Smart Cleaning School

After 20 years of working in the medical field, Ronita was offered an opportunity to work part time as a solo cleaner. The position was commission based, so she started earning part time close to her full time job income. This built her dream that she could leave corporate America to start her own solo cleaning business, Divine Commercial Cleaning Services. Within a few years, Ronita felt like she was back in corporate America because of the choices she made in her cleaning business. She took on a high paying client in another town which required daily driving 60 miles each way. In her own words, she could not grow any more due to three things:

1. "I'm a solo cleaner."
2. "I couldn't get out an advertise my work."
3. "I felt limited."

This was the point in her journey where I met Ronita and started coaching her through this difficult time. Her interview shares the rest of the story.

This episode continues to follow Ken's path to building a brand new solo cleaning company. If you haven't heard the two introductory episodes, check out Building "My New Cleaning Network I and II".

Teresa and I attended the Total Life Freedom Mastermind Retreat in early October 2019 in Gatlinburg, TN. We left our scarcity mindset in Tennessee, resolving to become the givers we have always wanted to be. We also renewed our commitment to build this new solo cleaning business and share our progress with the listeners of this show. I hope you like this new segment. I'll be updating you on my own business progress from week to week in hopes that you glean inspiration and encouragement to grow your own.

There is one comment from Vincent Pugliese that I really took to heart in TN. "Come here with questions and be curious verses coming here with the answers. This leads to change and growth."

Also, the giving mindset that we left with was this. You give where you are. That's how you advance to the next level of giving. The Go-Giver tells that.

When we returned, I had a new resolve to make this process fun. I got a few big things accomplished the week following Gatlinburg:

• Dropped off donuts to Dennis and Dexter
• Set up Google My Business like Christine Hughey of A Little Local Flavor taught me!
• Teresa started connecting on the local mom's FB group.
• Finished my cleaning website after not having a site for 14 years! I did it myself, but it helped that I already knew how to do it through Weebly from my other website.
• Did Sales Tax & Employee Withholding with the state and updated quickbooks.

Many have asked me, "Ken, how did you sell you're solo cleaning business." They want to hear the steps and the numbers. In this episode, I share the emotional rollercoaster of selling our business. If you are a solo cleaner and you've considered selling, make sure to listen. It wasn't about the steps or the numbers. That was a necessary part, but it wasn't the main part. The main part was the heart. Truly, it was so difficult to leave my New York cleaning families.

Mentions:

• In the Handy Dan Funny Papers, I reference shopping at the discount racks and a former podcast episode, "The Jeans Don't Fit". I also would like to plug Dan LaVigne and his handyman services company, "Handy Dan", in Scotia, NY. Dan is a true craftsman and does it right with integrity.
• I mention the man that I sold my NY solo cleaning company. If you're in the Capital Region of New York and need a house or office cleaner, reach out to Ian Traynor of Albany Pure Cleaning. He is also a craftsman and truly takes care of his families as I taught him.
• Many have asked me about the mentorship program I have my boys in. It's amazing! Check out the Royal Rangers national website. They have an outpost finder to locate the closest church to you. If you'd like to attend as a guest, let me know and I'll be glad to call ahead and let them know you're coming.

"You have to master your own lane." - Roland Downs

Roland knows that his wife Dina is extremely professional and understands the language of business. In his follow up with accounts that he's cleaned and helped grow, he gets feedback that the gym owner didn't think he was legit as a cleaner. Dina gave the image of a business person and secured the account. That'a Dina's lane. Roland knows he is the master of custodial arts (as he says in his Facebook intro) and he will be the best cleaner they ever had. This is how Roland uses his secret weapon.

However, as Roland states. "The problem is when either one of them tries to cross over. She tries to micromanage me or I try to micromanage her. That's when it falls apart. It just doesn't work." Our spouses have a significant role in our solo family cleaning business. Look at me. My wife started the company.

Roland dives into some cleaning science in this interview and gives us the takeaway that there are 3 parts to excellence in cleaning - 33% cleaning science, 33% right equipment, and 33% technician. Never overwork any one of these or you will LOSE time, quality, and in the case of the technician, you will injure and wear out the body. This is such a huge tip that it is worthy of it's own episode.

Finally, let's wrap this up with a Pro Tip from Roland on using Instagram. He records his cleaning excellence with before & after pics and live videos of him cleaning various areas of gyms. He starts to follow gyms (targeting) and posts these images and videos. The gyms that like his stuff multiple times, Roland will reach out to them in person, phone, or email. It's quite brilliant!

