Give answer to client.

• Customer problem – No quality control. My business looks good one day then horrible the next.

Solution – Have a supervisor (or you do it) check each job after completion for the first two weeks, then weekly after that. As an added layer of protection, make sure each employee follows a checklist. This checklist gets signed and dated on each occurrence of job.

Answer – I understand completely. That is why “Your Company” does a nightly checkup of each job for the first 2 weeks of service, then once per week after that to ensure the highest level of quality. In addition each staff member follows a checklist created just for your account that must be signed and dated each visit.

• Customer problem – The last cleaning company stole items from the premises. I’m worried about theft.

Solution – Screen all employees by calling former employers. Get employees to sign waiver allowing you to perform police background check. Get bonded and have general liability insurance.

Answer – I’m sorry to hear that. My company deals with theft in a pro-active way. We hire honest people by carefully screening each applicant. We follow up with each former employer of the applicant to start. Then each potential employee must sign a waiver that allows us to perform a police background check which we perform before hiring. In addition we are bonded and carry general liability insurance as well.

• Customer problem – The last company used to send different people everyday. I heard the turnover was high at that company. I don’t want that to happen again.

Solution – Pay higher wages than your top competitors. Offer incentives for people to stay with your company. Create a family atmosphere that large companies can’t match.

Answer – Many companies face that problem. We combat that by paying the highest wages, which also gets us the cream of the crop as well. In addition we offer employee incentives, such as bonuses to keep them with us. Lastly we foster a family atmosphere within the company that is hard to duplicate elsewhere.

• Customer problem – Whenever I call my cleaning company about a problem they do one of two things. They either don’t get back to me fast enough or if they do, they never solve the problem fast enough. It could take a week to fix something.

Solution – Check you messages each hour on the hour and return the call immediately. Have the cell phone numbers to all staff members so they can be notified asap. If you can’t reach a staff member for some reason, fix it yourself.

Answer – That is a common problem in the cleaning industry. I prevent that from happening in my company by guaranteeing a return call within 90 minutes, no exceptions. I also keep my staff members cell phone numbers stored in my cell in case I need to get a hold of them asap. If for some reason I can’t get a hold of someone I go and fix the problem myself.

Well there you have it. A bunch of common customer problems that you now have the knowledge to solve. As you gain some experience you will be able to add to your repertoire, becoming a master in the process.

Above all, never forget why the customer called you in the first place…to solve a problem. Money, and lots of it come with solving other peoples problems. In fact, if you are not careful, you just may get rich.

 

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[JLawrence]

Hey @nzott I've read through this thread a couple times now and it's been incredibly helpful, thanks for posting such detailed updates and giving advice to others. I wanted to ask a few questions and if you get a few minutes to answer I'd appreciate it, but I'm sure you're busy so no pressure.

1. Do you physically hand supplies to your cleaners or do they purchase supplies themselves and then you reimburse the cost?

2. Do cleaners come to an office each morning before heading off to their first job, or drive straight to the first client?

3. Do cleaners work in teams or solo? If they work in teams, how do they both get into the same vehicle - do they pick each other up from home or meet at an office first?

The main issue I'm having at the moment is designing the logistics so that it's less time-consuming for me but also simple for the cleaners to reduce employee turnover. Thanks Nzott!

1. Do you physically hand supplies to your cleaners or do they purchase supplies themselves and then you reimburse the cost?
Neither. Cleaning teams purchase their own supplies and cover the cost. It has to be this way for them to be considered Independent Contractors.

Some companies have a home office where they keep items stocked. Cleaners arrive in the morning, take what they need, return items at end of day.

2. Do cleaners come to an office each morning before heading off to their first job, or drive straight to the first client?
Head straight to the job. I don't have an office or central location.

3. Do cleaners work in teams or solo? If they work in teams, how do they both get into the same vehicle - do they pick each other up from home or meet at an office first?
Most are teams of 2. I've had a few solo people, but prefer teams. I've always hired people in pairs. Family members, Husband/Wife, Mother/Daughter, etc. It's required that one has a vehicle in order to become one of our teams.

***********************
Don't overthink it. Post an ad on Craigslist offering cleaning at $20/hour per cleaner. Post 5 more like it throughout the day. Field the one or two calls you get from this and get a job scheduled for tomorrow. Head to the Craigslist jobs section and post an ad hiring cleaning teams for $30/hour. Field the 20 calls you'll get in the next hour and hire a team. Text them the job info.

Team shows up tomorrow morning. Team Cleans for 3 Hours, makes $90 (They are $90 richer than they were last night, they love you). Customer pays you $120 (Feels like they got a bargain since all the "professional" services were quoting 3x that price). You keep $30 (and sit in your boxers all day).

Do this for weeks/months straight. Slowly build a base of recurring clients. Start to ratchet up your prices. Rinse, repeat.

Before long you'll be able to pay someone else to sit in their boxers all day while you go work on something else while your little business grows.


Point is, cross the bridge when it comes.

 

[JLawrence]

Hourly rates are WAY lower for commercial than residential, but services are more frequent and space is bigger so more hours. It varies by market, but here a residential cleaner might be $40/hour where as commercial is $25. And it's not valued very highly, where as people with money value not having to clean their own home.

Right, Commercial you need a good bit of scale before you personally make any money. Residential you can make money from day one. In my experience, residential has been leaps and bounds easier to both manage and grow profitably than anything commercial would be. Commercial seems like such a time suck and constant headache.

 

[vitality11]

Good luck! Beautiful to see you hustling and exposing yourself to so much growth.
Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed post as these do take time
Will watch your thread.

 

[Andy Black]

Update:

It's been 2 months since beginning this progress thread, and while I thought a 30 day update would make sense, I wasn't sure what to focus on and put off updating for another 30 days.

Something is better than nothing, so I'll just start typing and see where it goes.

I spoke with Andy Black on Wednesday December 7th. I had just come off the Thanksgiving rush and booked my highest revenue month on record at $4,295.15. Up from $2,942.10 in October (Also a record breaking month).

