More Than A Side Hustle
More Than A Side Hustle
From Pandemic Pivot To Seven Figures In Cleaning
We celebrate the Tiptons crossing $1M in cleaning revenue while balancing kids and day jobs, tracing their path from a pandemic pivot to commercial project management. The conversation digs into college turnovers, a $40k warehouse clean, a $93k month, vendor strategy, and the mindset that kept them steady.
• pandemic pivot and first wins through Google Local Services
• lessons from running a daycare and why margins matter
• quoting by listening and scoping before pricing
• $40k warehouse project and using deposits to secure vendors
• building a contractor bench and backups for speed
• college housing turnovers, bid cycles, and capacity proof
• recurring property contracts and emergency cleanup premiums
• team structure with VAs, SOPs, and automation
• balancing residential routes with growing commercial demand
• modeling cancellations, slow seasons, and outpacing losses
• faith, partnership, and resilience through tough months
• practical advice for new students: know your numbers, don’t quit
If you got any value from this conversation, let us know in the comments. Hit the notification button. Find us at Cleaning Business Universe
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What if we told you guys that two of our cleaning business university students just hit over$1 million in revenue with kids with nine to fives and zero cleaning business experience when they started? Now, most people say the business model is too good to be true. Now, I don't know why that's the case, but you're gonna hear exactly how they hit one million dollars in their own cleaning business, including a multiple five-figure project. We're gonna go back and do a little bit of reverse to learn more about that project. They completed in a single day. And if you guys stick around till the end, we're gonna go over their biggest wins and lessons that got them to that million dollar mark. And without further ado, we're gonna welcome in the Tip Tins. We're gonna allow you guys to unmute yourselves. One second, and there you go. What's going on, guys? Welcome in. We wanna give you guys a huge congratulations on all your success. Um, we're gonna congratulate you guys. Before we get started, the people gotta hear it from your own mouths that heard it from us. But what was the latest milestone you just got you guys just hitting your cleaning business? One million dollars.
SPEAKER_01:Let's go, let's go. Say that louder. Now, this is the third interview that we're having with the Tiptons. That's the funny thing. This is the third interview that we've had. We had one in 2020 and then maybe one in 2023. 24 when you guys did that big project, commercial project. And then now again. So congratulations to you guys. And it's funny because we looked back before joining, we looked back at like the first video. Yeah, like the things you were saying. What do you say he might play it tonight? Um we're good. All right, we good then. She said we good. But the point that he was trying to do, because he doesn't play it now, the point was in that interview, you guys were saying that you were doing, I think, 510 to 15k months. I think you had a spike of 19k. And so we were like, what's holding you back? Why not just go all in with the marketing? And you, I was like, unless you don't have the people for it, you're like, we have the people, they're begging us. So from 15k months then to now hitting a million dollars, that's definitely been a journey.
SPEAKER_04:How does it feel? I mean, it's it doesn't feel real sometimes. It's right. I I had to look at it, I didn't even realize that we had hit the milestone. I was like, hold on, we should be pretty close. Cause I told her at one point we we tried we need to be there before the end of the year, and then I happened to check and I was just like, whoa. And I just sent her a screenshot. I ain't saying it's a good one.
SPEAKER_00:It wasn't we weren't we weren't in the same room or anything. It was just like us, he sent me the screenshot and it was a lot to process. It was a lot to process. We were inspecting that and we were shooting for that this year, with you know, being five years in the business, but we still haven't really lost the step.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, it's just yeah, we definitely could tell because when you had sent us that screenshot, it was like, I think we are about to be there, or we just they were talking about something else though, about the the colleges that they were doing, and then they just sent it over slowly, like, oh yeah, this happened.
SPEAKER_01:It was like, wait a minute, this is a no, that's how it happened here too.
SPEAKER_02:That's how it happened here too. Like, can we go back to 2020 right around the pandemic when we first launched Cleaning Business University? You guys were some of our earlier students, and I know during that time it was a challenging time for everyone in the world, right? So we got the pandemic, people are losing their jobs, trying to figure out what they're gonna do. And that was right around the time you guys started your journey. So take me back, and what was it like when you guys were going through that journey to decide what was the next steps for you during the during that phase of life?
SPEAKER_00:We were looking at replacing our main income, like Jonathan was our breadwinner, and that was we were losing that, and there was like a hiring freeze. I'm sure everybody remembers, like nobody was hiring because nobody knew what they were doing next. We didn't know like our kids were in school, but the schools were hybrid, and our county hadn't really made a final announcement about whether they were gonna do hybrid or remote. We didn't know what was happening with our family, with work, with anything. And so y'all posted that on Instagram, like that's really Instagram and at the right time. You did, it really did. And I remember you you guys talking about how your your cleaning business helped you pay off debt. So you launching the course about how you did it, that just and it like you can go back to the the first video, the first interview.
SPEAKER_04:I was reluctant. I was just like, cleaning business. I was like, you found a class online. I was like, that don't work. Like that's just online don't work. So I I you know I said the same thing four years ago when we talked. I was just like, you know, we were our backs against the wall, so we had to give it a shot.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Well, we appreciate you taking a chance. Now look, no problem.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, y'all, we shouldn't know. I I think about that sometimes. I don't know like what made y'all launch when you did, but it was all aligned. Like it was all like that day on Instagram. I just happened to be scrolling, and there you there it was.
SPEAKER_02:We didn't think anybody cared about the cleaning business journey because it wasn't sexy and no one was really talking about it then. Now, eight years later, I get ads from all walks of life, like, hey, cleaning business. I'm like, We I was doing this before you was born, little boy.
