Latest / The Kelly Jedele Show / What Would I Do Differently If I Started Over Today?
Transcript
- Kelly Jedele: I've just used social media really in the last year, and I have just seen such a huge response back from clients and the community Cause people can see you and they they feel more comfortable with you as a as a brand, as a company, as especially service providers, when that trust is so necessary because you're inside of their homes. Kelly: Welcome to the Kelly Jedele Show. I'm Kelly. 17 years of building businesses and zero interest in hustling myself into the ground. If you want the business and the life, you're home. Let's get into it. Kelly Jedele: Hello and welcome to the Kelly Jedele Show. It's so nice to have you back. Today I I want to talk about a DM that I got last week. And this is not the first time that I've gotten this question, but a gentleman re reached out to me and asked me, how, how do you run 20 cleaning teams? And I I wanted to dive into that today and talk a little bit more about how I do that. And I also got a question just last week from another person who asked me, if you were to start again today, what would you do differently? So I love both of those questions. I want to talk a little bit about how I'm doing what I do now, how I got to this point, and then what I would do differently, because that's really interesting to me, like looking back at all the things that I've learned and really wanting to help. people go forward. So if you are interested in growing your cleaning company or you might want to start one, I'd love for you to take a listen and see what your thoughts are and give me a little feedback on what you're doing so that we could learn this thing together and grow and continue to just, you know, take off and make big things happen. So I started my cleaning company back in 2009. It's been 17 years. So the world looked a little different back then, right? I was different back then. So we did things in a whole different way. Now, with running cleaning teams in 2026, we have 20 teams. So I have a software. The one that I use is called Service Autopilot. And it was originally made for lawn care companies. And now we use it for a lot of different HVAC, plumbing, housekeeping, all kinds of things. So we have all of our teams in there with scheduling. And then we do our invoicing from that platform. It connects to QuickBooks. And then it also holds all of our client information, kind of like a quasi-cRM. So that program alone I've had for around 13 years. And so the first few years of the company, I did not have it. And we were piecemealing it together. I had like a Google Calendar and a program for our credit cards and then a program for I think Zoho was for our CRM. And so we had I think four or five different programs that we had to, whenever we had a new client, we would enter it in four different programs, software programs. Not ideal, right? So when we switched to the new program, I was able to double the size of my business very fast. And so that was year five or six when we were moving into a new office. So there were a lot of changes around that time. And when you have a good software program, it keeps you very organized. And so when you you have a calendar or things are recurring, you click on the name of the client and the calendar takes you to their account. The invoicing works really well. It's a lot of seamless programming. The software is not perfect. There is not a perfect software out there. Sorry. But it's just, it's it is very good and it works very, very well. There are pieces of it that I would prefer. They have some automation that you can add in if you want. that I've been hesitant to do and I know that's killing me right now. It's just there are so many errors that it just I'm holding back and you know AI is here. So it I'm I'm pushing through that and I am working through those changes to get myself into that mode because I know once we just really hold on and embrace that, it'll take us to a whole new level. So I'm excited about that and you know, hesitant, all the new things. So that's been that's been really fun. to to to think about and where where we could go. But also with the cleaning company for having 20 teams, they also have an app from that that software. And so I have a cell phone for each cleaning team. Each we have 20 cell phones and their Androids has an app on it. So every single morning the team they employees come to the office, they get their cell phone and it has the app on it with the clo the clients that they have, where they're going, and the notes. And so the notes stay with the client. So if you have a a Google Calendar, you have the appointment somewhere and then you have the notes somewhere else. But with the software it's all in one thing, which is beautiful. And they clock in and clock out of the client's appointment. And so that generates the invoice and it's all very clear on that. When the employees get to our office, we have a an office, an actual physical office. I feel that that is important for culture. So when we have a centralized location, we can meet in the morning, see each other's faces, see how we're doing, talk about life, help with all kinds of things. I can tell their mood and their conversations, I can see them, I get to say hi. We also that's where all of the supplies are, that's where all the cars are, that's where the cell phones are, that's where they clock in and clock out. My we have W-2 employees. And so the sa the all of the supplies are there as well. They are expected to fill their supplies in the afternoon when they return to the office. So in the morning, they're really just getting the things they need for the day, which that would be the rags that they have, mop heads. we do clean rags and mop heads and sponges every day. And then they also can get like products they need for if they're cleaning ovens or they have any specific needs for the job for that day. And so it it moves very fast because they park their car, they come in, they get their phone, they get their supplies, they clock in, and they're ready to go. And they're in and out in like twenty minutes. So it's very fast. And they have questions sometimes. So sometimes they have a new client or they have a deep cleaning or just various questions about the home, a lot of times pets or how to