I implemented Andy's recommendations and made sure all of my tracking information and conversion goals in Google Analytics were working properly. I had a huge gain in confidence after making these changes and was no longer worried about whether I was wasting money on Adwords. December became another record month booking $7,467.60 in total revenue. While I can't attribute this entirely to Adwords, the amount of traffic I now get from Adwords is up 143%. Mainly because I raised my daily spending limits. This might have happened regardless of the changes Andy suggested, but I doubt I would have had the confidence to up my spending limits had I not spoken with Andy.

The additional bookings led to more recurring revenue for January, more reviews on major review sites, and a better established presence overall online. This allowed continued growth in January for another record month at $8,533.65. The next goal is breaking $10,000 in booked revenue. While February is a bit shorter, I'm hoping to attain that this month. As long as the Revenue is higher than January, I'm okay with it.

Once thing I did in December was write down my revenue goal for the month ($7,500). An interesting thing happened; I hit it! So in January I did the same thing, and like clockwork I nearly hit the exact revenue goal for January too ($8,500). Once I wrote the goal down on paper and planned exactly what needed to happen to hit that goal, the path was set. Now it was a matter of following that path and not deterring for any reason.

The website converts 3-4% of visitors to bookings. Currently an average booking is $169 in revenue. Knowing just these two numbers, I can figure out exactly how traffic I need to generate to hit my revenue target. If my goal is $10,000 then I need to book 59 total jobs in that month. Let's say 30% of those jobs are recurring from previous months (18 jobs). To book an additional 41 Jobs, I need 1170 in traffic converting at 3.5%.

Knowing this information is incredibly powerful as I can now make informed decision on where to get that traffic and how much I'm willing to pay for it. In the local service sector, there's a variety of options, but my main traffic sources are Adwords (Paid), SEO (Paid & Organic), Yelp (Paid and Organic), Angie's List (Organic), Thumbtack (Paid), and word of mouth. Depending on your market and how many people are searching for your service in a given month will dictate how fast you're able to grow.

Excited to see what February and March brings.

Onward.

Nice update.

Are you analysing your stats weekly or monthly? Are you noticing seasonality within the month (more calls after payday etc)?

 

[grindmode]

Awesome job on taking ACTION and getting the ball rolling! Keep us updated!

PS- I am fairly new here, while taking "ACTION" but GOING NOWHERE.... @Andy Black has been the 1 person that truly inspired me while also finally helping me realize my REAL PROBLEM was that I was purely "CHASING MONEY" rather than creating "VALUE" which complete mindset change while volunteering my time/working completely free for someone else (found 3 people who in just 2 weeks I have helped each person in some POSITIVE way which gave me new idea's on which I have already taken ACTION in my first business venture EVER!) .

Didn't mean to "hi-jack" your threat but AWESOME progress I will be following this threat and PROPS to @Andy Black!

 

[JLawrence]

I liken the AdWords channel to being a pump blowing up a balloon. It can only increase the size of your business by a certain amount each month, but if you can convert some of those first buyers into repeat buyers and referrers, then your business will be much bigger 12 months later.

That analogy is perfect.

 

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[Andy Black]

I am hoping either @Andy Black or @nzott may be able to help me here.

I have been trying to run a successful AdWords campaign for my product (e-commerce site selling physical product to mommies). My AOV is $19 (roughly 2 units) but I can't seem to get conversions cheap enough to justify spending in adwords.

I am dying to have a consistent budget towards the site to bring in more consistent revenue but it just is not working.

I know that is really vague but do you have any suggestions?

Great progress @nzott . Keep crushing it!

Very hard to say what you might be doing wrong or what you might be able to do better.

My first thoughts would be to check your keywords and search terms. Are your keywords too broad and bringing in too many garbage search terms? Have you tried Product Listing Ads too?


My humble suggestions would be to read this stuff:

• www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/andys-adwords-posts.52850

And if you want to shorten the learning curve, then check out my course:

• www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/andys-adwords-course-get-found-by-the-people-already-looking-for-you.72851

 

[JLawrence]

I am hoping either @Andy Black or @nzott may be able to help me here.

I have been trying to run a successful AdWords campaign for my product (e-commerce site selling physical product to mommies). My AOV is $19 (roughly 2 units) but I can't seem to get conversions cheap enough to justify spending in adwords.

I am dying to have a consistent budget towards the site to bring in more consistent revenue but it just is not working.

I know that is really vague but do you have any suggestions?

Great progress @nzott . Keep crushing it!

Thanks @Nik Krohn.

I have an ecommerce site as well, but haven't been able to figure out adwords with it either. It's taken a back seat and I literally spend 0 hours on it now.

In regards to paying for traffic, It will depend on your conversion rate and AOV (As you probably know). If it's 20%, then you'll find a ton of profitable marketing routes. If it's currently only 1-2%, you'll have a far tougher time going that route for most keywords/products.

Hustle at this stage as much as possible. Send some samples to popular blogs in exchange for a review. Depending on the product, this can be huge. Youtubers, Bloggers, Instagram influencers, whoever you can get your product to. Put your product everywhere imaginable. Ebay is a super cheap option to get some steam. Include a postcard with every shipment that provides a discount code for a re-order on your website. Amazon and Bonanaza are others that you can make some headway on. If it's a "custom" or "hand crafted" type product, even Etsy can be a good option. Create some unique craigslist ads and post your products on local selling sites. It not sexy or cool, but the goal is just to get the product into as many hands as possible by sheer hustle, not overspend. I'd be running all of these channels in unison, while I tested my website copy to increase my conversion rates. Only then would I pay for traffic.

The goal is to create a trickle that develops into a small flow from each of these avenues that together add up to a flood of highly tailored traffic to your website that'll convert higher than usual.

The only reason I can justify ad overspend in my local service business is due to recurring revenue. The lifetime value of a recurring client to me is $1500-$2k. That gives me a lot of room to screw up and test different advertising routes. I found that to be far tougher with my ecommerce site.

So while I wouldn't take advice from a guy who's ecommerce business is his red headed step child, that's the route I would take if I had put all my effort into the ecommerce business as opposed to the local service business which is what I chose to do after leaving my job.