SPEAKER_01:Like because at that time we were just speaking about our debt-free story, so most people just knew us for that, and we would sprinkle in the cleaning business here and there. And Anthony would be like, I think people are interested. I'm like, I don't think so. We didn't want to hear anything about that. Most people want to hear about because most people can relate to debt, right? That's just like a social norm here in America. We all have that, but I'm like, I don't think everybody wants the cleaning business, so let's just test it out and see. So we appreciate you guys being some of the first people around us and staying connected to let us know and see your growth throughout, honestly.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_02:So, one of the things we all right, let's go back to that earlier stage because I think that's super important before we get to the million-dollar mark. So, you guys get the program, you start going through it, but at the other time, but during that time, you also had another business. So, can you walk us through what that looked like, what that business was, and anything you want to share about it?
SPEAKER_00:We were in a position where the business I was working for closed, and I mean it was it was a daycare business, and we had parents who were doctors and parents who owned restaurants who were like delivering foods. But I mean, you know, I if everybody remembers, some people don't want to go back. But if you remember, you know, they were categorizing people as essential workers, not essential workers, and families were getting desperate. They were like, if this daycare closes, you know, I have to, I'm supposed to be there, I have to be there. You know, they were asking, is anybody doing nanny services or anything? Does anybody feel comfortable coming to my home? So basically, someone reached out to me and said, you know, the daycare is closing. Do you have plans of absorbing it? And we were like, Do we have plans of absorbing? You know, and this was right around the time I don't know if we were already having discussions about maybe taking your course or whatever, but they were thinking we'd already taken we were already in the process of taking the course and like starting with the basics like our EIN and all that stuff, like you know, the daily checklist of like actually starting, taking the courses, checking off the work, and then it was crazy. And then we said, well, let's just do another EIN and another business account and another, and knowing the business, I knew how licensure and all that stuff worked, and we just it was crazy, but it was a crazy time, and we started two businesses at the same time.
SPEAKER_02:Did you guys? I mean, you worked at the daycare, you didn't own it though, right?
SPEAKER_00:The daycare that closed, I was the director at.
SPEAKER_02:So you had some experience in the industry, but working and owning is as you saw like two different things.
SPEAKER_00:You know, I fooled myself. I had been working in childcare since I was in college, and um, so I was like, I had always said I could, I would do this so different, I could do this so much better. I could I, you know, I finally got my shot to do it better. And and honestly, honestly, it was an opportunity to serve, and I did just what my heart wanted to do. I served, and but I found that there's not a way really to serve and be extremely profitable. So, lesson learned there. We served the families, the scholars that we had, and we served them until they went to kindergarten and I've kept people employed for three years.
SPEAKER_02:And you know, that's commendable because you took on something that you had no experience doing. So, but you the cleaning business, the cleaning business and the daycare. And I worked in IT for 15 years, and working in IT and starting an IT firm is completely different, right? So when people come to us and they're like, Oh, I clean, I'm like, cleaning and owning an actual business is really not the same thing, right? So I commend you guys for taking a shot and taking a leap on trying two different things that you weren't sure was going to work out, but you guys are like, we're gonna try to see how it see how it lands. So how long commend you guys for doing that?
SPEAKER_01:And how long did you guys keep the daycare open for? For three years. Three years. Three years, and then what made you decide to close it?
SPEAKER_00:Um, like I said, we the towers we had were becoming kindergartners. Yeah. Okay. And we just were like, do we want to try to those of you who may or may not know the daycare business, but like you have to have your wait list built up for years and years, like pregnant families have to have, you know, their babies on the wait list to fill those spots. And we didn't do that backlogging work because really it was like an urgent situation. Yeah. And it was a lot of other things, like people were getting like supplements and things like that for being essential workers. So I was dealing with the vouchers and all of it to the stuff. Yes, yes, you contract with, you know, just things like that. And I was just like, Yeah, I think I'm that's it. Thank y'all. Graduate that we did a graduation thing, and and all of our employees were ready to move on to different things, and it was it really just worked, worked out. Not to mention we own the property that we housed the daycare in, so we were ready to do something different with that property as well.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay. And so how were you able to or were you even able to manage the cleaning business and daycare together, or did the cleaning business kind of take a back burner? It did for three years.
SPEAKER_04:And it was less demanding at the time. Yeah, it was kind of on autopilot. We wasn't really we had our VAs handling everything on that side of it, and we were just we wasn't really if you remember from the past videos, we weren't really doing a whole bunch of marketing, like not a ton of it. Um, so so yeah, it was kind of on autopilot, and we there's definitely some missed opportunity there.
SPEAKER_02:I was gonna say you would learn from all of those opportunities. I bet you in the next thing you start, it won't have it won't happen the same way because you know how to do this now. So let's transition a little bit going from the daycare to starting the cleaning business now. You had around the time you were doing in 2021, because I went back and watched the interview, you guys are doing around$15,000 months at that time back in 2021, and now you guys have hit over a million dollars in in total growth. But when did you realize that you guys were building something that was sustainable and significant? Because at the$15,000 market seemed like you guys are still like now I'm playing around with this thing, and then yeah, so when did you when did you guys figure out like, all right, this is a real thing that we could really focus on and grow around what year and what revenue mark you think?
SPEAKER_04:I think once we consistently were hitting in the 23s, the 25s, like in that range, yeah. Okay, we got we got something here. And then once we started, you know, I guess we'll get to this too, but once we started picking up some commercial, some guaranteed contracts that were built in that weren't gonna, you know, for built in for a year, wasn't gonna change for a year. Once we saw some of that stuff coming in, we we knew we had some.
SPEAKER_00:And not to mention, we fell in love with the project management part of commercial, like that that was something that we didn't know. Yes, that was something we didn't know that we one we didn't know it was a thing, and then we learned about it and we got some projects under our belt, and we really fell in love with the process, and so that was something we were like we need to lean in here a little bit more. That was 2023 or 2024 when when that was. It was 2023, yeah. Because we had our first commercial because we had the we had our first commercial like 2022, and that was a long-term reoccurring commercial project. Uh, but our big project that we got with the warehouse uh where we did like it was the uh 40k and like a couple days project that was in 2023, and we were like, we want more though.
