An Ounce of Prevention; A Pound of “Catching Em Doing Something Right.”

With all the technology available to employers today, the monitoring of workers’ activities has never been easier or more intrusive. Big Brother is watching with intelligence technology that critics find offensive and intimidating. One of the best examples of this is the monitoring of personal e-mails along with tracking Web sites visited from workplace computers. Of course, the valid argument is that employees should not be engaging in personal surfing or correspondence on company time. But this doesn’t sit well with those employees who resent the implication that they might be stealing time while they’re on the clock.



This rapid growth in monitoring has virtually destroyed any sense of privacy as we know it in the American workplace. Most invasive of all is video monitoring. Some cameras are appropriate. Security cameras in stairwells and parking garages make us all safer without intruding on privacy. But employers often install cameras in areas that are completely indefensible. Many employers have installed hidden video cameras in locker rooms and bathrooms, sometimes inside the stalls. What in the world do they expect to catch employees doing wrong on the commode? Using too much toilet paper? C’mon already, enough is enough!


You DO Need to Take Preemptive Measures in Your Business


The fact that employers adopt extensive surveillance methods to monitor their employees’ integrity and work ethic is obviously in response to a real problem. According to Profiles Research Institute, 95% of companies are victims of employee theft. It goes on to say that only 10% of companies actually discover that they are the victims of employee theft. Obviously, if large and sophisticated companies can fall victim to employee dishonesty, we “little guys” must also be vigilant in this regard.


You can’t put video cameras in your clients’ homes (although more and more households have installed them as a security measure). But since you send people out into your clients’ homes you do need to adopt preemptive measures to help avoid potentially costly incidents. Standard criminal background checks and finger printing of all new hires is a step in the right direction at the outset. But you can’t stop there.


It’s important that the topic of trust and responsibility is addressed with each employee. They need to believe that they could be the subject of random “sting” operation, wherein money may be left somewhere they’ll be cleaning as a way of verifying their honesty (not their dishonesty). Likewise, prepare them for the advent of a theft claim by a client. Again, to verify their personal integrity and clear their good name, if a client makes an accusation of theft of personal property, it is your company’s policy to advise the client to file an official police report and that the company is obligated to cooperate in the investigation.

 As you can see, I believe in the theory that you should carry a big stick, but speak softly. I don’t think trying to pulverize employees into good citizens actually produces those results. The mere appearance of gun-turrets in maximum security prisons serves to keep violent inmates at bay; it’s not necessary to walk around behind them holding a loaded gun to their heads (with rare exceptions, of course).


Positive Reinforcement Can Produce the Best Results


You notice how we made a point of taking a positive approach to discussing the topic of integrity. We raise the issue of theft of client’s property, but take the approach that rather than trying to determine the employee’s guilt, we are going to take steps to prove her honesty. The first approach raises intense antagonistic overtones; the latter sends the message you will go to all lengths to exonerate her.


Look for Opportunities to Catch Them Doing Something Right


It’s one thing to have measures in place to discourage employee dishonesty. It’s another thing to put the focus on distrusting your workforce. This also applies to work habits of your employees. You teach your dog obedience by granting rewards for good behavior, not by beating it with a stick for failing to obey your commands. In fact, as any dog trainer will tell you, a dog that is beaten may initially show submissiveness but, do it long enough, that animal will eventually turn on you. The same is true with your employees.


Reinforce good behavior with praise; it will go a long way. Catch an employee going out of her way to satisfy a client. Catch an employee volunteering to take on that one extra job today because another worker didn’t show up. Catch an employee constantly keeping her car washed because she’s concerned about the company’s image. Catch an employee studying her manual without being cajoled into doing so. Catch her volunteering for the neighborhood blood drive or her city’s “run for the cure.” Catch a worker admitting to breaking a vase in her customer’s home before the client calls you. In fact, make up a list of “catch” subjects to look for from your employees, which will present opportunities for praise and perhaps other rewards.

Want Your Business to Grow? Become a Human Resource Pro!

