How to Start and Grow Your Own Cleaning Business
 

A STAR IN THE MAKING

Dateline:  October 2, 2007

by Gary Goranson

We often talk about folks in our business who have succeeded in building their businesses to $500,000 to $1,000,000 in annual sales, or more.  However, often overlooked are those smaller companies that are doing all the right things to position themselves to grow to greatness.  Here’s a story about a young man who I predict will do just that

 Matthew Hunke started his CLEAN COMMANDO residential cleaning business in Austin, Texas in 2004 on a shoestring budget.  By June of 2006 he realized that cleaning homes personally was not the way to build a serious business and he purchased the House Cleaning Biz 101 program that month.  When we announced our new Personal Coaching program two months later, he immediately enrolled in a three-month subscription.  Once he began availing himself of personal coaching, he saw the added value of doing so and subsequently enrolled in our 12-month Personal Coaching program.

Matthew was like so many folks who start their business in a similar situation:  Little capital to grow the business and too busy working IN the business to work ON his business.  He hadn’t created a formal business plan, his marketing efforts were hit and miss, he was trying to cover the entire Austin market, not fitting clients into a manageable schedule, crisscrossing the city from one client to another and spending half his time on non-productive and unprofitable travel.  And like so many owners in this industry, he was under-pricing his work.

 YOU’VE GOT TO THINK BIG!

 While launching any business with little or no capital is a difficult and often risky proposition, one of my favorite books, THINK AND GROW RICH by Napolean Hill written more than half a century ago, says “More gold has been mined from the minds of men than all the gold mines in the world.  There is never a right time.  Start now with the tools you have at hand and don’t look back.”  I used that axiom when I founded Tidy Car back in 1976 with little more than an idea and my MasterCard to buy a round-trip airline ticket to visit an equipment manufacturer in Denver, Colorado and purchase $250 worth of car polishing equipment – a business that eventually grew into more than 2,000 franchises in 38 countries and generated a seven-figure income for me personally.  I could not have done that had I not thought BIG from the get-go.

 MOST PEOPLE “WISH” BIG BUT DON’T THINK BIG.

 When I first spoke to Matthew,  he was wishing big but not thinking big.  He had no business plan and didn’t know where he wanted his business to go (no objective), let alone a road map for what he needed to do to get it there.  He wasn’t alone.  The first mistake new entrepreneurs make is not taking the time or putting in the effort to create a formal, well-thought-out business plan.

The first thing Matthew and I discussed at the outset was the need to create a well-thought-out and realistic business plan (CD 1,  session 4).  We talked about where he wanted his business to be in three to five years.  We came to the conclusion that based on his limited capital resources; it was going to take longer than it would for a person who has the resources to grow the business more quickly.

IDENTIFYING "CHALLENGE" PRIORITIES

Matthew was so busy working IN his business that he had no time to work ON his business – including having the time required to develop a business plan.  He was cleaning homes himself and, although he didn’t have that many clients, he was work 10 hour days.   

The First Priority:

We quickly identified one major problem that is so common among owners in this industry, regardless of the size and length of time in business:  INEFFICIENT SCHEDULING.  It turns out that he was trying to service people all over the Austin area and spending 30 to 45 minutes on travel time between clients – in some instances, up to an hour!  In addition, instead of fitting clients into a manageable schedule, allowing him to look after clients in a specific area on the same day, he was crisscrossing the city every day wasting valuable time that he could use to work ON his business plan.  (CD 4, session 4)

 The first thing we did was address this problem.  He soon realized that he would have to analyze his customer base and take the brave step of firing customers to whom he could not service efficiently and replace them with clients within a maximum radius of 15 minutes travel time from the center point of where his eventual commercial office would be located.  Travel time to service clients would be even more critical for the time he would begin hiring employees.  Matthew bit the bullet, fired clients to whom he could not service efficiently and replaced them with customers within his established boundaries.

The Second Priority:

We also discussed how he was going to grow his business based on the fact that Matthew had limited financial resources to do so.  At this point we addressed the issue of pricing his jobs so that they were profitable enough to create enough funds to grow his business from within.  Like so many of his peers in this industry, he had been under-pricing his work.  We reviewed the POM=CP pricing formula detailed in the House Cleaning Biz 101 course (CD 4, sessions 2 & 3).  Again he had to make a decision to bite the bullet, raise his prices across the board and cease servicing customers who balked at paying a fair price for his services.

We discussed the importance of pricing his jobs as though he were already incurring all the overhead costs he will realize when he relocates into a commercial  office space, provides company vehicles for employees, has employees to whom a fair wage must be paid, initiates an aggressive marketing plan to grow his customer base and has all the other operating expenses necessary to support a viable, profitable and growing business.  At this point he realized the absolute necessity of taking the time and putting forth substantial effort to create his own, personal formal business plan.

In spite of his trepidation over adjusting his pricing upward and facing the possibility of losing clients, this step has had a very positive impact on his business.  In addition to creating an efficient client schedule that allows him to service clients within a manageable service area and scheduled them all in confined clusters on specific days, his revised pricing is now generating the type of income that will allow him to fund the growth of his business from within.  He is now serving more clients in less time and based on his year to date sales through the first nine months of 2007, he will generate about $85,000 in revenues cleaning homes by himself this year!  I’ve spoken to owners who have half a dozen employees who don’t do that kind of volume.  Matthew now has a waiting list of new clients that ranges between 6 and 8 weeks out.

MATTHEW IS NOW THINKING BIG!

Over the last few months, Matthew has been able to develop, analyze and refine his business plan.  He was able to find the time, without sacrificing sales, due mainly to creating a more efficient cleaning schedule.  I recently had the opportunity to review his business plan and I have to tell you, I AM VERY IMPRESSED!

Using the Business Plan sample template in the House Cleaning Biz 101 program (CD 1,  session 4), he has outlined a very detailed road map to grow his business – based on realistic assumptions.  Although he created it for his own internal planning and implementation, I guarantee you that any investor or banker would be as impressed as I am.  He is currently accumulating the capital needed to implement his plan based on profits currently being derived from within.    And he is THINKING BIG!

His business plan maps out sales revenues of $195,000 in year one, $333,000 in year two; and, $565,000 in year three.  These are not simply numbers he picked out of the air; they’re based on realistic projections that have been well-thought out and revisited several times before formalizing the overall document.  And he continues to refine it, as well he should.  A business plan is not something to create and set aside.  It is a fluid instrument that will require constant monitoring and readjustment based on actual progress versus projected trajectory.

MATTHEW HUNKE IS A RISING STAR

I am very proud of Matthew.  A year ago he was wishing for the kind of numbers he now believes he will achieve; numbers that I happen to believe he will achieve, too.  This kind of growth is not so unusual, as many of our House Cleaning Biz 101 customers well know.  However, what makes Matthew so unique is that he will build a large, successful and very profitable business starting on a shoestring budget.  It is not easy, but I know it can be done if a person does all the right things.  I know because I did it myself 30 years ago when I started Tidy Car using my MasterCard to make my initial investment of about $500 and a small bank loan I was able to muster because I, too, was able to present my bank manager with a well-thought-out business plan.  That business grew to over 2,000 franchisees in 38 countries around the world and made me a lot of money in the process.  You can do it too!

If you THINK BIG it is possible to create a large successful business by using "sweat equity" when you lack sufficient capital equity.

 For more information on Personal Coaching

CLICK HERE

Since 1991
2500 Quantum Lakes Drive, Suite 203
Boynton Beach, Florida 33426
561-732-2128
contact us by email
We do not sell or rent our customer lists.
We ensure your privacy.

© 2003 - 2007 WorkEnders, Inc.