 

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[GuitarManDan]

Yes. I generate leads for other businesses. @nzott generates and fulfils his own leads.

Check out the call I had with @Pittman09 where he's starting what I'm doing and asked me about my particular business model.

Check out @IceCreamKid 's thread where he runs his cleaning company for more info too.

This is paid search rather than SEO. The algorithm for page ranking doesn't matter.

EDIT:

• www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/andytalks-with-pittman09-about-his-foray-into-adwords.73600
• www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/making-money-for-dummies-and-in-a-crowded-market.63123

The biggest takeaway I've had on the forum so far is how many limiting beliefs I subconsciously held that have been completely knocked out. I would've never expected that a carpet cleaning business would be a fastlane venture.

I also had a chance this afternoon after work to listen to your interview with @Pittman09 . Thanks for providing the links, much appreciated. It seems like the common thread between your story and Pittman's is that you both started out by simply trying to help a friend/family member (you with your friend the electrician and Pittman with his father's business). In both stories, the offer to help turned into a learning experience and helped open the door to potential opportunities. I think it's a really powerful lesson that can be applied to my life to seek out who I can help.

 

[JLawrence]

The biggest takeaway I've had on the forum so far is how many limiting beliefs I subconsciously held that have been completely knocked out. I would've never expected that a carpet cleaning business would be a fastlane venture.

I also had a chance this afternoon after work to listen to your interview with @Pittman09 . Thanks for providing the links, much appreciated. It seems like the common thread between your story and Pittman's is that you both started out by simply trying to help a friend/family member (you with your friend the electrician and Pittman with his father's business). In both stories, the offer to help turned into a learning experience and helped open the door to potential opportunities. I think it's a really powerful lesson that can be applied to my life to seek out who I can help.

You got it man. Finding who you can help is the name of the game. As you do that, little connections and conversations with start to mold together in your mind. Ask specific questions about what problems they are having or what they wish they could have if they could wave a magic wand and make it happen. Do this enough and a huge opportunity will present itself to you. No brainstorming ideas, no testing, just asking the market what it needs, then delivering a product or service that solves that need.

If you don't have the technical know how to solve the need, but you know what needs to be done, craft a plan and do consulting work. Consultants are literally paid to do research on big problems, present what that person should do, and leave.

If you have the technical ability or are willing to learn them, you can do it yourself.

Either way it's about getting out into the marketplace and asking real people what problems they have.

 

[HustleHard]

Commercial janitorial franchise.. Anyone doing this???

It most certainly is fastlane. I know of a gentleman that built a janitorial services company to just under $1billion in annual sales in under 10 years. He did it by buying other janitorial companies and rolling them into one. I've spent years as an Investment Banker, doing just want I described. Believe me, doing roll-ups is a VERY FASTLANE strategy. You can build massive wealth in under 5 years doing the above.
Cleaning Forum


cleanerr
•
207d
I used companies until i could find someone reputable.

Craigslist has companies advertising their services, you can send out a simple email saying.

"We're a premium service, we have an influx of clients, we'd pay higher than your rate, please let me know if you're interested"



GOLD! - Making Money For Dummies (And In a Crowded Market)



My Tips for Growing Your Business

How Tidy Casa Bootstrapped from $0 to $500k in 18 Months | Ep. 1 | Hidden Insights


https://mixergy.com/interviews/brian-scudamore-1800gotjunk-interview/#transcript

https://www.merrymaids.com/company-history/

Our Story: About the Molly Maid Cleaning Service Franchise

Is window cleaning a good business to get into

THE GRIM SWEEPER – MAKING A KILLING IN CRIME SCENE CLEAN-UP

https://www.thestar.com/life/2007/07/24/behold_the_grim_sweeper.html

http://plug-into-the-system.com/cleaning-business-facts.htm

http://www.cleaningconsultants.com/pages/semi.html

https://www.aromatherapynaturals.com/pages/cleaning-resources

https://www.aromatherapynaturals.com/pages/how-to-start-a-house-cleaning-business

http://www.backwoodshome.com/start-a-post-construction-cleaning-business/

http://www.fatcatcleaner.com

https://www.cleaner.com

http://cleaning-success.typepad.com...ial-or-both-types-of-cleaning-businesses.html


https://www.myhousecleaningbiz.com

http://www.cleaningbusinessnow.com

http://www.city-data.com/forum/business/1975084-office-cleaning-profitable.html

Question: most of the replies are from people that were self-employed or the people they know in this busines are self employed. All of which is not the same as owning a business.

Which do you want: A business or a job that you own.

For a business, it's very profitable. The profit margins are very high.

For a job that you own. You'll barely grow.

I know a guy, true story, that started a CLEANING BUSINESS back in 2002. He sold it for $400 million in 2012.

That's the difference between some one that starts a business and someone that does something "to keep food on the table". Both are not the same.

Source: Me. I've spent years managing big cleaning companies at the Senior management level.
The business is great but volatile. What I mean is, as soon as your customer gets a itch, their going to scratch it. Meaning, customers can be very "dumb". They'll change a cleaning company contract out in the blink of an eye. You're in a commoditybusiness. There is nothing unique about the service.....having said that........

You'll definitely want not only a sales person but a well defined organization. Management team on down. Be honest with yourself as it relates to what YOU want your role to be.

You're right, it's all about volume. So if you're thinking in those terms, the worst way to grow is by way of internal growth i.e- your sales team.

The biggest and most successful cleaning companies that I know of, all got there the same way--acquisitions. They started small and once the foundation was laid, they went on non-stop buying sprees. Instead of slugging it out in the marketplace trying to "steal" market share, they bought market share. Essentially, they bought all of their competitors as well as synergistic companies.

That's how you get big. Buy your growth. Companies like Coke, Google and Amazon get big by acquisitions, not selling products.

You will not get big by sending out sales teams to land new contracts. That will get you to a certain point than after that, you have to focus on buying other companies. That's how you get to a point to where you cash out after 10 years and go do something else.

IF IT WERE ME:

If I were to "start" a cleaning business today here is what I would do.