This is the craziest time of the year for the solo cleaner as EVERYBODY wants their house cleaned after Thanksgiving and before Christmas! Please allow me to help you declutter your scattered brains with one of the best remedies... HUMOR! Do you remember the "Funny Papers" in the Sunday newspaper? I remember my grandfather reading his comics after church every Sunday. I didn't get it. I didn't think they were funny. But he would read & laugh as he sipped his coffee in his Sunday best. That's how I remember it.

I have decided to add an element of the Sunday "funnies" to many of my episodes and in this one, I am making the entire show to entertain you! That's it. Life is short. Laugh a little!

Have you ever shopped at the discount racks? This episode is a companion to Blueberry Pie in helping you to understand pricing. Study this and apply it!

Teresa needed new jeans, so she went to Kohl's and shopped at the discount racks first because she didn't have much money to spend.. She's looking for a discount and she finds nothing that fits! Some are too short, too long, too tight, not for her body type. Teresa came back home after going to Kohl's and was frustrated. She thought, "Is something wrong with me, with my body? I wasted my time. I'm frustrated." 

A little background... we've been cutting back, pinching pennies for many years as we've paid off debt. Teresa used to clip coupons and finding deals is her specialty. We still go to the thrift stores to find great deals on second hand clothes for our family. We're not ashamed at that one bit. However, she realized that in the case of jeans, she needed the right fit and the discount racks weren't going to work. She shifted her mindset to go out the second day to just find the jeans that fit. She went back to Kohl's, walking past the discount racks, then checked out another store until she finally found the jeans that fit and she bought 4 pairs!

"I knew that there wasn't something wrong with me. I knew that the jeans weren't right." A lot of moms feel the same with cleaning. They can't keep the house in order, clutter all over the place, not clean. They might hire someone and it doesn't work out. They hire another cleaning service and it doesn't work out. They try and try, not finding the right fit. They start to wonder, "Maybe it's me. Maybe it's my house? Maybe it's too messy and people don't want that?" It's not that at all. You just have to shop around at different stores with your eyes looking past the discount racks until you find the right pair of jeans. Solo Cleaning School, I want you to become the type of business that "fits" for your ideal client.

How do you learn how to fit your ideal client? You have to build a reputation of trust around you and your brand. Some moms are always going to shop the discount racks for cleaners and some will go to the grocery store for the generic $5 blueberry pie. Don't worry about them. They are not your ideal client. Just keep offering your $15 blueberry pie, build your trust, and keep saying "next" until enough right people try you on and realize that you're the perfect fit.

Resources: 

1. "Go For No" by Richard Fenton
2. The Solo Cleaning School Premium Membership is where I take these podcasts to the next level and help my members advance through the ISO Model toward profitable solo cleaning businesses without stress or overwork.

The first lesson of Blueberry Pie covers the 3 types of Buyers:

1. Those that want your product or service and value it enough to pay what it's worth.
2. Those that want your product or service and do not value it enough to pay what it's worth.
3. Those that don't want nor value your product or service.

The sooner you can learn to accept this and focus on finding Buyer #1's, the sooner you will hit your goals. Do you remember how my interview with Marcia Davidson went? I didn't answer her question about the ones that wouldn't pay her prices. They were Buyer #2's.

The second lesson of Blueberry Pie is the ability to separate the emotional from the logical.

Buyer #1 and #2 will NEVER buy your pie. When they say no, they are not saying no to YOU. They are saying no to your product or service. They are not offending you, judging you, or belittling you. They just don't want what you are offering. Once you accept that, you can gain the confidence to start saying "next". Beth Lane referenced that most solo cleaners (from her point of view) are introverts and empaths. This makes it extra hard for them to accept this second lesson.

Two years ago, my friend in the cleaning coaching world, Debbie Sardone, referred Marcia Davidson to me. Marcia was not ready to scale her business and needed my help in making her solo company extremely profitable. Marcia struggled as a single mom for the entire time, trying to hold onto $15/hour temp jobs to pay the bills. She desperately wanted to grow her solo cleaning business, but circumstances held her back. In this interview, you will see how Marcia turned the corner this past summer and has a totally booked calendar.

The biggest takeaway from this episode is Marcia's mindset of always giving the best. The majority of her recent new client surge had experienced sub-standard cleaning. Then they gave Marcia a try and she gave them deep cleans every time. Marcia elevated her quality to stand out and as she says, "They got hooked."

Resources:

• Debbie Sardone is highly successful cleaning business owner and founder of the wildly popular Cleaning Business Fundamentals course, which gives cleaning service owners the blueprint, materials, and coaching to get over 7-figures If you're a solo cleaner that would like to transition to employees, I recommend a free consultation with Debbie.
• Homestars is the Canadian version of the US-based HomeAdvisor for lead generation.
• Business Calendar 2 is the automation tool we use to streamline our various Google calendars and task lists.