Ask the owner of a home cleaning business what criteria they use to select workers and you’re as likely as not to get a blank stare from the respondent. Aside from favoring candidates who have prior house cleaning experience, the decisions are often made based on “gut” feeling or some very subjective criteria (like, she made me laugh . . . or she says she’ll work really hard). It would not be an exaggeration to say that when an owner or manager is in a pinch to fill out a team, any candidate who walks through the door and looks like they could fog up a mirror may be hired on the spot.

Hiring mistakes are expensive.

Adding an incompetent person to the payroll may seem like a better choice then not hiring anyone when you need to fill out your staff roster to meet a pressing cleaning schedule. Owners will sometimes say, “Well, I didn’t want to disappoint my clients or lose out on the income which would be generated from those clients.” Really? This attitude may be swapping a few hundred dollars in immediate revenue for $10,000 or more in longer-term profits.

Keeping in mind that the average client today represents about $3,000/year in business, what happens if a person with the wrong profile is sent out into 25 homes for a week and (a) does not work well with her teammates and (b) does not perform well on the job for those 25 clients?

If one of those clients fires your company, this represents the loss of $3,000 in annual revenues. Since many clients will patronize your service for years, this could add up to $15,000 of lost revenues over five years. If three of those clients fire you, you’re talking mucho grandes dólares!

The other consideration is what can happen by putting a potentially disruptive employee on a team. A well-trained team that works in harmony is like a well-oiled machine. The team members have to work in harmony to make the machine work. Throw someone into the mix who turns out to be the wrong fit for the job and it can be like throwing a monkey wrench into the gears of that machine. Even if your business model uses individual cleaners rather than teams, hiring the wrong person is a mistake every owner needs to avoid; not everyone is suited to this type of work (and I might go so far as to say most people are not a good long-term fit).

Use objective hiring techniques to make better hiring decisions

In our House Cleaning Biz 101 course, we spend a great deal of time and effort teaching a totally objective 5-step hiring process designed to weed out poor job candidates. These steps include:

1. The telephone interview and evaluation 
2. The employment application 
3. The interview process
4. Employment history and personal references
5. Criminal and driving background checks

While the purpose of each step is to discover potentially good candidates, it is equally important to eliminate poor candidates as you proceed through the five steps. In other words, you don’t even get to Step 2 unless the person’s responses during the telephone interview have a passing grade. Each of the 5 steps has a matching, objective grading system to take the guesswork out of your hiring decisions. This is exactly how professional human resource managers earn their keep. Like Johnny Cochran said during the O.J. Simpson trial, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

For example, here are the qualifying steps to use during the telephone interview when an employment candidate responds to your help wanted ad:

1. You OPEN the conversation by your greeting, introduced yourself, ask the caller's name, and ask how they heard about the position. You ask if they have a few minutes now to discuss the job or when would be a good time to talk.

2. FACT FINDING about the candidate is achieved through specific, closed-end questions. At this time you are looking for "blow-out" answers that tell you to end the call as soon as possible. You are actively trying to screen out, at this point, those who simply would not be successful.

3. EXPLAINING your business and the position available. During this section you want to accurately "tell" about the job. You want the candidate to honestly decide if they would be interested in this type of work. You are actively trying to get the caller to screen themselves out of the job

4. BACKGROUND of the candidate is gathered through three general "open-ended" questions. These questions should help you decide if you want to make an offer to schedule an interview and fill out an application.

5. INVITATION to fill out an application. As part of this offer, you now begin to "sell" the caller on the job, the fit, and your interest in them.

These are the steps we follow during Step 1 of the 5-Step selection process. If the candidate’s responses don’t cumulatively add up to a predetermined numerical rating score, you never proceed to Step 2 with them. The same procedure holds true throughout all 5 steps.

 Asking the right questions in the right way can help you make an objective hiring decision.

It’s one thing to ask the right questions; it’s another thing to get the candidate’s real answer. For example, if you ask a candidate if they get along working in a team environment and they think the answer you’re looking for is “yes” – that’s the answer you’re going to get. On the other hand, a question you should ask to arrive at their real answer might be, "Do you prefer to work alone, or do you like working with others in a team effort?"

The same applies when asking employment history questions. Asking "What are some of the things you like about your present (or last) job? What are some of the things you don't like?“ in a friendly, conversational tone can reveal exactly the kind of information you’re looking for. Likewise, "What's the best job you ever had? Why did you leave?"