I would offer a PPM (Private Placement Memorandum) Essentially, you quietly soliciting private investors for capital. Lot's a of S.E.C. regulations to follow to do this. Consult your local securities lawyer.

After I secured about $2-$3 million in my fund. I'd used the funds to make down payments for purchases of cleaning companies. I'd structure my deals so the cash flow from the business will service the debt payments but no more than 50% of cash flow.

I would keep doing that over and over until I built up a big cleaning company than sell it to a Private Equity Group.

Buy it, grow it, sell it, Rinse and repeat.

That's not the traditional advice you're going to get from MOST business folks.

There are just to many ways to do it. I'll be doing something similar but NOT in the cleaning industry.
Anyone that has aspirations of starting and building a business, please do not listen to the folks that say it can't be done, or you need prior experience. YOU DON'T.

You're only limited by your own thinking. Having been and currently in the trenches( looking for companies to buy), many of you have no idea what the possibilities are. The opportunities are unbelievable.

Focus on designing business systems and building assets that offer value( there are 15 core assets for a business to build). The by product is ever increasing profits. Most people get in backwards--Fire, Ready, Aim.

The problem is, the new entrepreneur get's held down by:

1-Listening to people that have no idea what they're talking about
2-People giving advice and they have NO experience
3-Not creating HIGH CALIBER connections and contacts
4-Using sweat equity and disposable income to build a business
5-Listening to "Haters" on a forum.
6-Not spending money on EXPERTISE. (trying to figure it all out on your own)
Cleaning can be quite profitable. It's so unglamorous, there's less competition. Nobody really wants to start a janitorial cleaning business, let's be honest.

Mom and pop sized yet still substantial cleaning businesses may be available for sale at reasonable P/E multiples. Think of all the soon to be retirees that need to sell. We aren't talking tech companies here. 2, 3, 4, 5x earnings maybe. That makes it possible to rapidly grow through acquisitions, if financing can be secured as others mentioned on here. Treat it just like a real estate or other cash flow investment business. The numbers on the spreadsheet are what's important. If they can add up to your advantage, with a large degree of safety it's worth doing. It doesn't matter if some of the money is made cleaning toilets, or polishing door knobs on Judge's offices. Money is all the same, what matters is that the cash flows won't just disappear.

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...janitorial-franchise-anyone-doing-this.38864/

It most certainly is fastlane. I know of a gentleman that built a janitorial services company to just under $1billion in annual sales in under 10 years. He did it by buying other janitorial companies and rolling them into one. I've spent years as an Investment Banker, doing just want I described. Believe me, doing roll-ups is a VERY FASTLANE strategy. You can build massive wealth in under 5 years doing the above.
If you were to come up with $800K("yours", investors or SPECIALIZED LENDERS), believe it or not, you could acquire a $100million/annual sales company. To answer your question. You'll use the profits from your "platform company" to reinvest in acquisitions. Buying 3-4 companies a year is not RAPID nor fast. That's what I like to call.... "about right".

Some Fortune 500 companies easily buy 12-15 companies a year. That's how MOST big companies become big. Google, Microsoft, Amazon....that's how they all get so massive. It's not purely demand for their products/services. ALL businesses have a plateau, ALL of them. You can only grow internally for so long. It's best to start off buying companies that way you don't hit your plateau to soon. There is a lot that goes on "behind the closed business door" that you'll never hear about unless you run in those business circles.

Most business books have people misdirected and confused about business and the way things are really done.

The least of concerns is the cash. There are dozens of ways to structure the deal to lessen capital outlay. DOZENS.

You can also raise private funding through private placements, etc.... I'll stop here because I could write an entire volume of books on buying companies.
http://danpena.com/your-first-100-million-html-format/ *

http://www.danlok.com/daniel-s-pena/ *
http://www.achrnews.com/articles/90302-what-8217-s-your-hvac-plumbing-business-worth


https://www.sweetprocess.com/systematized-transformed-home-cleaning-business-into-a-franchise-by-hiring-systems-consultants/

Wondering how to franchise your business? Do you want your small mom and pop type business to turn into a multi-million dollar franchise? It can happen, but it’s next to impossible without systems. Most small business owners have dreams to grow and reach millions in annual revenues, but they’re so tied up in the day-to-day tasks that there is no time to focus on systems.

http://danlokinnercircle.com


https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.bu...ub-daddy-is-shark-tank-biggest-success-2015-4
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ve-a-successful-entrepreneurial-premise.3056/


My advice to aspiring business owners is this: Quit looking around for money-making opportunities -- instead, look around outside of yourself, stop being selfish, and help your fellow man solve their problems.

If you can make 1,000,000 people achieve any of the following:

1) Make them feel better
2) Help them solve a problem
3) Educate them
4) Make them look better (health, nutrition, clothing, makeup)
5) Give them security (housing, safety, health)
6) Arise a positive emotion (love, happiness, laughter, self-confidence)
7) Satisfy appetites of all kind, from basic (food) to the risqué (sexual).
8) Make things easier
9) Enhance their dreams and give hope

Do any of the above and I can guarantee you this: You will be worth millions.

So, the next time you hear yourself trolling around for opportunities to make you money, sit back and ask yourself this ...

"What do I have to offer the world?"

Offer the world something of value and the money will be close behind.

http://cleaningbusinesstoday.com/blog/how-to-be-the-biggest-cleaning-business-in-town

You started with one location and today have two. What’s your process – your strategic leader thought process – when you’re considering “getting bigger” and what does that mean for you? To what do you attribute your fast growth?

SM: In 2008, two years after I booked my first cleaning job, I decided this should be a real business. I wasn’t cleaning any homes by then; I had hired part time people to help and had found my start-up resources: HouseCleaningBiz101.com, Debbie Sardone’s programs and ARCSI.
http://www.thelawofattraction.com/what-is-the-law-of-attraction/

Once we have come to understand the astounding possibilities that life has to offer us, we can also come to realize that we are like artists. We are creating pictures of our intended life and then making choices and taking actions that will realize what we envisaged.

So what if you don’t like the picture?

Change it!

