04/08/2025
My business journey...
I started my own housecleaning business with only a year of housecleaning experience and with no cleaning clients in May 2016.
While driving one day, I saw a moving truck from Two Men and a Truck which gave me an idea on what to call my business... A Man and His Mop
Even Rob was skeptical and worried that I made a bad decision about leaving the only job I knew so well to change my career to something that I barely knew how to go about it.
Mind you, I had 30 years of sales/marketing experience in the office equipment industry.
I also saved up for a few years to support myself of not having a steady income anymore.
At no point did i think about buying out an existing cleaning business and/or a client base.
I was in no financial position nor was my credit ratings in good standings.
But I fought every day to change that...and I did.
From 2016 to mid 2018... I had doubts I'd ever would keep my business going. I had a few clients but mostly they were chargeable accounts that only called when they needed service while Rob and I lived off of table scraps.
Mid 2018-
Things changed after I continued with my networking group of property managers, real estate agents, and lawn care owners. I got a break on working with a company that had over 300 rental units... all were Section 8.
That experience was an eye opener but it made me extremely humble knowing that most of these renters all struggled to live the only way they could and lived so differently than the way I did.
2019- 2020
My networking group paid off as the real estate agents, knowing that I now had experience with all sorts of challenges, brought me on as their housecleaner for strictly move outs or post renovation cleanings. One agent lived in the neighborhood that now has the majority of my clients today. It was from "word-of-mouth" and postings on the neighborhood FB page. I spent zero dollars on any type of advertising.
I started to have a decent income to where I was no longer having to depend on my savings.
2020-2021
The floor dropped out from under my feet when Covid hit, as I lost most, not all, clients' cleanings.
Even with the federal fundings, I wasn't approved because I wasn't on any type of payroll from previous year.
The only funding I did received were the stimulus checks and that money is actually still in my savings account to this day.
Also, a handful of dedicated clients continued to pay even though no work was performed, which helped out tremendously.
Rob is an "essential worker" so he had money coming in, which helped as well.
But my savings was completely depleted and I used Credit cards for just the essentials.
2022 to Present
First things first as I changed the structure of my business from being an LLC to an S Corp.
This allowed me to start paying myself on a salary with payroll taxes taken out and being paid out to each taxing authority.
I took any cleaning job that my clients threw at me, as I not once turned away any incoming business.
I always showed up for each cleaning (10 minutes early which my sales job ingrained into my brain to always do) and regardless of how I felt or if the weather was sh*tty, I still showed up on time and regardless if I was not feeling well.
I started to receive compliments and referrals from clients to their contacts, which only grew over time.
My client base began to grow each day and I always thanked each client for their support., after every cleaning (not the other way around).
For nine years, I did what was necessary to become a really great service provider.
Present day-
As of right now, all my cleaning slots (42) that I created, are taken with dedicated clients, as well as having a waiting list for those wanting to come onto my cleaning schedule.
I can now decide who I want to clean with or without.
I am making the most money I ever have in my entire life, along with very little debt and a very high credit rating.
I'm enjoying life that I dreamed about.
I'll be 60 come November and i have no plans on retiring for a very long time to come because I actually enjoy housecleaning.
I'm extremely focused on the finale.