Rely on a quantifiable recruiting system for quantifiable results

I invested $25,000 back in 1995 with Dr. David L. Stum PhD, a human resource consultant to Fortune 500 companies, to help us develop our 5-step selection process that is custom designed for the residential cleaning industry. Of course, if you own our House Cleaning Biz 101 program you spent substantially less than that figure to get the exact same know-how. Of course, having the knowledge at one’s fingertips isn’t worth $25 (or 25cents for that matter) if it is not put into practice.

Whether you use our selection process during your recruiting efforts or some other formal, quantifiable method, you definitely need to adopt a method which makes the process one based on a series of objective criteria rather than relying on gut feeling. Top human resource managers earn substantial six-figure incomes. Using the same quantifiable methods they do can earn you the same kind of money from your business.

A Strict Workplace Safety Program is Good Business -- And it's the Law.

The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 requires that all employers with more than 10 employees have an official Safety and Health Program in place. However, some states exceed the Federal requirements. For example, Alaska, California, Hawaii and Washington require that all employers have a Safety Program, regardless of size.

Legal requirements aside, it simply makes good business sense to implement a Safety Program. Business owners are used to taking risks in connection with day-to-day business decisions. Entrepreneurs are, by nature, risk takers. However, taking risks with the safety and well-being of your employees is not worth the gamble.

(Following is a partial excerpt from our House Cleaning Biz 101 course on this important topic)

Safety is not just a matter of compassionate interest. Accidents cost money. For every dollar you spend on the direct cost of a worker’s injury, it can cost you much more in both direct and indirect costs. Consider what one lost workday injury could cost you in terms of:

• productive time lost by fellow employees, team leader, or you in attending to the accident victim; • • • the time and expense of replacing the injured worker, especially if the recovery time is extended;
• if equipment or vehicles are damaged in an accident, the cost of repair can be substantial;
• reduced morale among your employees, which can result in reduced efficiency; and, not the least
• increased Workers’ Compensation Insurance rates.

 To help you establish and monitor your Safety and Health Program, we have provided a recommended blueprint specifically for the house cleaning business. Using it can actually help you control costs, because in implementing the program you can identify what needs to be done to promote the safety and health of your employees.

Safety Meetings:

If your business meets the criterion which require you to have an official Safety and Health Program in place (usually required only if you have 11 or more employees, or operate your business in Alaska, California, Hawaii or Washington), you will generally be required to also have an official Safety and Health Committee. This Committee will usually be required to meet at least quarterly to discuss prescribed safety issues. If your business qualifies, be sure to keep minutes of these meetings as evidence of your compliance. (Contact your local OSHA office to determine the regulations in your state.)

The safety and well-being of your employees is an issue that should not be put into place only because of Federal or State regulations. Regardless of the law in your state, implementing a Safety and Illness Prevention Program is a duty you must take on as a responsible and caring employer. Safety issues should be incorporated into regular staff meetings; we suggest at least once each month.

Safety Meeting Topics:

To begin with, initial and frequent review and discussion of the Company Safety Program handbook provides a great deal of material. While it’s important that each employee receive his or her own personal written copy of the handbook, that isn’t sufficient to satisfy OSHA’s requirements. It should be reviewed both during each employee’s initial training, as well as in group sessions with all employees present.

 In addition to the itemized safety checklist on the New Employee Safety Orientation Form in the Company Safety Program handbook, you can expand on each of these issues, as well as introduce additional safety topics practices. Topics which can and should be covered in Safety Meetings include, but are not limited to:

The responsibility of management with respect to implementing and enforcing safe practices and injury prevention policies;