Life is a blank canvas of possibility; you are in control of what the finished picture could look like.

The Law of Attraction really is that simple… no catches. All laws of nature are completely perfect and the Law of Attraction is no exception. No matter what you are looking to have or achieve or be in life, if you can hold onto an idea and see it for yourself in the mind’s eye, you can make it yours to have… with some effort on your part.

 

[HustleHard]

How did you get your first cleaners without a steady stream of work? • r/EntrepreneurRideAlong


As the title says, how did you get your first cleaners without a steady stream of work? I'm unsure of how to start something like this if I don't have a steady stream of income for someone!
I believe most operate with contractors. So you only pay them for the jobs they work. If you’re trying to be an employer (which personally, as a person, I think is a better thing to do) then you need to either pay someone for not cleaning - or better, do free/cheap cleanings as a training or a sales pitch.
I just powered through it. I'd hire and then desperately try and get work. My first cleaner was cutting hair on her own part-time so she was flexible but as I filled the schedule, she moved to full-time.

Some companies lose cleaners at first because they don't get them enough work, then you'll scramble to hire but you figure it out. Some companies guarantee their employees hours and have them canvas neighborhoods with door hangers when they don't have jobs scheduled.

Work with a temp agency. Youd be wise to be on-site and work along side the temps to ensure good work but many labor agencies are begging for work that isn't big tough grunt work. I used to manage a day labor company. We always had ladies who weren't into doing construction work but wanted something indoors. Temp labor can get you over the hump and not expose you to workers comp and unemployment claims.

Hire part time employees Hire an outside commissioned sales person to get more work.

part time contractors, get enough work and do it yourself till you get a decent amount to sub out

Entrepreneur Ride Along • r/EntrepreneurRideAlong



Before thanksgiving I sent out an email to all the local mom blogs in the Phoenix Area. I got an overwhelmingly positive reply from most of them and cleaned a few for free in exchange for good reviews and publicity. It all seemed to be going well and we all had a good experience, but the bloggers never posted a review… but they have posted more content on their blogs and IG. I’ve been emailing them follow ups trying to get at least a response. After a week of emails, one of them finally responded and said she will put up a video review this weekend. Fingers crossed that she follows through and it’s a good review!

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I had put some more ads on craigslist to hire a team. I interviewed one team and they were clean cut people who seemed to be fit for the job. Today I had them do a paid trial clean in my home. They cleaned my kitchen and passed with flying colors. Now I am going to run a background check on them, and when that clears I will hire them on as employees.

More marketing I’ve done is sent out an email to 150 local real estate agents giving them a referral program. For every customer that they refer, the customer gets $20 off and the agent gets $20 credit for their own home cleaning. They can get as many credits as they can and get a free home cleaning. So far, I got one move out clean from this which was awesome! Hopefully I can send my new team to this home and start booking more customers!

Way back in my other life I cleaned apartments. The hard way. Hard experience taught me to work smarter, not harder. I found Lysol Power toilet bowl cleaner and it changed my life. It works on most kitchen and bath surfaces. Always check test spot, just in case cheap fixtures. I struggled with showers/tubs, faucets, and sinks, scrubbing by hand for hours. I found smearing a layer the Lysol Power(using gloves of course) let it sit a few mins, and rinse. That's it no scrubbing, all lime scale gone, all cracks are cleaned, all rusty stains are gone, and it took very little physical effort. Just make sure to keep it well ventilated! I found doing one at a time helped, if I did everything at once it could dry up on me and/or smell too strong. Also, paper towels! I found the cheapest thinnest crap brand and used that instead of cloth. No rinsing, no spreading germs/ bacteria, and a big time saver. I would get a couple(or more if very goopy job) wipe, fold, wipe, until full, then pitch in bag. I made up for any extra cost by saving so much time. It got to the point for smaller hard floors I used this method instead of a mop(gross hate mops). If course this is all before Swiffer, so I am really old! Anyway, good luck on your endeavor and keep work areas ventilated!

And to actually answer the question yes I bought supplies before starting. You're doing houses so it's slightly different than what I do but simple green works well on most things. We use zep in the showers and sinks. Pine sol/ mr clean for the floors (pick something that smells good) but simple green can work in a pinch. You might want to get some disposable gloves and some toilet bowl cleaner too. Rags are always needed. I'm not a big fan of mops I think they're gross and you need a bucket for them. I use a swifter but not swiffer pads because they're expensive, we use rags instead because they can be washed and re used.

Necrullz
•
1d
Start a local business. I started a cleaning business in Washington, D.C back in 2016, and now it's well on its way to 7 figures.

There is a HUGE amount of money to be made in local biz, and the startup costs can be less than $1k total. But hell, if you can put $3-5k/mo into marketing for it you could grow pretty damn fast.

It can be a lot of work at the beginning, or pretty passive if you hire a VA. I actually train and place VAs for local businesses, and they run the entire business for them and for my cleaning company. The VA acts as a manager and handles phones, teams, customers, email etc so the business owner literally just has to market and grow it.

I spend less than 10 minutes a DAY on my cleaning company now, and I live 11,000km away from DC now.

My point is this: You can start a local business, scale it, and then delegate everything along the way so you have a fantastic passive income source that is reliable and consistent every month, even if you somehow did lose your jobs.

And oh boy, you learn a lot too. It's honestly a the realest introduction to entrepreneurship.

Hope that helps get some ideas floating around your head!


Necrullz
•
1d
There are...literally 1000 other companies and cleaning service providers in the DMV area. But that shows how HUGE the demand is for cleaning service. House cleaning, AirBnB cleaning, property cleaning, apartment cleaning, student management cleaning...just a ton of people who need their places cleaned all the time.

And here's the thing: Most of those providers suck at marketing, suck at website design, suck at SEO, suck at Adwords, suck at Thumbtack, suck at EVERYTHING except actually doing the labour. So you can swoop in, get decent at those things and absolutely crush it with growth. Then turn around and offer those quality service providers a cut. They do the work, you take 40-50% and they take the other half.

