Growth Advice for Beginners

I met a new friend recently from Newcastle, South Wales, AU. Dave Reeks is the owner of The Finest Clean in that area and is a new Solo Elite member. Dave has a ministry background and recently moved. He found the cleaning industry and got super excited about the potential of having his own house cleaning business. We were able to connect on Zoom with the goal for me to help him. But really Dave... you helped me 

I met a new friend recently from Newcastle, South Wales, AU. Dave Reeks is the owner of The Finest Clean in that area and is a new Solo Elite member. Dave has a ministry background and recently moved. He found the cleaning industry and got super excited about the potential of having his own house cleaning business. We were able to connect on Zoom with the goal for me to help him. But really Dave... you helped me.

There are tens of thousands of new cleaning business owners entering the industry every year. I'm an old-timer with a desire to keep this podcast focused on helping beginners in business owner mindset, leadership, and introducing them to amazing leaders around the industry.  Dave's questions helped me think like a new person with the benefit of my almost two decades of experience. I want to keep this episode short and sweet because the lesson I learned through Dave is simple. I believe that every business goes through three phases. I have labeled them the ISO Model for solo cleaners. I've explained this many times on this podcast already. In this episode, I want to focus on the Initializer phase.

As an Initializer, you simply need clients. Dave helped me to streamline all of the tactics to a basic philosophy that is time-tested and works. In fact, go back to my 3-part series on "Building My New Cleaning Network I" to learn a very important beginner's lesson on serving your community. Here's what I told Dave on our Zoom call. If you're brand new, I truly believe this advice will help you grow your new cleaning business! Don't try to Tetris your new business or try to make everything fit together perfectly. Just go and make a mess! Clean where ever you can and for whoever you can. Clean for family. Clean for friends. Clean for new clients you already have. Go and clean. Learn how to get better. Serve with integrity. Keep it simple. I don't even care how much you charge or if you charge at all. I only ask that you become a professional solo cleaner. Follow my steps in the episode, "How to Start Your Solo Cleaning Business". Over time, you will earn trust as a quality, professional cleaner from these initial customers that you serve. Ask them for reviews and testimonials. It can be for Google, Facebook, or whatever else is a hot tactic at the time you hear this. Ask for referrals from these customers. Give the referrals incredible service at a similar price as their friend that referred them. Earn more trust and more reviews and referrals. Repeat this process along with the lessons from the business networking podcasts. You will set yourself apart in your local area as one of the best cleaners just by the number of reviews you have. Believe me, it doesn't take much. Get scrappy and work hard. When you become a Stabilizer and, ultimately, an Optimizer, you'll probably recycle many of these early customers. Please don't take that wrong. Some will absolutely stick with you. But you will need to raise your prices to guarantee a profitable business and potentially set yourself up to hire and build a team. There is a standard and you'll need to get there. Other early customers will thank you for the great deal they got and decide to move on as you raise your prices. That's okay. It's part of the process and it's a business. It's not personal.

As an Initializer, the most valuable payment is a review! In Dave's case, he has a few customers paying him very well. I was very happy to hear that and I certainly don't want him to lower his prices. I stressed to Dave that I would trade $50 per hour for an amazing review because enough amazing reviews will allow you to charge a lot more. I advised Dave to take the lessons from the Smart Cleaning School and teach some of them to his local chamber and networking groups. They will make him more trusted and respected. We discussed learning while you clean. This is an amazing "Pro of Solo Cleaning". The advice I gave here was simple. Listen to podcasts like this and audio books to grow your mind while you clean. BUT... make sure to stop listening too. Your brain needs time to process the education and turn it into ideas. Allow for quiet time while you clean so your brain to go to work on your behalf. When you get ideas, find a way to dictate the ideas into a note or voice recording to minimize your cleaning interruption time. This one change will radically change your business. Just go and serve. You will be known as a servant and great cleaner. You will be remembered and that makes you very referrable.

To be successful in your business, you will need 2 things - Proper mindset and discipline. If you work hard with the wrong mindset, you'll get frustrated and not grow. If you have great mindset and don't work, you'll be stagnant. If you work a little and have a little good mindset, you'll grow a little. Use this podcast to grow your mindset. Listen from the beginning as it's a course on proper business owner's mindset.  Discipline is a different animal. I can't get you to move and take action. I can't get you out of your comfort zone. All I can do is connect with your soul to try to fan the dream inside of you. Now go! Go and make a mess. When you have a bunch of customers and reviews and you don't know what to do, connect with me for help. The Smart Cleaning School website has free resources. Plus, I even offer a free Goals Workshop to draw that fire out of you!