SPEAKER_02:We hit that 40k project. That was the last headline that you guys had done. Can we dive into that a little bit on well actually? So, what were the numbers on that on that project like once you guys were all said and done?
SPEAKER_04:It was right at 40. It was right at 40 for two for two for like days. And you guys were cleaning a warehouse, cleaning, yeah, pressure washing, some junk removal, stripping and wax, a little bit of everything, floor care.
SPEAKER_00:We call it we consider that floor care, yeah. Yeah, floor cleaning and so the deep cleaning of a warehouse for it.
SPEAKER_04:Without some carpet, a little bit of yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Now, was this the biggest job you've done before?
SPEAKER_04:At that time, yes.
SPEAKER_01:At the time, at that time, was that the biggest job? So, what made you comfortable to say yes? Because many people, and we see sometimes people get scared and not we got the phone call.
SPEAKER_04:She she she wasn't wanting to move on it at first, and I was like, because it just sounded like it could go a lot of things can go wrong in a project that when she when she was like, Let's go with it, and then she was like, I got, but she also took the paperwork side of it, the documentation to protect our business, and she took all that over and she did the numbers, she just came to me with the numbers. So that when when she was in, I was in from the beginning. I was like, this sounds like a good go to me.
SPEAKER_00:We've never done anything like that before, and so I didn't want to say yes until I really, really knew. And one of the things that we had to do first was kind of do a little bit of research. And once I realized how much time this is gonna take to even do the prep work to say yes, I said, if we're gonna take this on, this is gonna cost them money. Like we're talking big money, and they wanted it in a hurry, yeah, and they wanted it in a hurry, and I was like, Jonathan, we're gonna do this. I'm gonna it's gonna take me some time and I'm gonna have to lay it out. We're gonna have to lay it out right. And he was like, Go with it.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so they they called you, but they didn't have a number though. They're asking you how much do you charge for a deal?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, they were basically telling us everything that they needed, and they were like, Man, if you all can handle everything, we'd rather keep it all under one, you know, write one check and be done.
SPEAKER_00:This is a project management company out of state. They were managing the building here where we live, and they were just they started, they were like, We Googled you guys, we found you all on Google. You clean, yes, and we were like, Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_03:You clean, yes, we do.
SPEAKER_00:Then they were like, Great, great, like, and they were asking, like, kind of like, what all does this clean include? Because this is what we need. And so we were saying, Tell us more. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Tell us what you need.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, tell us what you need, tell us more. And we were still kind of, I think we had done one like deep clean commercial project at this point. So we knew like windows may be something they need, carpet cleaning may be something they need. So maybe we were going back and forth with like, what about this? What about this?
SPEAKER_04:I mean, we had painters lined up at one point. They ended up finding somebody else to do it cheaper, but we were even gonna do paint for them and tiles and everything.
SPEAKER_00:So we had we had people in our pocket, like we were like, look, we'll negotiate getting a deposit for you to clear your calendar, like, just tell us if you can do it. And that was part of our initial research, like using our connections that we have made in the industry, and we had every job they needed. We had a professional in our pocket and then a backup. We called them with our numbers, and they said yes, they gave us dates, we put people on the calendar, we got it done.
SPEAKER_01:And that's how you execute it.
SPEAKER_02:We gotta highlight that for a little bit because number one, you said the company was a project manager from out of state, looking for a project manager, looking for a project manager, essentially. Yes, yeah. So if you think about the business model, what they were doing, they managed to build it from out of state, and all they did was call somebody else to do the job all the same exact day. That's all they did.
SPEAKER_00:They say, Can you guarantee the work is gonna get done and get done well and get done in this time? We were crazy enough to say yes.
SPEAKER_02:You gotta be crazy enough to say yes in order to figure it out, right? If you say no, you're never gonna learn. As you guys are listening to that conversation and tell you exactly what they want, and all you're doing is just listening. So when people ask, like, oh, how do I go on a quote? It's like, do you even know what they want? Listen to the conversation, they're gonna tell you everything they want, and then from there you could go back and figure it out.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You didn't get off that, you didn't stay on that phone and say, All right, let me price these numbers and give you a quote. Most companies don't even do that in general when you call them for an information, right? So they're gonna go back, price in the numbers, whatever it is, and get back to you with a quote. So I commend you guys. And that project you said was 44k, but you said that also wasn't your biggest project. So we gonna was that your bigger project was what year was that? 2023. So we went from doing that first project at this time. I'm assuming it went well. How did you find the you said you had people in your back pocket, right? People that you trusted. How'd you get those relationships over the course of, I mean, it's been only what two, three years at this point?
SPEAKER_00:Some of them were like people who knew people who knew people, like word of mouth, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Cleaner that that cleaned our house, who was one of our first cleaners, her husband was a contractor and and did some of that extra work that we didn't have anybody, like the floor care and all that stuff. And then some carpet cleaning people that we've met through business connections who've done some carpet cleaning for us and then jumped in and do the floor care.
SPEAKER_00:A realtor who a handy woman service who did like she does like what do they call it when a realtor needs not touch points, but like the last checklist that punch list. She does like strictly punch list kind of thing, handyman things with like female handyman. Do you call them handyman?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, that's cool.
SPEAKER_00:And so um they knew like they could do light work, but they also had connections with more in-depth things, and so just using our connections, making phone calls. And then you researched the pressure washer people, yes, and then we did some things we had to do some research because some of the people we knew weren't available that quick, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:It was quick. It was a good distance to drive.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, some of our day ones didn't want or not didn't want to do it, but they couldn't, and then with it being so quick, they were like, Look, we can't clear our calendar for this, you know, we're not moving people. And we were like, But the money is so good. Like, promise, you know, we'll give you a deposit. Like, I was demanding this from the company because everybody was saying the same thing. We kind of already have people on our calendar, this is a quick move. How do we know this is not gonna get canceled? I was negotiating on their behalf, saying, Look, we have people ready, but we need something, yes, we need something to guarantee. Yes, and and they agreed, and so we took deposits and we put money in people's hands, they showed up, and that deepened our our relationship with those professionals even more because they could trust us.