get in and out of the house or parking, those are like questions that they have. So we like to share those. And if the clients have special specific requests, sometimes they're dealing with you know, just like collections in homes if they have special artwork or special areas that need more attention or th or places to avoid. We have all of those conversations quickly in the morning. It my office is myself, my manager, and one other employee. And so we there's there's three of us there in the morning, and we are, you know, getting all 45 employees in and out of the door. 42 plus us in the morning. And they are moving and grooving. So the our manager also she t keeps track of the calendar. So if there's anybody that calls in sick, we cover them. If a Client cancels, we cover that person, and kind of shov shimmy move the calendar around. We don't like cancellations. So we we push hard on clients about that because it takes from our hours from our team, and then our team's not loyal to us, and that's not a good thing. So we're very specific on our cancellation policies because of that. I don't like cancellation policies, like I just don't like that, but I know the the challenge that it gives me to have loyal employees if we don't have it. So I do it for that and I will I will hold on to that for that reason. So the mornings go really smoothly. We've been doing this system for for years. And in the beginning, it was me getting everything ready. But as as I go, I have three supervisors now that help with refilling the product and getting things in order. I order the supplies once a week, and pretty sure pretty soon I'm gonna hand that off to my manager to be able to order supplies. We order them once a week and they come from various places. I would like to do a little bit more on the supply like where we order supplies going in the future, I'll be looking into that and and getting that. But the the morning runs very smoothly. And then throughout the day we keep track of you know where the teams are and if they have questions, if they get, you know, have difficulty with traffic or anything like that. they call the office and we answer questions. And otherwise they're very autonomous, independent and they they go about their day. And then they will return back to the office at the end of the day. you know, give all of their rags so they can get cleaned and turn in their keys for the day and then they're they're gone for the day. So it's it's a it's a easy process. The office, we focus on filling the calendar. That is our full full time job. So if we have cancellations or reschedulings, that's what the office focuses on. And it's it's it's a It's a great deal. Like we focus on taking care of the team. The team takes care of the clients. And it's a very good process. And it has been that way for, you know, the whole time that we've had the business. And I will say I really, really enjoy caring for my team as the leader, as the owner. It's it's a it's a good feeling for me to care for the team and make sure that they have what they need. And to hear, you know, the concerns that they have and over the years and celebrate when we have babies and birthdays. And you know, just all of the holidays and things that we get to do as a company. And we we now have a lot of people, so it's it's a little bit of more details, and I love every bit of it. So it's just so, so much fun. As I would do things differently if today, and if I would do things differently today, I would definitely have more of a specific narrowed scope starting at the beginning. So when we first started, we would clean anywhere for anybody, do anything. And as we went along, we're like, we don't do office, we can't clean offices because we only clean eight to five Monday through Friday. And then we stopped doing vacation rentals because those are only as needed. You can't schedule a rec a vacation rental and they only need it from when the the guest checks out from the when the guest checks in. So you've got a very small window. of time. And they are very, very specific on the cleaning they need. And then a lot of times they need other help with like stocking, paper towels, toilet paper, soaps. Cleaning the refrigerator, those kind of details, which my team, my teams were not good at. We did not excel in those areas, and it was very, very stressful for the homeowner for the Airbnb, the vacation rental, and for us. And so I, after a while, I just said we are not the team for that. And so we've got a couple people that we refer those clients to when they come to us and ask for that. But it it we don't we don't offer that. We don't do offices either. Now, I think we have maybe two offices. offices, but that's because we can come during the day and work that cleaning out. But most most offices want to be cleaned in the evenings or the weekends and they require like if if there's a lot of space, they you want those backpack vacuums, we don't have those, we don't carry those. they just a different vibe for the evening. I didn't want to work in the evening and I knew that if I had employees I would be working. That's just the kind of person I am. So I didn't want to do that. So I chose no offices, no evenings, no weekends, and no vacation rentals. So it was very important to me to to focus on that as we got there. But I took a while to get there. So I would say if you're starting a cleaning company, Choose where you want to go. Is that, you know, do you want to focus on offices? Do you want to focus us on just on homes? Do you want to focus on make readies and move out cleanings, post-construction? You know, there's a whole bunch of things. I wouldn't do it all because you want your team to be skilled and trained. And though each each type of cleaning takes a different type of skill. And if you're taking painter's tape off and you're clearing off counters and you're taking off paper from the floor. That's a different skill than, you know, just doing a regular clean where you're moving, you know, like in a bathroom, you're moving all of the lotions and bottles and jars from a a woman's counter so you can clean the bathroom. Totally, you know, just a di not totally, but it's a just a different category of cleaning. And I have found with the labor that the the women that I have that work for me when I give them a specific skill and we