•  The responsibility of each employee to follow the company’s safety and injury prevention program;
• Reporting all unsafe conditions or practices noted by any employee;
• Reporting of “near miss” accidents;
• Reporting all injuries or apparent illnesses immediately, no matter how small;
• Planning on how to respond in the event of an injury occurring to someone on the team;
• Discussion on the contents and use of articles in the First-Aid kit;
• The use of the required fire extinguisher to be carried in any vehicle used for transporting employees to and from clients’ homes;
• When and how to use emergency road flares;
• Safe driving practices, such as: designating someone other than the driver to read maps, instructions and street signs; wet weather and winter driving hazards; speeding and carelessness; and, defensive driving practices;
• Avoiding slips and falls, both inside and outside the home (including icy walkways and steps in the winter);
• Tripping hazards, such as vacuum cleaners on stairways, or left where they present potential tripping hazards;
• Footwear to avoid and footwear to wear;
• Safe bending and lifting practices; Personal hygiene, when to wear protective gloves;
• Safe personal conduct with respect to running, horseplay, and on-the-job use of alcohol or drugs;
• Avoidance of electrical shock from frayed cords or electrical wires; prohibitions against using the vacuum cleaner or other electrical apparatus on wet surfaces (or outdoors when raining);
• The use of ONLY vacuums cleaners and other electrical appliances which are grounded or double-insulated;
• The potential dangers in the use of bleach (chlorine) and ammonia: prohibited use;
• Review and understanding of MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets);
• Reaching high places to clean: ONLY OSHA-approved ladders in first-class condition to be used, if ladders are permitted to be used at all (Class 1 - industrial wooden or fiberglass, not metal, and having non-skid feet);
• No leaning out of high windows or over balconies or banisters;
• Incident and accident investigation policies, procedures and paperwork.

"They" Say You Can Get Rich Cleaning Houses

You Can’t Get Rich Cleaning Houses (Yourself)!

The charlatans hawking their “how to” e-Books online tout their product by promising thousands of dollars per month by cleaning houses. They suggest you can start with a mop and a bucket, hand out a few business cards and end up on easy street within a few months. No doubt they sell a lot of product to people who are naïve enough to believe their hype.

When people are sucked in by false promises of being able to make a wheel barrow full of money in short order with almost no investment, it’s not the $15 or $30 or $100 they lose on misleading and usually worthless information; it’s the time, frustration and broken dreams which take their toll. That’s to say nothing of the embarrassment they feel by allowing themselves to be duped.


Now, the truth is that it is possible to make a reasonably good living cleaning homes as an independent house cleaner. But to do it legitimately, it takes more than a few supplies and a couple of hundred business cards or flyers to do so – even starting by oneself with little overhead expense. A hundred dollars or so for city and country licenses, an average of $50 to $100 for filing a d.b.a. (depending on the state), anywhere from $200 to $500 for a decent vacuum cleaner, another $200 to $300 for tools and cleaning supplies, and other minimally-required start up costs. While many independent house cleaners take the risk, it’s a big gamble not to have liability insurance from day one; an investment of $500 to $2,000. Then, there’s the cost of acquiring clients and the subsequent cost of replacing customers who for whatever reason choose not to continue to use the service. If people are hired, the costs can escalate quickly.


Having said that, many people in this industry started out small and grew their businesses into substantial enterprises. This is one industry where this is indeed very possible. You just have to be prepared to substitute a lot of sweat equity for financial equity and invest the time it will take to do it – which can be several years. I know one owner who spent the first eight years in this industry doing just that; today her Texas-based company does over $1 million in annual sales revenue and she is recognized as an industry leader. I know another owner who works by himself and manages to turn out $85,000 a year; but he, too, has been in business for several years.


You Can Become Wealthy Building a Real House Cleaning Business.


Up until about 30 years ago, the above scenario pretty much described the commercial house cleaning landscape in America and still does in many countries around the world. It was often the way immigrants managed to eke out a living since they had little education and little or no command of the native language. That all changed in the late 70s and early 80s when pockets of business-savvy people in the United States recognized the growing trend of more and more busy, dual-income and single professional households looking for others to help them with their household cleaning chores. They were also quick to recognize the huge vacuum of professionals to fill this exploding demand.


These insightful entrepreneurs developed and proved their business models and what was once a cottage and mostly underground economy began to grow into a new growth industry. Concurrently, some of these successful industry pioneers began to franchise their concepts. Today, what was once a form of self-employment for people to earn a modest living has become a multi-billion dollar industry across the United States, Canada and dozens of other countries – some of which are just now beginning to see the residential cleaning industry take hold in their respective countries.