SPEAKER_01:So I assume that that wasn't the only opportunity that you guys get. So, how do you now, even with that, continue to evaluate what opportunities you take versus not? Or is it like yes to everything at this point?
SPEAKER_04:If it was me, it'd be yes to everything, but luckily she's she balances me out and yeah, and don't let that happen because I'll I'll take on almost anything. But no, but yeah, so we you know, just figuring out where the biggest needs are. That's kind of how we got into the college terms. Once they reached out to us, and we're like, hold on, this is all right. Hold on, hold on.
SPEAKER_02:How did they reach out to you? We need that's gonna be a question because that's gonna be the question of how they find you Google Open Service Ads. So they saw Google Oval Service Ads, they saw you clean, then they called you. Yep. All right, cool. Just gotta break that down.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, and then talking to them, talking to other cleaners when we're reaching out to hire for that, cleaners don't like that job.
SPEAKER_00:College kids are nasty, they and smaller, small tools or individual cleaners, they don't they can't do it on their own.
SPEAKER_04:And and that a lot of times the jobs are underquoted to get the to get the job, so they're not being paid adequately for the job as far as I can see that. Once I realized people don't like that, I was like, oh, but we like it. Yeah, that's like two and a half weeks of of craziness, but it's a huge payoff at the end. So we started reaching out to multiple properties and just seeing how many we could get.
SPEAKER_00:So the first it was a college that contacted you guys to do turnovers, like I guess in August before they that's when the clean start in like August, but they start getting quotes to make a decision in spring.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay, okay. And then you've done it now for other colleges as well, turnovers because you've done it with this. Did they refer you or did you just like go after the other college?
SPEAKER_04:We started reaching out, so we did it, we've done it in two different cities, but uh same, it's pretty it's predominantly the same school, but they have different private companies that own these properties, but we've done it in two different cities.
SPEAKER_02:So someone that's like, all right, I want to get into this because they're gonna ask, how do I get into this side of things? So who are you calling at this point? Are you calling the admissions office? It's like a point of contact, janitorium department. Who are you calling to say, hey, here's who we are, what we do?
SPEAKER_04:If you Google college housing specifically, college housing in our area, like where we are, it's a huge university and multiple other small colleges. So it's gonna be now there's regular people who live there, but it's predominantly college housing. And you'll be able to find these private companies who own these properties. And we reach out to the the manager, the maintenance. Sometimes the maintenance guy runs it and makes the hire. Um, but we reach out to those people and just and just see when they're accepting bids. I I don't feel like they just take the lowest bid. Like they really want to talk to you and see, you know, what type of projects have you done before and kind of see where you are, so they don't just take like I've actually had one maintenance guy say, now we're in you're in business to make money, so make sure you don't underquote this.
SPEAKER_02:What a nice guy. Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:I think it's funny that you guys decide to pitch other companies and stuff because usually in our hands, just think about it. You assume that these companies or colleges have their own cleaning people, right? You would assume that why would they hire a mom and pop like me? Like, why would they be going on Google? These students are paying thousands of dollars to be there. So I think that that's a good point. It kind of breaks opens our minds to the fact that no, you could be that person for Walmart. You just never know. You just assume that they got somebody, yeah, yeah, and it is not a good thing.
SPEAKER_00:Right, you don't make yourself known.
SPEAKER_04:And it's just such a huge demand that they most time, most of the time, our first year it was several companies on the properties, several cleaning companies on the properties. If you depend on one company and that defaults through, you're in a huge bond before moving there. So this year we did have a property to ourselves. Um, so that was like huge. Um, I guaranteed them that we had the resources to take it on and and and be able to handle it, even if people called in or whatever. Did you have the resource or you just have to yeah? Let's talk about your teams for a little bit.
SPEAKER_02:What does the structure for your teams look like today?
SPEAKER_04:So if you look on launch 27, it's I just cleared out some people. We ain't using nobody else's names anymore either. I cleared out several companies, so it's probably about 25 teams in there.
SPEAKER_02:Then those teams have people under them.
SPEAKER_04:Exactly.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, with the mix of it seems like commercial is now becoming your your lane right now. So that was after the$40,000 product project, and you guys started doing I had a question about the teams before you continue.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, okay. So with the teams, did you find all of them kind of the same way?
SPEAKER_00:Of like Indeed or whatever, interview and hire for residential, and then they transition to social media, word of mouth, and what like our favorite is when a cleaner calls us because another cleaner said, Yeah, and there's some horror stories out there that like we've had cleaners they like reach out to us and say, Well, such and such isn't paying us or paying us on time or whatever.
SPEAKER_04:They've heard from other cleaners that we pay them on time, they can always reach out to us if something don't look right, you know. We don't know.
SPEAKER_01:So most of them, did you hire them specifically for commercial or did you hire them for residential and they do commercial?
SPEAKER_04:We do have residential cleaners who don't want to fool with commercial because of the time frame or whatever, and then we have cleaner uh cleaners that we also just specifically for commercial, and then we have some that do both. So it's a it's a good mix, it's a good mix, right? And we have a team that only likes post-construction, so we you know right, we have a good move and move outs and those type of stuff. They want to put their headphones in and get it done. How long is your longest around anybody that lives there?
SPEAKER_02:Heard it all before. How long has your longest standing cleaner been with you guys? And I got I got the notes to my interview here. She's still willing to.
SPEAKER_04:I wasn't sure. But sporadically, but uh yeah, one who does consistent work 2022.
SPEAKER_02:Hiring philosophy changed or has it changed, or has it changed at all where you guys are today?