continue to do that over and over and over again, they are more successful. And that is powerful. Cause you want your team to be successful because that's when they can recreate that and keep doing it and do it very well. And when you just do the same thing over and over again, it's very successful. People know what you do, they know the level of skill that you have, and then they can refer you a lot easier. So I would highly recommend that. So the the different levels of skill of of different types of cleaning are interesting. I like residential cleaning. Residential cleaning is where we get to help women clean their homes so they can go do other things. Like I love that. That is just like right at my heart center. And so it helps me feel good about the cleaning. So that is very, very good. The other thing that I would say, just like with our software, I didn't choose software in the very beginning. And I would start your cleaning company. as soon as you can with software. So that doesn't have to be the one that I use. They also have Zenmade and Jobber and House Called Pro and those are there's several other programs I'm sure at this point. So but when you have those programs, you're able to communicate with your team more clearly and your clients and then you are able to handle more. So we have Essentially, I'm not in the office all day, every day now. So essentially my manager and and our office coordinator, those two two ladies run the company. Two people and we've got twenty teams. So when when you don't have a software program and you're not super organized like with because of that, you need more hands on deck. So I would say if you want to be a lean company, get a software program on board as soon as you can. And in the beginning, when you don't have a lot of clients or you're you have very few teams, it's more affordable. They have different levels. So I mean, I pay close to $800 a month now for our program, but that's I have 20 teams. So we each one of those users costs money. And so, and I have a user for every team because of the app that we use. So that's not the the case with when you're, you know, just a few employees or it's just you and a another member. So it's they They price it accordingly so you can make it work for you. and then the other thing that I would do if I was new and starting my business right now is I would dive in full force on social media. I would document the process of what you're doing, and I would get out there and talk face to face with the camera, like social media on your stories. I would just talk directly to your stories. I've just used social media really in the last year, and I have just seen such a huge response back from clients and It just the community and people getting to know like who I am as an owner and who we are as a company. And that trust factor just comes so much faster when you're doing that. Cause people can see you and they they feel more comfortable with you as a as a brand, as a company, as especially service providers, when that trust is so necessary because you're inside of their homes. So it's very important to have that. and I would say for me, very important also is networking. Like get out there. Meet some people, call people, talk to people, send text messages, send DMs, like get out there so that your name and who you are is out in the world. And just just as you would with any friendships or family, when you are building your brand, make sure you are careful with who you are talking to and who you are talking about. Because when you are out there creating the market and the whole group of people that are going to be working with you and going in the future. They you need to be out there in front of them. So they talking to people, building those relationships because when you're at your networking events, you're talking to maybe, you know, 15, 20 people, but those 15 or 20 people will go out and talk to other people. And then those people will talk to other people. And so it's just a beautiful network. And your name just gets in your community. And so you can really be dense in with your networking, what you're doing, and make friendships and connections. And for me, that has been such a joy in my life because I've met other business owners that we have grown up together in the business world. You know, there's several real estate agents that I remember started their business when I started mine and I have cleaned homes for them for the last 17 years. And it is just fun. People that have construction businesses, carpet cleaning companies, landscape Companies that have grown their businesses right side of mine because we met during networking. And even my friend that does bodywork on cars, like we I I have we have just grown together and built our businesses together, and then we help each other. So it's very, very fun and very passionate as a part of the community. So dive into social media, relationships, all of that stuff. intensely because it will build your brand. And I know that it's not always fun to do these things, but when you when you do it with that future focus and that future vision in mind, it does make it a little easier. So the cringe factor is still there with social media, but you do get over that after a while. You do. And so you can build yourself up and really build your business. So hopefully some of these tips today have just really allowed you to to to grow what you think will be a one wonderful business or continue building what you're already building. If you have feedback for me, I would love to hear that. It's so much fun to talk business for me and just to learn more things, especially now that I'm gonna, you know, do a little bit more with AI and see where that can fit in with us. So if this Episode hit, please make sure that you share it with another business owner so that they can actually grow their business as well alongside of you. And also if you want to subscribe, please do that. It'll help the the podcast grow and be more out there. And if you want to sponsor the podcast, please let us know. There will be sh notes in the show notes. We'd love that. Thank you so much for listening and we'll see you next week. Bye now. Kelly: That's the show. One favor before you go. Send this to one woman who needed to hear it today. Strong doesn't mean solo. I'll see you next week.