Your hosts Mark Anderson, Sharon Cowan CBSE, and Ed Selkow tackle one of the hardest parts of scaling a cleaning company: finding and developing the right manager who truly has your back.

Whether you’re doing $700K or crossing $3 million in revenue, you’ll eventually hit the wall where your existing team just can’t take you to the next level. This episode breaks down when to bring in outside leadership, what it really costs, and how to avoid the expensive mistakes so many owners make.

🧠 What You’ll Learn:

•  ✅ Why your first operations or general manager can make or break your growth
•  ✅ How to decide if you should promote from within or hire from outside
•  ✅ What you should expect to pay top talent—and why skimping costs you more
•  ✅ Why a detailed job description is non-negotiable
•  ✅ How to avoid the “empty promises on paper” trap when hiring
•  ✅ The difference between ROI, ROT, and ROO—and why time is your real currency

📌 This Episode Is For:
 ✔️ Cleaning business owners stuck wearing all the hats
 ✔️ Companies between $1M–$5M looking to scale
 ✔️ Leaders frustrated by loyal but underperforming staff
 ✔️ Anyone who’s lost time and money on the wrong hire

🕒 Episode Breakdown:

• 00:00 – Introduction and why this topic matters
• 01:59 – Why your current team may not grow with you
• 04:38 – When (and how) to hire your first real operations leader
• 11:57 – Promoting vs. hiring externally
• 14:22 – Funding your next key hire and setting expectations
• 23:37 – ROI vs. ROO: What your investment really buys you
• 27:07 – Final thoughts on leadership and growth

📌 Resources:

 ➡️ Catch up on our full Planning Series:

• Part 1 - Simplify Business Planning
• Part 2 - Sales & Marketing Planning
• Part 3 - Mastering Service Delivery 
• Part 4 - Master Your Janitorial Finances 

🔗 Where to Find Your Hosts

• Sharon Cowan, CBSE – LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
• Mark Anderson – LinkedIn
• Ed Selkow – Facebook

About Polishing Profits

Polishing Profits is hosted by three of the most respected and experienced leaders in the janitorial industry: Mark Anderson, Sharon Cowan, and Ed Selkow.

With over 140 years of combined experience, they’ve built and scaled commercial cleaning companies, coached hundreds of owners, and helped countless teams go from stuck to thriving.

 Each episode brings you real stories, real strategies, and practical tools to build a cleaning business that actually works.

Produced by The Profitable Cleaner Network.

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