SPEAKER_04:We don't have an active post on ND right now, or it might be active, but we're not putting any money towards it. So if they just happen to come across it, we don't really so right now it's surprisingly, it's been people reaching out to us saying, Hey, we've heard about you guys, can we get some extra work? Or they'll see us um or I'll go on um Facebook and post, hey, we need a cleaner, blah blah blah. And then several so many people um reach out to us, and then eventually I'll get back to everybody, even if I give the job to somebody else.
SPEAKER_00:But now, since we do have so many people reaching out to us, we've given our VA a system for filtering and keeping who's at what stage. So even if they call us, we have her schedule.
SPEAKER_04:She does all those.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we gotta schedule the the initial call and just run the business and um have a spreadsheet of just where everybody's at in the process. So some people who heard of us and they're really excited to work with us, and you know, they may have heard some big things like you know, I just got off these turns with top with you know our business or whatever, and they are excited and heard it went well and they're interested, but then they don't get past, you know, they don't schedule uh yeah, yeah, uh, you know, so we still now we have our VA just do all that filtration, and once we get to, you know, they've done the whole process and we're ready to move forward with them. That's when we kind of think now.
SPEAKER_02:Are your cleaners how you structure it where when you're talking about supplies and cars and aprons and whatever, are you guys giving them any of the supplies or anything like that to do some of these cleanings? Very little.
SPEAKER_04:We don't give them anything. You might have contracts where the building supplies and it's just in the contract, and they just need the hands to come in and get it done. But we don't we don't hardly give them, we don't hardly give them anything, right?
SPEAKER_02:Okay, but most of the time they either have their own supplies or building building supplies, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And if it's something that the building, like especially with commercial or post-construction, if it's something they require, we have it in writing, so everybody's clear on where it's coming from, right?
SPEAKER_01:Right and Google local services. I know you mentioned that. Are you marketing in any other place or have you marketed any other place?
SPEAKER_04:Not paid, no. Everything else is posted on Facebook, posted on Facebook, word of mouth, that type of stuff.
SPEAKER_03:That type of word of mouth.
SPEAKER_02:So right now where the business is. I know we've we just talking about commercial for quite some time now, but I want to stick on that because it seems like that's where majority of the business is coming from at this point. So you guys are all in on commercial, is it like 50-50, 60-40? Like, what's the split between residential and commercial at this point?
SPEAKER_04:It's it hasn't all the way caught up to the residential side, but it's it's getting close. So if I had to call it be like 55, 45. Yeah, it's it's getting close. Yeah, it's getting close. And um, do you no?
SPEAKER_01:I was just gonna say, do you think you would do commercial?
SPEAKER_04:No, no, because we have some long time clients who have been with us almost from the beginning, uh, like from 2021. So we we we won't want to let them, we won't want to let that go.
SPEAKER_01:Or just stop marketing on the residential side is what I mean. Would you ever stop? I don't stop marketing.
SPEAKER_04:Our Google Local Service has has both, but we we'll just keep it like that for yeah, because we still we still have those a few cleaners who that's all they really want.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, you know, and then also the time thing, like um, some of a lot of them are moms and they're like, I gotta get this in. For school gets cool, yeah. So the residential works really well.
SPEAKER_02:So right now with the commercial properties that I know you mentioned you're doing some some cold calling to the local facilities, you're getting referrals from a lot of people. Are there are they normally just calling you from Google at this point? Like, where are the majority of the commercial properties coming from?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I would say Google. Google has been a huge thing, and then network uh getting people that we know have put our names out there. I think one of our biggest contracts came from uh somebody in our neighborhood was the property manager.
SPEAKER_02:So what was what was that contract?
SPEAKER_04:So that is not even a set price because we do their move in, move outs. Sometimes there's 15 to 20 of them, but we do their clubhouse three times a week. So it, I mean, I don't I wouldn't I don't even know the dollar amount. Yeah, yeah, it ranges, it just depends on the month.
SPEAKER_02:Is that like a recurring contract with you guys?
SPEAKER_04:Uh-huh. Three times three times a week, clean the clubhouse.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, we had that one four years ago three years.
SPEAKER_04:Three years, yeah. Oh wow, this would be the third year. We're going on to three years, going on three years.
SPEAKER_02:And that was from a referral, like over the over the course of the three years. Do you know what the total amount has been? On average, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:No, if we had to if we had to call it out, probably close to four thousand a month.
SPEAKER_02:Oh wow. Over the course of three years, if you do your math, okay.
SPEAKER_04:And then some of them are a little bit bigger, you know, some months are a little bit bigger, just depending on what's going on. And then at one point we took over their their hallways for their ground. They didn't have a groundskeeper, so they needed us to do the hallways. Man, I I wish they would let us do that all the time.
SPEAKER_03:Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So with that, with a contract like that, you got cleaners. So it's like, all right, we got this building, we do um a couple of times a week. You just send your cleans and go do it, or do you have to be there and watch them and things like that? How's it work with the commercial side when it comes to stuff like that?
SPEAKER_00:In that regard, they're independent contractors signed, you know, to a space, just like if you had a reoccurring, you know, bi-week residential client. Yeah, you're assigned to that, and you know, we have our backups if anything comes up and we let the property manager or whoever know who's coming different if that does happen.
SPEAKER_04:And look, that team, we don't hear anything from that property manager unless she wants to add something. Like it goes, we give them a higher percentage than most of our cleaners, but it's also a peace of mind because we don't hear anything, so it's worth spending an extra money.
SPEAKER_01:That sounds real good. Now, you guys have been in our community for the past five years, honestly, and we like appreciate that you've poured into the community and things like that. Has there been things that students have done that helps you in your business or help you with like mindset that students have said at this point since you guys have been there some of those all the time?
SPEAKER_04:I try to know, I try to tap into as many calls as I can like, even if I forget that it's one coming. If I see that notification, I'm tapping in and I'm listening because it's you're never too big or too whatever to learn any from any any stage. I mean, I've learned stuff. For my kids. My son took my kids teach me stuff all the time. I'm tapping in so I can just in case I can catch one, you know, anything. So I've learned a lot from uh listening to our all the calls that um you all have from uh other uh members.