When I became involved in this industry almost 20 years ago, stories about owners of house cleaning businesses doing $1 million a year were rare. Not so today. In fact, I know of companies generating over $2 million in annual revenues and I still don’t see a ceiling on the potential in the industry. I have heard of one owner who runs a residential and commercial cleaning business that does over $5 million yearly, about 60% of which is in the residential cleaning sector.


Don’t Stay Busy Working IN the Business, but Rather ON the Business


No, cleaning houses won’t make you rich. Building a real business and hiring other people to clean houses can make you wealthy. While this industry is not brain surgery, it does take knowledge and financial wherewithal to build a successful and profitable cleaning company. In fact, with the right know-how being put into practice, a lot of the funds that will be necessary to grow the business can be self-generated from within.


Don’t be Afraid to Seek the Knowledge and Experience of Others.


Unfortunately, the reason most people don’t succeed is due to lack of business skills and an unwillingness to learn them from experienced third party sources. Then there are those people who obtain access to the experience of others but who, for whatever reason, choose not to implement it in their businesses. Is it stubbornness or arrogance or just a plain old “I can figure it all out myself” attitude that gets in the way.


It used to be that buying a franchise was about the only way to short-circuit an otherwise long and expensive learning curve. For many, this is still an excellent path to follow. But it’s not the only one. In addition to our own http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com/ program currently in use by more than 2,700 individuals and companies in 55 countries, there are several other trusted industry experts to which an owner can turn for solid advice. Other excellent resources include the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International and Home Cleaner Magazine. Networking with other owners is also an excellent source for peer support.

The Pros and Cons of Offering Discount Coupons in the Residential Cleaning Industry

Do discount offers work?

If you were offered a $20 discount coupon on a $2,000 color television, would you be (a) compelled to buy or (b) inclined to feel insulted? Well, considering that a person interested in hiring your company to clean for them on a regular biweekly basis will be spending $2,000 or more (the current average biweekly cleaning price today is closer to $3,000 annually) with you over a year’s time, how do think a 1% discount offer might be viewed?

There’s no doubt that discount coupons do work. All kinds of companies use them to induce potential customers to buy their products and services. Discounts are used to sell everything from pizzas to cars – in fact the automobile industry has trained consumers to wait for the next big factory rebate and dealers have a difficult time moving vehicles when rebate promotions are not being offered.

Discounts need to be meaningful relative to the original asking price

That being said, you never see a factory rebate offer of $300 on a $30,000 automobile. A one percent discount offer on anything – let alone an expensive car, isn’t going to attract a great deal of interest. Yet, if you’re looking for someone who is going to spend $2,000 to $4,000 over the following 12 months, that’s what a $20 discount coupon equates to in terms of the overall investment your client will be making.

Granted, your $20 discount (or whatever amount of discount you’re offering) is generally advertised as “$20 off your first cleaning visit”. It’s intended to be an inducement for the potential customer to book that first time cleaning and not perceived as a discount off the total first year’s cost. Obviously, if the cost of that first cleaning is $100 and you offer $20 off that price, that’s a 20% discount and on that basis may be a meaningful inducement.

Avoid the appearance of "bait and switch" marketing

However, most first time cleanings require a lot more work and can take several times longer than subsequent routine cleaning visits. It’s not unusual to spend more time cleaning one bathroom on the first visit than it will take to clean the entire home on future visits. The first cleaning should be done the way you would perform a “spring cleaning”, for example. For this reason, it can cost two, three or even four times as much on that first visit over what you’ll charge the client for ongoing weekly or biweekly light house cleaning thereafter. This creates another problem:

Most prospective clients expect you to quote them a price for cleaning their home that will be consistent on every visit – including the first time cleaning. They don’t think of the difference between “old” dirt and “new” dirt. So, they call you after being motivated by a $20 first time cleaning discount and you then visit them to determine how much work will be involved. After a thorough walk-through in the client’s home, you calculate the cost of the first visit is $325 and that you can thereafter clean their home on a weekly basis for $120 biweekly. All of a sudden that $20 discount seems like a bait and switch; the prospect now feels you tricked them. If they do business with you, they’re going to fork out $305 for the first visit after the $20 discount – BIG DEAL!