InoVA Local **



I recommend finding a pool of reliable third-party contractors and then paying them 70% to 80% of what the job pays and then pocketing the difference. This is how all service-based businesses essentially work. Just make sure you hire great people!!!




2



Djesam
•
120d
We just find cleaners and pay them 60-70% of the job.




1




rektgod
•
119d
so you get 30% of the profit? where do you find your workers? (serious question) Pm if you want thanks




1





Djesam
•
119d
Our cut isn't entirely profit, but our expenses are pretty minimal. We post ads on indeed, Facebook groups, and our version of Craigslist. Sometimes we look for cleaning companies and reach out to them as well.



https://keith-kalfas.mykajabi.com window cleaning



Luke The Window Cleaner Luke the window cleaner



https://kopywritingkourse.com/powerwashing-flyers-copywriting-case-study/



Im the guy that started a window cleaning company overnight the last week of Jan here for another update. • r/Entrepreneur Good info in comments section


do_it_every_day

•
45d
Check out videos on YouTube by a guy called Luke the Window Cleaner. He has videos for technique as well as product reviews.

Join Power Wash Community Group on Facebook. This is the place that taught me almost everything that I know about Pressure Washing. You need at least a 4 GPM pressure washer but a 5.5 is much better.



leadrain86
•
45d
I have a friend in MO in the same business, he cleans all the car lots/cars here. He does very well. You might want to add that to your business (if you haven’t). He also started cleaning grill covers at restaurants and on the power washing side he just added two major airports.



http://automategrowsell.com * Great site

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiusbomb-com-quick-talk-podcast/id1061375545?mt=2#

https://housecallpro.com CRM

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.re...what_apps_do_you_use_daily_for_your_business/

When you answer the phone, tell customers you're going to get their information and then you can give them a quote, makes customers feel more comfortable.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Entreprene..._time/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=comment_list


Yeah Razzly is on the right lines. So $500k revenue, after paying cleaners with GST it ends up being about 25%. So thats $125k gross profit. Advertising and other expenses is roughly $30-40k. Its $30k at the moment but I assume I will increase it with growth so that's where I am pulling $40k. That leaves $85k, I would take $50-70k and keep some meat in the biz.

I did not quit my engineering job to start cleaning... As Razzly says, the whole point of running your own business is to become time rich and stop trading your hours for dollars



Sounds like you're doing great online with SEO so far. I would also look into remarketing ads, the ROI from remarketing is even better than SEO.



How do you stop cleaners from trying to sneak some customers from you to do on the side for higher profit in their pockets?




2




EdClay

•
64d
You just need to provide value to your cleaners and treat them well. At the end of the day you will always get a few cleaners who do that, but it's pretty easy to tell as they get regular cancellations. 90+% of cleaning teams I have worked with are honest, and treating them well, fairly and with respect leads them to do the same back to you



https://www.reddit.com/user/EdClay



Necrullz
•
Jul 11, 2017, 8:47 AM
I own a virtual assistant agency for small and local businesses, so I an always interviewing and onboarding new VAs. Here's the basic outline of our process that I think should help:

-In general Upwork is a shitty place to find VAs. VA specific forums tend to have the highest quality workers, followed by facebook groups. Go to those two before even considering Upwork.

-Explicitly state actual tasks they will be doing and what the pay is. Don't F*ck around and be vague here, just get to the point and tell them EXACTLY what they will be doing and those who are good with it will present themselves.

-Ask those interested to comment + PM you their resume and more info about how their past experience relates to what you need.

-Pick 5-7 of those and coordinate a phone interview. This is an important step so many people are reluctant to do. Hop on the phone for 20-30 minutes and get to know them a little. Tell them about a typical day working with you.

-After the interview stage pick your top 1-2 and trial them for a week. Then pick the one you like the most, or hell, split the work between both of them.

*Don't forget to background check them!

That's the basic outline, ant questions just let me know mate, happy to help

But there's a guy in town who started a trash valet company for apartment complexes in town. I met him a few years ago. Apartment complexes get 25/month per tenant, not optional for tenants. He charges a flat fee per year contract. His footprint is huge here now. It's F*cking everywhere. Great idea.



http://inovalocal.com/blog/an-80-20...tems-start-delegating-in-your-local-business/ **

http://quicktalkpodcast.com/business-travel-world-live-dream-brandon-lazar/

http://automategrowsell.com/whale-fishing-landing-big-contracts/

http://www.overthinkassistants.com

https://www.serviceautopilot.com


http://www.launch27.com/podcast-episode-4-local-service-business-podcast-chats-diem-tran/

https://www.cleaningcashflow.com/about

https://quicktalkpodcast.com/elena-built-90000-per-month-maid-service-two-years/

 

[JLawrence]

Have you checked it? Don't see why someone would want the lowest possible rates for their small business, but not for their house. Tax deductability and all that.


Same story, there's more small businesses than large ones.

Small businesses would consist of a small number of people, often just the owner, who has to do everything. So if you're the guy who removes "clean the shop every day" from that list, perhaps it's an operating expense they're happy to spend? Don't know of course, just thinking out loud.

Small businesses call us constantly. I give them our hourly rate and move on. Small business often means working outside their business hours. Major headache to scale with 6-10pm 5am-8am shifts.

A small business isn’t calculating its tax write off when looking for a cleaning service. They are looking at their bottom line cash flow and what they can afford.

We get gyms, salons, restaurants, professional services, etc. None value cleaning highly enough to pay our prices.

That’s fine with me.

 

[JLawrence]

Interesting and surprising. So with residential people are willing to pay high hourly rates for cleaning versus businesses? Maybe it's something to do with the frequency of cleaning required?

Perhaps there's a specific type of cleaning, rather than customer sector, that you could target? For the sake of exaggeration: radioactive waste cleanup. Doesn't happen often, but when it does it really needs doing and you can quote whatever you want, no time for dilly-dally "request for proposal" crap etc.


I meant like versus residential, since that's out of their personal pocket and more "luxury" versus necessary expense.