SPEAKER_01:And the the time is something that's important because that's something that comes up a lot for people. The amount of time that you're putting in now versus when you started, do you recall the difference? Like how much time are you spending on the business at this point?
SPEAKER_00:I think we maybe had said like 10 hours a week in the beginning. It's less than that. Definitely less than that, but it's it we're using that time differently as well. So, like, you know, then I think it was just like a lot of hiring and making decisions, you know, just like the little decisions.
SPEAKER_04:Now it's more like putting together tasks for our pro for our automations, yeah, things like that. Hey, let's can't have a list of calls that she can make when she logs in to you know try to pick up some new properties or something like that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, any adjustments to SOPs, any adjustments to documents, um, customer care. That's not every week. Well, that no, that's not every week, but um, but that's that's what I'm just it's more you trying to think of the time spent, yeah. Yeah, it's just that we spend the time differently. So even though it may be a little less than 10 hours now, just the time is is spent. It's like bigger picture stuff now, right? Yeah, so before it was more automate so much and delegate so much.
SPEAKER_02:So before it was more task-based, but now it's more strategic type processes. Yeah, okay, right. And that's and that's gonna be, you know, that's gonna be the mindset, and that's the whole point of it, right? If I'm spending 10 hours when I first start, the 10 hours I was spending at year five should not be the same 10 hours, right? Because now you should have teams in place, you should have systems in place, you should have automations in place where now you're thinking about strategic level of your entire business. So that's that's the goal. That should be the goal for everybody. Spend less time working in the business and more time working on the business, as they say.
SPEAKER_03:Right.
SPEAKER_02:You guys mentioned some of the things that you've done. You mentioned some of the contracts, you mentioned some of the projects. What has been your was the clubhouse your biggest project, or was there like what led to that that screenshot you had sent us? I'm curious on that one. So post and we can explain what the screenshot was too, because I don't think I posted it anywhere. Can I post it now?
SPEAKER_04:No, no, we didn't no we didn't post it to the group. No, I just sent it to the so I don't I don't even remember what month it was, but was it was it August? No, it wasn't August. Was it August? August or September. But it was a$93,000 month. So that was our biggest, that was our biggest month to date. I mean, I couldn't even believe it when I when I when I saw it. So it was pretty, it was project, um, the turns projects and post-construction. We had a little bit of everything. Um, emergency. Oh, so we didn't even talk about that. So emergency commercial cleanups, I guess you would call it.
SPEAKER_01:So we now you add some extra money on that because it's an emergency.
SPEAKER_04:So we're trying, yeah. So we have a business partner who who calls us every time he has emergency cleanup in the state of Tennessee. So Memphis, Nash, everywhere. So we cover the whole state on that.
SPEAKER_01:And hold on, let me ask you, what's emergency cleanup? Like a tornado or like bat bat bathroom.
SPEAKER_04:A pipe first, bathroom. But we need it now.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Clean it now.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It can even be somebody didn't show up that was supposed to show up.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, just yeah. Or a spot strip, like uh the fix of spot on the floor, and you would be amazed how much they pay for 30 minutes worth of work on that type of stuff.
SPEAKER_02:So well, I paid$350 for somebody reprogrammed my car keys, so and that was a five dollars. You're right on it's not about the time, it's about the knowledge.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02:And that's another thing, too, when it comes to like investing yourself. People are like, oh, well, what can I do in the business? Like, what are you going to do with the information? And the tip ends are literally showing you guys what they did with it. But that$93,000 month will definitely want to congratulate you guys. It's amazing, absolutely amazing. And is that where you see the business going, or is that like we we just killed it with this and we're just happy to have it, or is that like we kind of stay around this range, or we hope to stay around this range? Like, what's that? I would love to stay around that range, but but um um that was an anomaly for the most part.
SPEAKER_04:That was it was you know that's that's for people, that's for people who have a different business setup, in my opinion. But to sprinkle those in a few times a year, that's great. That's doable, that's doable based on special projects and and stuff like that. So it's doable to sprinkle them in, but you know, to be around at 50-60 would be golden for us.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So you guys did that$93,000 a month, and that is that's absolutely amazing. So right now, you guys just hit a million dollars. So I want to talk a little bit about mindset a little bit because people don't don't they don't want to hear that part. That's the boring stuff, that's the corny stuff, but I feel like that is the most important part. So what go ahead? If you go back to the beginning of the interview, you said things were not in the best position during that time. You said people were getting laid off. You were facing a a job transition, and coincidentally enough, five years ago, we're in a similar market as five years ago. Government just shut down, people are getting laid off, and even worse, they're getting laid off and they're getting replaced by AI and technology as well. When you guys think about the mindset and you think about you think about where you are today and growing this business, what has been the biggest internal shift you guys had to make? Because I don't think you make a million dollars in a business. I think you become people who can make a million dollars in a business before you're able to do it.
SPEAKER_03:Look at you drop in my own. I like it. It's overurgitated.
SPEAKER_01:It's overurgitated. I didn't make that that's regurgitated. Before you answer that, was this your first business? Yes. Yes, the clean business was your first business. Okay, so go ahead. How what was the mindset shift or how did you through the years get there? What did 2020 look like versus now? Mindset shift was.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, that that's that's the crazy part is like we we talked about this. I and I think it also coincided with like we just celebrated uh being married 15 years. We did anniversary, we love black love. Yes, we did a lot of reflecting and you know, just thinking back like there may be people that are in similar situations. I I've seen a lot like on social media, like you know, government workers and stuff like they are panicking. And so just reflecting back on we were in this position, and that's that's really mind-blowing to consider that we're not panicked this time. Um, regardless of what happens with school uh for our children, because that was a big thing. It was like, what are they gonna tell us in 2020? What are they gonna tell us? Where are they gonna tell us our children have to be? That determines what shifts somebody has to work, you know. Um, you know, all those things. And now it's like we can put them wherever we want them to put them, but you know, we can we can we can we can pay a tuition somewhere that we prefer instead of waiting for our school district to tell us what to do next.