If you don’t make it a practice to charge more for that big, first time cleaning, you may not run into this problem. If you’re prepared to bite the bullet on every first time cleaning and not charge what the work is worth in order to get the customer, just be sure your workers aren’t the ones being penalized. If you charge $120 for a job that’s really worth $325, be sure to pay your cleaners based on $325 worth of work.

Do you really want to attract price-sensitive clientele?

Another disadvantage of discount offers is that you’re likely to attract people interested in a one-time cleaning. Not only are they more likely to balk at paying what the job is worth but, advertising for clients is too costly to attract a lot of one-time customers. If it costs you $100 or more in advertising expense to attract a new client and you offer a $20 discount, you’ve got at least $120 invested for this one-time job.

What you really want are discerning clients who are interested in the kind of superior service and value-added benefits that come with doing business with a quality cleaning service. If you advertise low prices or discounts, you’re going to attract individuals who are price conscious and you’ll find yourself in price negotiation on virtually every occasion.

Yes, you’re likely to get more phone inquiries from price advertising and discount offers. But when you’re playing that game in this industry there’s always going to be someone willing to do it for less. I recommend putting the emphasis on the satisfaction and peace of mind prospective customers will enjoy from doing business with your company rather than setting yourself up for trying to compete on price with those shadowy cleaners who work in the underground economy on an uneven playing field.

Instead of offering discounts in your advertising, focus your marketing on the benefits clients will enjoy by doing business with you:

• Professionally trained and supervised employees to ensure quality.
• Insurance, bonding and workers comp to afford peace of mind.
• You remit all required taxes on behalf of your workers so the customer doesn’t have to.
• You bring your own professional equipment and supplies. Your client gets to stop shopping for all that “stuff”.
• *Satisfaction guaranteed or their money back.
• *Reliability – you’ll always show up as promised on their scheduled cleaning day or you’ll perform the next visit FREE.

 *(Even if a few customers take advantage of these last two promises, its still cheaper than discounting $20 off every first time cleaning).  

The bottom line is that you can’t be all things to all people. You can’t sell a luxury automobile to people on a Volkswagen budget. If you’re intent on building a profitable residential cleaning business you need to concentrate on attracting a clientele who appreciate and can afford to pay for top-notch service.

We just sold our first House Cleaning Biz 101 client in mainland China today.

Welcome aboard to Yu Jing Hua from Guangzhou. China now becomes the 55th country where our program has been and is being implemented. While laws, traditions and culltures vary from country to country, the business principles taught in our program apply universally in any country where there are people willing and able to pay others to clean their homes.

For a list of all the other countries where our program is helping people build a successful and profitable residential cleaning business, please see http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com/countries.htm

ADVERTISING: What works? What doesn’t?

If you listen to the pundits, when it comes to advertising you’ll get scores of opinions on what works and what doesn’t. Some people will tell you that newspaper ads don’t work; others will say that radio doesn’t work; still others will say that flyers don’t work; and so on. THE FACT IS….EVERYTHING WORKS! The real question should be, “What is the most effective and efficient media for YOU at a given point in the growth of your business and based on the resources you have available to advertise.


Secondly, when a particular media doesn’t get the results you desire, you need to ask yourself…”Is it the media or the message?”

Let me give you an example:


Several years ago in the auto appearance business, I directed a high-power Toronto advertising agency to create an ad to sell popup sunroofs back in the days they were in vogue. This agency came up with a full page ad that we placed in the Toronto Sun newspaper and we ran it on the back page of the first section of the newspaper – a very expensive position to buy. The results were abysmal, to say the least.


I didn’t fire the media; I fired the agency! We then created a new half page ad in house with the headline that read: TIDY CAR SUNROOFS ARE GUARANTEED FOR LIFE! HERE’S WHY! The copy included 10 bullet-point features of the sunroof. We ran this ad on an inside page and wound up selling over 100 sunroofs on the first day it ran! Obviously, it wasn’t the media that didn’t work; it was the message in that media that made the difference.
This example, of course, holds true for virtually any method of advertising that’s out there. If it didn’t, those media simply would not exist; at least not for very long.

Wanna bet this ad would make your

phone ring off the hook????  