There’s massive opportunity in niche specific cleaning like that. Crime scene clean up, waste material, etc. But you’ll likely need to shell out some cash for the training and insurance elements those would incur. I’m not against it by any means, I just prefer to throw my hat into where there’s already a lot of money flowing and win on the branding and customer service side of things.

You want the clients that view it at a luxury item. If they don’t, you’re fighting every husband wife couple with a mop and bucket. The barrier to entry for cleaning is insanely low. You have to be above this level in order to make any money. Otherwise, you’ll be busy and broke.

 

[JLawrence]

The problem wasn't that you were bidding in lots of different permutations of the same search term, but that you were using too much broad match.

Poor targeting brings visitors that have no intention of converting (someone looking for "snow removal" when you do cleaning), which is wasted spend.

It also brings unwanted impressions, that reduces your CTR.

Ahhh, thanks for clarifying. Had I put everything as Exact Match, I'm assuming I'd avoid this. Modified Broad essentially does this for me without having to come up with every permutation on my own.

 

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[JLawrence]

Nice update.

Are you analysing your stats weekly or monthly? Are you noticing seasonality within the month (more calls after payday etc)?

I look at Google Analytics periodically throughout the week, but can't say I've noticed big upticks on specific days of the week. I expect to flesh this out over the coming months and hopefully recognize some trends.

 

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[Anoosh]

Nice thread man! Keep it up.. Congrats on breaking the $10k mark!! Amazing stuff.

I got my start about 5 years ago as a broke a$$ newbie so naturally fell into SEO, affiliate SEO, local lead gen and the works. I'll keep my eye on this thread and I'd say best of luck but you wont be needing luck from the sounds of things!

Good work. Keep pushing forward!

 

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[Andy Black]

As someone who is new to the forums and doesn't know the first thing about Adwords, are there any books/resources you could recommend? I'm definitely interested in learning more about this.

For AdWords posts and other good stuff, check out links in my signature.

Also, check out the opening post in this thread.

 

[Everyman]

Do it.

Don't worry about it being too "small".

It's *YOUR* progress.

And it's progress, not an event - you can make it big over the months/years if you want to!

Thanks. I probably will although am busy with another progress somewhere else....... Ehh....

Thanks Nicoknowsbest!

 

[Mckenzie]

I spent some time speaking with Andy Black yesterday about my AdWords Campaign for my local service business.

You can listen to Part 1 of the call HERE. (This is the chat.)
You can listen to Part 2 of the call HERE. (This is the review of the AdWords account.)

He suggested I start a progress thread to report back on how everything worked out.

Seems like a good suggestion, so that's what I'll do.

Updates will probably be every couple weeks if the data makes sense. Might need to wait 30 days for the initial campaign to show some numbers. Obviously something that doesn't have enough data points is irrelevant to report back.

The big change Andy made with this campaign versus what I was doing before is implementing Modified Broad Match Keywords.

Essentially I was listing every possible variation of every keyword, and bidding on each and every one of them. From what I've learned, this isn't the most effective way to approach this, and can actually have negative effects on your CTR and Conversions. Which in turn affects how Google views your ads and the costs associated with them.

Modified Broad Keywords Andy has discussed at length, but is basically this:

Keyword = +City +TargetKeyword

The reason for this is to take what he calls the "low hanging fruit". What he means is a local service business like myself only wants to pay for those visitors that are ready to buy. We don't want the tire kickers, or people researching how to do the work on their own. We want customers in need of our service as soon as possible.

By using modified keywords, we ensure we only show for search terms that include both our city and keyword. This is key because people don't search "Great Neck Home Cleaning" unless they are looking for a local cleaning service. People who search "Home Cleaning" may be looking for a local cleaning service, or are just as likely to be looking for tips on how to do it themselves.

The other key piece Andy and I discussed, was the 3 key things that must match up for any campaign to be successful. Those things are the Keyword, the Ad Copy, and the Landing Page Copy. All three of these need to convey the exact same message to client.

When a client searches "Great Neck Home Cleaning", our ad must say "Great Neck Home Cleaning". Then, when the ad is clicked, it must take them to a page that reads right in the headline "Great Neck Home Cleaning".

Obviously this doesn't guarantee somebody books a service with us, but it's intuitive to see why somebody would be more likely to book versus if those pieces did not match up.

***************************************************************************************************************************

I haven't been active on the forum, but I'm happy to discuss anything regarding my business or building a local service business in general.

Andy and I discussed a lot of things, but I couldn't go all that deep in any one particular area. Glazing over things makes them seem a lot easier than they are in practice.

I know one question I'd ask if I were a listener is, "What cash flows do you have that allow you to put everything the business earns back into the business, yet still pay your bills, and still have the time to grow the business".

I wouldn't call it divine intervention, but I certainly didn't have the balls to leave my job on my own. I went in that Monday morning just like any other, yet walked out with no job. Whatever allowed that event to happen, waited until I had just enough things lined up that I wouldn't run scared to another job.

It's worth mentioning, I have student loans, a mortgage, two car notes, NYC rent, and a girlfriend who's currently in grad school.

I had every reason to be dependent on my salary, and I was.


Alright so to answer the question, what cash flows keep me afloat.

Rental Income - Own a 2 bedroom home in Baltimore Maryland. Bought this three years ago and lived there briefly before moving to NYC. This covers my mortgage payment and student loans. (1 Hour Per Month)

NYC Rental Income - I saw an opportunity in the short term rental market, and decided to lease apartments and rent them out short term. These are thru partnerships with guys who own the properties. It's a great income stream but certainly isn't passive like the property in Baltimore. Other downside is there's no end game to this. I can't sell the partnerships. The systems I've built allow the income to be more passive than not, but this will eventually just shut down. If your familiar with the field at all, there's a ton of regulatory concerns in NYC so this won't be a long term endeavor for me. (10-15 Hours Per Week)

Ecommerce - Girlfriends dad manufactures women's jeans and leggings. I offered to build him a website for free as long as I kept the profits from whatever sold online. It's had it's ups and downs, and is fairly stagnant at the moment since I'm not all that motivated to build it. Apparel is boring, and making trips to USPS sucks. (2 Hours Per Week - Trips to storage, then USPS. Could use fulfillment center, but like I said I don't really even want to grow this)

Freelance Wordpress Support/Consulting - Spoke about this a bit on the call with Andy, but I basically offered a service on Craigslist setting up Wordpress sites for people. Some of that is billed hourly, others are project based and I give a set price for it. This has been the most valuable in terms of learning and personal growth. I'm not technical, so offering to provide a technical service to a complete stranger is intimidating. It forced me to learn on the fly and each client chipped away at whatever fear I had going into it. (8 Hours Per Week)

In between all of this the real focus in on growing the Local Service Business. Answering the phone, responding to emails and online chat, drafting email campaigns, local outreach to bloggers and newspapers, social media, client relations, contractor relations, etc.