SPEAKER_04:And and I remember uh she she said also told me she's like next time that this comes up, she she actually said it, she was like, it won't be a it won't be a problem. Yeah, it won't be it won't be a problem next time this comes up. Yeah, so and and we can be ready to you know get a walk in the papers.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, so we mine I told him if it ever comes up at your nine to five again after, and this is like after we started the business, if if we're ever in that position again the next time or before the next time, you'll just retire. We'll be ready for you to retire.
SPEAKER_01:So what gives you that confidence? Do you think that's learned? Do you think that's just like personality? What do you what gives you that?
SPEAKER_00:Definitely not personality because I wasn't thinking that possible. Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Is it listening to podcast? I don't know. Like, what do you think gives you that?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, I mean, we we see that it can be done. We see that it can be done and and and if you work together and put in the work and and create systems to work for you, the possibilities are endless, really.
SPEAKER_00:And I'll say when we started that pro when we decided this is what we're going to do, we're gonna take this course, and then also when we got, you know, the inquiries about the the daycare in 2020, they're like, Are you absorbing the business? What are you doing? And we decided to do this crazy thing, take this crazy leap. We sat down and we prayed together, and it was a very serious talk with God, and we were like, we don't know what we're doing, but all roads lead to this next step, and so every step we take, show us the next one. And as we take these steps, we're gonna be looking for all the confirmation and all the things falling in place because we can't lean on our own understanding here.
SPEAKER_04:No, and it was months where I remember some other when you she was talking to God, and I remember I was like she was right there, and she was like, Now I know you didn't put us right here some of those tough months. She didn't put us right here for us to you know not make it, and and and we and we talked to him and pulled through. So that's there are some tough months. That's true. That was some tough, there were some tough months.
SPEAKER_00:He has proven himself, God has proven himself faithful, like we really did. We took him with us on that leap in 2020.
SPEAKER_02:What would be one of those tough moments where you guys had to dig deep and come out on the other side? Because we talk about our moment, you know, month eight, nine in the business very early, where then we we didn't understand business and we didn't know that what the next side was. Next side was us going from 5k a month to 10k a month, like, oh wow, this is working out. And then, you know, obviously we are where we are today. But what was some of those tough what what was one of those tough months for you guys to sit down and like what we doing here? What does that look like? So somebody might be facing it today.
SPEAKER_04:It was after the interview, we thought everything was going smooth after we talked to you all in I guess 2021. It was everything was going smooth. We were uh getting up to the 20,000s a month. And I mean it dropped back down to under 10, 9, 8 cancellations left and right. And it was just like we got to figure out something to you know get through these through these slow periods, and it's always a slow, slow time. Now we understand that we didn't, like you just said, we didn't know that at the time it's some slow months that you need to when it's spring cleaning to put something back for those slow months.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, outpacing your cancellations, outpacing your and we're outpacing like your growth, knowing your numbers and being able to outpace the slow months, being able to outpace your cancellations, any trouble where you have to discount or whatever, like outpacing the losses is what we had to learn. And we didn't even know that was a thing at the time.
SPEAKER_02:And it's only so much that you guys are gonna learn from a course or a program, and a lot of it's just gonna be learned life experience because you can sit here and talk to someone 24 hours, seven days a week, but until you get that first bad review, or till you get that upset climate, until you get that cancellation or the cleaner doing this. Until you face those things, you can have the playbook in your head, but until you get punched in the mouth, we're gonna see how you're gonna react to it. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04:Exactly. Right. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:It's true though. It's true. That's why I tell new students that all the time. I'm like, I can't, I can't tell you everything, and even if I do, it's no value to you. Yeah, it sounds weird to say, but everybody wants to know every single thing. And I'm like, once it happens, like you you kind of grow with it. Yeah, there's certain things, but you gotta figure it out, essentially.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, there's okay, and also I think layered on on top of the work, the the stuff that was going crazy with the business we had dealt with death in the family. We had real life, new baby in the family. Like it was like a lot, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:It was a lot, it was life, life continues, right? Life continues. Regardless, you've got this business, things are happening.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, there is no PTO. There is no PTO, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I know. I said PTO the other day. I was like, I'm taking PC. He was like, What do you mean? We don't have no PC. I was like, Yes, we do, because I'm my own boss and I'm gonna be in bed. I said, Did you submit your sheet? Did I get approved myself? Nobody approved this. She said, I approved it myself. Because he ain't never gonna take PTO, but baby, yes, I am. So I'm like But as a couple that like working together and kids, and how has this success like changed your family dynamics? If if any, has it changed it in any in any way?
SPEAKER_04:I love the flexibility that it gives us as far as what we do with our kids for schooling or vacations that we take or when we decide to take trips, not necessarily vacation, it could be a work, you know, get away and work from home. Stuff like I love the flexibility. She can decide if she wants to go pursue more schooling and more degrees or go work outside the home, she can. But if she doesn't want to, this job allows us to have that, those choices, those options.
SPEAKER_02:Do they say like mommy daddy working type of thing, or do they do they come and that's like a three-year-old? Well, like a three-year-old. Well, I'm talking about that's how our kids come and sit on my lap, like you're working. I'm like, Yes, I'm working. So do they see that dynamic and know when you guys, I mean your kids are older, but do they see that dynamic and know when you guys are working and stuff like that?
SPEAKER_00:They respect it.
SPEAKER_04:They definitely see it, they want to contribute so bad. Like if they see a cleaner going somewhere, they'd be like, hey, there's a you need to get that number.
SPEAKER_03:There it is.