Do You Own a Cleaning Job or a Cleaning Business?

The difference between working for someone else and working for yourself is the boss. People who are self-starters and can work without supervision often choose to “do their own thing” and strike out on their own – in essence, they become their own boss. In doing so they generally set up a legal entity, give it a name and go into their own business. Working for oneself definitely has its advantages (and disadvantages) and it does provide a sense of freedom accompanied by the opportunity to earn more money then they could earn working for someone else.


The fact is, however, that hanging up a shingle like “Mary’s House Cleaning Service” often means that the owner of that legal entity has only switched bosses. Instead of being employed by someone else, she is her own employee. Her job description remains about the same. She still goes out and cleans homes. Only now she has the opportunity to retain all the profits for herself – and of course, is responsible for any and all expenses related to operating her business.

Now, there is nothing at all wrong with being self employed. All kinds of people choose to work for themselves: plumbers, electricians, carpenters, handymen, landscapers, pet sitters, house sitters, pool cleaners, roadside hot dog vendors, accountants, investment advisors, mortgage brokers . . . and the list goes on, including, of course, house cleaners. However, what all of these folks really own is a “job” (even though they operate as legally established companies). They can earn a very, very good living – just as successful employees of large companies can.


The $85,000-per-year house cleaner.


I have a client in the state of Texas who set up his own cleaning company. He chose to operate the business as a one-man show. This was his comfort zone and he is a typical example of someone who did very well working for himself. On his own, without any other employees, he generated $85,000 in annual revenues. Of course, he had some expenses to cover but, working on his own from his home, those expenses were minimal.


When I started coaching this young man, his revenues were nowhere near $85,000 per year. By restructuring his pricing, dropping unprofitable clients and analyzing and reorganizing a very inefficient cleaning schedule, we were able to double his annual sales without adding any extra expense.


For someone who is content to own his own job, this is a shining example of how well that decision can work out. However, one has to realize the limitations of this decision. Eighty five thousand dollars has to be at or near the upper limit of what an individual can generate working as an independent house cleaner. I also know that he worked longer hours every week than many people who run cleaning businesses that are doing $1 million or more in annual sales. Owning even a great job does not provide the opportunity for growth or income that building a real business does.


Advantages of building a REAL business.


When you’re essentially a one-man or one-woman show, what happens to your business if you become ill and perhaps hospitalized or disabled? How can you take a vacation with the family when you’re committed to a full cleaning schedule? Do you really want to be stuck with your head in someone else’s toilet bowl five or ten years from now? How are you going to get down on your hands and knees scrubbing shower door tracks when you’re in your 50s or older? Even if you have two or three helpers you need to be out there cleaning along with them in order to earn a decent living.


In addition to answering the above issues, your income potential is not capped by how much cleaning you can personally do in a day. When you clone yourself, you’re multiplying the revenue exponentially by the number of clones you wind up with. I don’t think there are too many cleaning employees who generate $85,000 a year in revenue, but a reasonable output is around $1,000 per week per employee. Thus, 10 good employees should turn out about $500,000/year in gross income with a resulting profit to you of between $100,000 and $125,000. Roll that out into 20 good employees and you can easily double those numbers. Interestingly enough, this can be done by putting in even less time on the job than our friend who eked out $85,000/year cleaning homes himself!

There’s an old saying: “If you spend all your time working IN the business, you’ll have no time to work ON the business.” So, if you are really interested in owning a real business, you need to plan on extracting yourself from the chores of cleaning homes. Since you can replace yourself for $10 to $15 per hour, by not changing your job description from house cleaner to the owner of a house cleaning business, you’re saying that your worth is $10 to $15 per hour. Considering that you could earn around $125 per hour with a crew of 20 people, one could conclude that being out there cleaning homes might not be in your best interest.

“IT’S NOT PERSONAL, IT’S JUST BUSINESS.”

We’ve all heard that old cliché many times in mobster movies, when the hit man is about to terminate the life of his intended victim, “It’s not personal, it’s just business.” Of course, for the person hearing those chilling words directed at him or her, it is indeed very personal.