Alright, so enough about me. I'll continue this progress thread as the campaigns runs, and hope for the best.


Wish me luck.

Thanks Nzott. I wish you all the best!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GuitarManDan]

Perry Marshall's "The Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords" is often recommended. I've read it, but didn't take nearly as much from is as I did just diving in and getting my hands dirty. Speak with Andy Black and read some basic guides to develop a working knowledge, then try developing some campaigns on your own. Cap your daily ad spend so you don't crush yourself, but use this as your educational expense. Once you get a feel for it, go back to Andy and talk some more. It's just one avenue, but provides consistent revenue when done correctly. The days of set up adwords and kick your feet up sipping Mai Tai's while cash rolls in are long gone (if that was ever a thing), but it's still a great route to explore.

I was the assistant manager of a regional bank branch. Spent 3 years there straight out of school before leaving last September.

Awesome, thank you! I'm currently looking for my route out of the slowlane (been working at an investment bank for around 4 years and am in my mid 20s).

I'm going to spend a few hours tonight after work researching into this.

 

[Andy Black]

Hey Nzott,

I honestly felt like I was reading something I typed up! This perfectly describes the situation I'm in at the moment. I work for a large investment bank on the wealth mgmt side in New York City. To follow what you said, I also have a great salary (compared to my friends my age), I've been able to go on a few awesome trips to Europe, and I'm making much more than I need for my expenses (I'm a pretty frugal person, so besides rent and food my expenses are low). People on the outside look in at my situation and think I have it made and that I'm "set for life". Yet, I'm miserable going to work every day.

My family has also told me that if I'm unhappy I should either go to grad school or find another job I "love". I worked at one investment bank for 3 years and got very complacent because things were just okay enough that I could justify telling myself "my friends have it much worse, I'm lucky". When I moved to my current role (been almost a year), I realized I fell into a toxic work culture where everyone is extremely paranoid/miserable all day. I feel so fortunate that this kicked my a$$ enough to venture out and find some alternatives which luckily landed me to these forums and MJ's book.

Lately I've been in a similar pattern that you were in as well (reading and researching after work until the last possible moment that you have to go to sleep). It's really inspiring to hear your story to know that I can fight my way out of this spot I'm in and make a better life for myself.

Go to the opening post of this thread and you can hear myself and @nzott chatting about his background and his current endeavours.. .

 

[GuitarManDan]

Absolutely man, I feel for you. I'm in NYC as well. Great part about where we're at is the opportunities are endless. The city allows what would be traditionally considered a "slow lane" business, fast lane potential because of the sheer number of people you're able to impact. Not that I recommend opening a food cart, but I guarantee there's a multi millionaire in NYC who operates a fleet of food carts solely in NYC.

Andy's right, I go into a bit more detail about my background in our opening chat back in December. The interview was soon after leaving my job, living off a dream of what I felt I could make happen if I just stuck with it. Financially it was the dumbest short term decision I could make. As you know we aren't in cheapest place in the world. So, I became a hermit for a few months and focused solely on my business. Buckling down and giving 100% everything I had just to survive another month and pour all my funds back into the business for faster growth. I tell Andy about how I was posting on craigslist offering to build websites on wordpress for people. I'd literally show up at their office and spend all day with them making little tweaks to wordpress for $25/hr. I'm no expert and would literally youtube how to do something while I was sitting there. But it made rent for the next month and allowed me to keep all the business revenue inside the business. If I hadn't done that, the business would have never made enough to support me, and it'd take years to grow to any sustainable level.

The route I've taken is to live like a peasant for the next 6 months and plow everything back into the business. I made a spreadsheet back in January drafting out all the different marketing channels I was using. Average revenue from each channel, their corresponding cost, conversions rates, and overall retention rate. Then I extrapolated this out for the next 12 and 24 months. This gave me a sense of how long and how much I'd need to invest back in the business before I reached my goals.

January Estimate = $8,788
February Estimate = $10,816
March Estimate = $12,844
April Estimate = $14,872

January Real = $8,533.65
February Real = $9,619.65
March Real = $12,319.12
April (Currently Booked) = $11,390.55

It blow's my mind that just using simple math I could so accurately predict my growth pattern. Sure it's only 4 months, but it makes me feel so much better when I'm putting money back into the business because I know if I just do it X more months, revenue with then be 50% higher or whatever the case may be.

Since we're obviously close by, I'm happy to chat over a drink some time.

Just finished listening to your chat with @Andy Black and it was very informative and cool to hear about your background/story. After reading through a bunch of gold posts on here, the common theme seems to be take action, any action just to hit the ground running. I've been researching like crazy and I want to make sure I don't fall into the classic trap of analysis paralysis.

I'm fortunate enough that I've been working for a few years so I have a decent amount saved up for when I do leave the 9-5. My plan at the moment is to start something on the side to get some practical experience and keep getting a paycheck while I figure out what I want to do.

The challenge I'm facing now is just deciding what I want to get behind 100% to start my first venture into my own business. I don't want to ask the typical question every new member poses such as "what specifically should I do?" but I'm working to identify any opportunities/unmet needs in my daily life and haven't found that inspiration yet. How did you decide to go into the rug cleaning industry for your business?

Really appreciate the offer too, I'd definitely be up to get a drink!

Thanks again

 

[Andy Black]

Great conversation.

This might interest you both too:

• Lead Gen for Local Service Businesses