Position Yourself as the Consultant

Let's journey together into an update of my own solo cleaning business. 2020 was a great year. I started at $29,000 in total cleaning revenue, which was the beginning of the Stabilizer Phase of my ISO Model. After hitting multiple 60-day SMART goals, I ended the year at $80,000! That's a $51,000 increase in 1 year! Our profit tripled to just under $5,000 per month on 2 cleaning days per week. As you follow my podcast this year, I'll be showing you how I take this $80,000 Stabilizer business, cross the Optimizer threshold, and convert it to a $90,000 revenue, $6,000 per month profit on 2 days per week solo cleaning business. This is my SMART goal for 2021. This Optimizer business will be worth over $100,000, which means I could sell it again like I did in 2018! Please do not take that as a brag. I'm excited and grateful. This has been a journey. If you're new to my podcast, make sure you check out my 2020 catalog of podcast episodes as they take you on the $51,000 increase journey.

I have a few business updates and wins to share with you. My goal is that you gain understanding and belief that you can do it too. 1-time leads started coming in early this real estate season. I did a handful of 1-time jobs for realtors in 2020 and really impressed them. I've built my reputation and now my name is on multiple realtor's preferred vendor list. My friend Jim Hardy of the Carpet Guys called me on Thursday. He was doing upholstery work for a post-construction project in a house. The homeowner needed a cleaner too and Jim thought of me. I arranged to meet the owner on Monday, gave a quote the same day, and booked it for $350 next week. Lon called me on Friday to have me do an estimate for an empty office condo. He dropped off the key and I did the estimate on Saturday. I sent the quote out on Monday and Lon checked with the office owner. Unfortunately, they said no to the $475 price tag. Dianne called me on Tuesday and I did a phone ballpark estimate for her. She is selling to retire in Florida. I asked questions on the house layout and her goals then worked out a $350 - $700 ballpark price. She booked me for two weeks. This job will likely go for $550. I just added $900 in 1-time cleaning in 5 days. The cool part about 1-time cleaning is that I don't need it! It's all bonus cash that goes directly to savings. I am earning over $7,000 per month in recurring revenue that pays all of my business and family expenses. Many cleaning companies have some recurring and mostly 1-time. I don't like my business like that. It's stressful and you're always looking for work. I like it being automatic. And quite frankly, that's why cleaning is such an awesome business!

I have two other significant phone calls and they're from the same industry. I started cleaning for a veterinary hospital in July 2018, thanks to a high recommendation from my mother-in-law to her best friend (who works there). It was my first cleaning client in my PA business. This hospital expanded in 2019/2020 to nearly triple their building. Last March, I had a meeting with the lead doctor to discuss. She was looking to split up cleaning between staff, a part-time cleaner (staff member on the side), and outsource to me. I immediately stepped into my consultant's role and said this. "Would you like me to build a map of your building and create a collaboration plan to make this all happen?" She was thrilled and I spent hours and hours recording details in the vet and transferring them to paper. I shared this process on Boost My Post. I remember toiling over that map at my kitchen table during the pandemic, wondering if I'm wasting my time. I presented the map with some observations and asking for feedback. They were so excited to see their hospital mapped out like that. In fact, that weekend I noticed my map printed and hanging on the reception board. The doc, office manager, and I collaborated for a few weeks on this map as I presented cleaning options stepping me up from my current level to the full hospital. By putting myself in the position of the consultant to help the team figure out the best cleaning system, it created the revenue. I have noticed this over the years. Whenever I step into my consultant's hat with the intention of helping the homeowner or office solve a problem or need, I gain trust. When they're ready to hire for cleaning, they almost ALWAYS hire the one that did the consulting because they know, like, and trust them. That's me. The vet doubled my monthly cleaning from $750 to $1,475 per month. Oh, it's not over. They asked me to add more this past week. I pulled out the map and started collaborating again. It took 3 days and we settled on a $350 increase to $1,825 per month. This is incredible! I still pinch myself. Oh, there's more. The great work I did here lead to another opportunity. I got hired by another vet in October. The new vet contacted the one I already clean for and they gave me a glowing recommendation. I added that vet for $425 per month in October. Oh, there's more. I got a call on Sunday from another veterinary doctor. She used to work with my newer vet, then went on her own 5 years ago. Her building is in need of cleaning and she posted in a private vet doctor group. Two doctors recommended me! I bet you can guess which they were! I practically had the new job won over the phone. I just need to do the estimate and proposal to show my professionalism and lock it in. This will add another $400 - $800 per month. The irony is that I'll be cleaning 3 vet hospitals and I'm badly allergic to animals! Oh well. I can afford good allergy meds on $3,000 per month. Do you think it was a good idea to spend hours and hours making a map?

I mentioned my Real Estate Presentation Cleaning Course in this episode, where you can learn from my 15 years of commanding $80 - $120 per hour cleaning houses for realtors.

Would you like the map to building your solo cleaning business to $50,000 profit on 3 days per week? It's called the ISO Model Course and it's available only to paid members of the Solo Cleaning School Elite Membership.