On October 2, 2014, I sat in the back of the Rose Theatre in New York City for the Business Gets Personal Conference. Seth Godin stepped to the stage to do his opening keynote and shared the story of the 5th Annual Solvay Conference in October 1927. Physicists such as Marie Curie, Niels Bohr, Max Plank, and Albert Einstein attended and were relatively unknown. Of the 29 in attendance, 17 went on to later receive the Nobel Prize. Seth explained that it wasn't the conference that caused them to be world-changers. It was the simple fact that 29 of the brightest minds in the world were together in one room, making new lifelong connections that could spark something after the conference. Seth said "Make this your Solvay Conference". After hearing this, I texted my new friend and said, "I'm glad you interrupted us. Let's make this our Solvay."

At this time in my life, I was cleaning houses solo like a madman nearly every day of the week. I was tired and demotivated. I needed a change. I was working with my landlord and friend, Tom Cronin of Success Public Relations to scale my cleaning company so I could finally get out of the field and see my family more. He was so generous to offer his help and to allow me to leverage his network of small business owners in the Capital Region. However, I was still unsettled. Was this the right move? Circumstances aligned so that I could purchase a ticket for the Business Gets Personal Conference with Dave Ramsey, Seth Godin, and Gary Vaynerchuk. I needed answers and a change. I was there by the thinnest of threads. Before the event even started, Vincent Pugliese interrupted a conversation I was having with two friends. We hit it off immediately, exchanged numbers, and texted throughout the conference.

There wasn't anything about the conference itself that changed my life, but meeting Vincent did. This episode shares my side of the story from what Vincent shares in his Total Life Freedom Podcast episode, "Crossroads".

Have you ever come to a fork in the road and you chose the road less taken? I made that choice in late 2014 and it has made all the difference.

Book Recommendation: Get the free audio book download "Freelance to Freedom" by Vincent Pugliese.

This episode highlights how important trust is to your clients. I connected in-person with each of my former NY house cleaning clients before selling my business. I am still amazed at their feedback and by far, the biggest take away was how critical the Trust Factor was in each of their decisions to hire & keep me for all of those years.

Shawn - We met while I was cleaning for Alicia from "Moms Helping Moms Helping Moms". She already knew my quality and trusted me. In my final year in NY, she reached out for me to clean her house and left a voice mail. I returned the message with some frequently asked questions and rough pricing. She called back and said these words. "The price doesn't bother me. I appreciate that you told me up front on the voice mail." This built up more trust. Then she uttered these words. "It's the trust factor, Ken. I know what I'll get with you. My friends trust you and I trust you. and I know you'll do a great job. So I don't mind paying more on price for that. The price isn't as important to me. What if I found a cheaper cleaner, but they didn't do a great job. That's a headache and time to me. I know what I'm getting with you."

Elaine - She knew her neighbors were paying $100 per visit for cleaning, yet she paid me $200. Yes, I was highly recommended by a friend and I did excellent work. This is indeed the same Elaine from the Saran Wrap Funny Papers in "Moms Helping Moms Helping Moms".  Here's what Elaine told me as I was leaving NY. "Ken, we're both busy docs. We are in and out of the house. We leave the side door open so the dog walker can come and go for Katy. We have jewelry and checkbooks lying around. You are definitely an amazing cleaner, but it's the trust we have for you and the peace of mind you give us. That's why we pay $200."

David & Filicia - This is a wonderful family and 11-year cleaning story built on trust. Trust is how I got the job and it's how I kept it. I've cleaned their main home, rentals, and lake home. They referred me to their dear friend Denise who hired me in 2009. That's how Ripples of Trust work. As I was leaving NY, they shared this incredible feedback. "There aren't many 'Kens' out there. Cleaning is like 10% the other 90% is all Trust Factor. It's our home and our stuff is out in the open." Dave went on to say. "Honestly, we didn't care if you missed some dusting or other details." This is exactly what Beth Lane said in her interview."If they like you and trust you, they'll overlook a cobweb."

Lisa - She told me about her husband's trust issue with a man cleaner. "It was the consistency of knowing it would be me every time to build trust." She also agreed that trust and relationships were a huge component over the cleaning itself. The consistency of me every time was a piece of that. Oh, and Lisa told me how she got my name. "I put out a question to my neighborhood and someone recommended you." I have no idea who it was as I've never done work in that neighborhood.

If you can build a foundation of trust, you will never be looking for work. You can be an average cleaner with incredible Trust Factor and blow away the incredible cleaner with average Trust Factor EVERY time!

Book Recommendation: "Clockwork" by Mike Michalowicz.