It’s one thing to respond defensively and even aggressively in circumstances which may threaten bodily harm to you or your family and friends. However, a similar response in day-to-day business situations is seldom, if ever, appropriate. Being shot at in the literal sense is a whole lot different than someone taking a shot at us verbally – as is bound to happen sooner or later from disgruntled clients.

When “doing the right thing” is the wrong thing to do.

When our character or integrity is challenged, the natural instinct is to fight back at the person disparaging us. Protecting one’s dignity and striking back verbally is how many people respond in tense interactive situations. This reaction seldom results in a positive outcome in personal relationships, even when you’re in the right. But in business relationships, especially when dealing with clients, there is rarely a good outcome even if your position is dead right.

When dealing with a confrontational client, being right and even proving you’re right can make the situation even worse. As mentioned above, people tend not to deal well in circumstances where their position on an issue is being challenged. They indeed take it personally; it’s like an affront to their moral fiber. “How dare you question me?”

The truth is that proving you’re right seems like the right thing to do. Digging in your heels and rejecting the client’s position may be the right thing to do to salve one’s ego. “There, I stated my case and that’s my position; take it or leave it.” But being right can cost you dearly.

Example: Unhappy with Workmanship

I don’t care how good a job your employees do for your clients, every owner will eventually hear this complaint sooner or later. Whether the complaint is legitimate or not, the situation must be resolved as quickly and amicably as possible, even if it means refunding the full price of the job. Yes, you read right; the full price of the job.

Naturally, you should make every effort to correct whatever it is the client is unhappy with. This should include a visit by you or a supervisor to (a) determine whether or not the team missed something, and (b) exhibit your genuine concern and professionalism in dealing with complaints. The sooner this is accomplished, the less likely the client is to stew and fume before your arrival.

If you determine that the team performed their work in accordance with instructions, the complaint may be due to client expectations not being met rather than promises not being fulfilled. This result can be avoided by setting out the ground rules from the outset, as with a tool such as our “HAPPILY EVER AFTER” brochure and Cleaning Checklist in our http://www.housecleaningbiz101.com/ program or some other written document clarifying the terms of the relationship (such as your cancellation and lockout policy, dealing with pets, what you will not clean, etc.). Reports of clients being upset because the team would not pick up after the kids or clean up pet accidents are examples of issues that can be avoided and need to be addressed before you begin the client’s schedule.

If you’re unable to resolve the client’s dissatisfaction, and the only resolution that will satisfy her is a full refund on the job, you have two possible courses of action:

1. You can dig in your heels, take the position that you provided a service for which you’re entitled to be paid, and if necessary, file a complaint in small claims court; or,

2. You can graciously surprise the client by offering a full refund – a result she likely never expected and one that will give her no reason to bad mouth you or your company.

Yes, you’ll be out the price of the job, but you may also avoid negative word of mouth and the loss of future clients. People tend to share bad episodes they have with companies at a ratio of 20:1 versus how they share good experiences with their friends and acquaintances. How can a client bad mouth you or your company when you satisfy her complaint without an argument? Just be sure to document the outcome in writing and keep a record of your cancelled check and the accompanying letter to the client.

Negative energy is a waste of time and resources

Some people feel that they simply must win every battle without considering that the objective is to win the war. They’re so fired up in the heat of the moment that they can’t seem to recognize how their anxiety is influencing their ability to arrive at a swift and mature resolution to the situation. It’s a “damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead mentality” which can have devastating consequences.

Think about it. We can spend years trying to build a respectable reputation in the community and thousands of dollars advertising why people should do business with us. Common sense should dictate that spending the price of one house cleaning job to reinforce your goodwill efforts is the course that a mature business person should follow.

The long and the short of it is, if we spend time and negative energy, which could be more productively invested on positive issues, we will wind up creating more stress then the cost of refunding the client’s money is worth.

Above all, don’t take it personally.

When a client is irritated over something they believe we did or didn’t do, there’s a natural tendency to take the affront personally. Understand that what matters now is that the client believes she is right, even if it turns out not to be the case. As difficult as it may be, try and separate yourself from the person to whom the beef is addressed. You just happen to be the person on the end of the phone to whom the caller is venting. Always tell yourself when you find yourself in this situation, “It’s not personal, it’s just business.”