SPEAKER_04:My son is finding my son. If he sees uh apartments going up, he's like, hey, they got a sign, Dad. They got a sign. You need to write down what that what that comes. So like they are they want to contribute any way they can, and and he's and we do chores. He's talking about, oh, so this is a like if we tell him to do something, oh, so this is a deep clean today, huh?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:What do you know about that? Yeah, get your phone, hold on, hold on. You can you should be paying your we go, we're gonna talk offline. We're gonna talk offline. Your kids should be getting paid to clean. That's hilarious, literally getting paid to clean. We ain't wrong.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, what's the Saturday music is playing? This is a deep clean. We know what this is. I'm gonna hit y'all up offline.
SPEAKER_02:We're gonna make sure your kids are set up right so they can be getting paid for the work that they're doing.
SPEAKER_03:Oh god.
SPEAKER_01:But I know I know we're close, close on an hour of time, and we want to be mindful of that. But some some things that we want to just talk about looking forward and stuff like that. What is the biggest mistake you see newer students make that you wish you could save them from?
SPEAKER_00:Not knowing your numbers, not knowing your own numbers, which leads to underbidding. Just it can lead to underbidding, it can lead to a lot of trouble. Yeah, a lot of people. You have to know your own numbers, and that was one of the things we were talking about when we were at that period where we were like, good God, it's tight. Like, we don't know, we did not know our numbers. And I think I read some book, I don't know what book it was, but it was talking about the key figures you need to know in your business. Those are not the unlucky losses in business, those are to be expected. And so once you get a number for what you're losing every month, because there is a percentage for everybody, even when you're doing well, once you get a number of what you're losing every month, have to be able to outpace all your ill. So knowing your numbers is crucial, and even in the beginning, it can be a little rocky and not consistent. I get it, but study your business.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, and as as Tony said, we're kind of in similar times of 2020 versus now, maybe not as bad. So, for someone that may be listening or will listen to this, what would you tell them about taking taking the leap?
SPEAKER_00:What's the harm in learning a new skill? What's the harm? What do you what what's the harm?
SPEAKER_04:What do you lose? Okay, and jump, I'll just jump to go for it. Like, you really if you don't put yourself out there and and and try it, you won't you won't know it. So it's definitely worth the leap.
SPEAKER_00:And I think I heard one of you guys say, I think Ant said, like, you know, get a clean that pays one bill. You know, start there, start there. What you know, what fees do you need paid? What car payment? Like, just start small, get a clean that pays one bill.
SPEAKER_02:I wish it was as easy today as it was back then because it was a lot easier to tell someone that when we didn't have an interview with somebody that made a million dollars. What do you mean? Like when when we were talking about the clean the business? Yeah, we were talking about the cleaning business, like pay one bill because we didn't have anybody to compare ourselves to. So now when we do interviews like this, like I had somebody today that was like, How fast can I make a million? I was like, Why? That's the wrong question to ask yourself. Because I can't tell you that you don't even know that you don't even know much about the business in order to get started because you're trying to jump to step Z before you even started at even A or B. So now this question here, I would love to know the 2020 tip is could see you guys now. What would surprise them most about where you ended up?
SPEAKER_00:That we even jumped so far into commercial that's wild because just starting the cleaning business, we had no experience in the cleaning business, period. So that we were walking so confidently into this, like we we we followed your blueprint so blindly, and to jump into a portion where we had to learn on our own that's crazy.
SPEAKER_04:And kind of going against the norm because uh at first when we talked about commercial, we have picked up a contract or two. We didn't want to go completely all in because we were under the misconception that you needed employees, W-2, to be able to handle uh commercial and base. You can handle the same, you can follow the same blueprint we learned from your course and use it on the commercial side for the most part.
SPEAKER_00:And I would just be I would tell them you'll still like each other. You might disagree, but you'll still like each other.
SPEAKER_02:This might be a little cheesy, but I had tweeted one of the biggest blessings in my life today is that I have a family-owned business and I do life with my partner and I do business with my partner. If you think about it, in life, the person that's gonna have your back the most is the person sitting next to you. And in business, you don't want a snake, you don't want somebody that's gonna backstab you. You want to have somebody that you could blindly trust. So you got the best of both worlds here. Somebody was like, is your program only for couples? And I'm like, I was like, no, we have single people who do well.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. But it's just like people that have a spouse and don't do it with them, they just run it on their own. We've just seen that too. We had a few people like that. Anything, I guess, beyond financial success that you're most proud of with this journey.
SPEAKER_00:Being able, like Jonathan mentioned, just like the freedom to be able to come and go as we please, spend time with our babies, like we want to, and we want to. I love our business name, like how people know who we are and know what we've established in our area. Like, I'm so proud of that. That's something that I guess I didn't really think of because you think of yourself as still new and trying to get people to trust you. And now, like five years later, we have professionals who know who we are and they are willing to work with us because they know who we are. I would never take that like for granted. I really appreciate that.
SPEAKER_04:I I can't believe that and yeah, it's a lot of pressure, but when we look at how much we like, and I guess just you know, just people like she said, people are dependent on us to pay their bills, to feed their families. So, like it's it's a lot of pressure, but it's also like grateful for the opportunity to be able to provide those opportunities.
SPEAKER_01:Any, I guess, final encouragement. If you guys have time, we will allow for some questions, but we also want to um talk about some other stuff. But any final encouragement for students or maybe people that may be on the let's focus on students, students that have joined CBU and anything that you would tell them that you wish you know listen to or anything like that. Don't quit.
SPEAKER_04:That's the that's the key right there. Now you don't quit because you like I said, it's gonna be some tough moments, but you gotta get through the gotta push through, and that's how you get to the peaks.
SPEAKER_01:Don't quit, don't quit. So thank you guys so much. We still want to talk some more and answer questions, but just wanted to make sure we get that apart.
SPEAKER_02:But if you guys are still on here, obviously you're we'll wrap up. But we got some things from from the tipped ins as well. So you're still on here, obviously, the tipped in story isn't just inspiring, it's proof that the business model works when you start and stay consistent, starting from zero and building a million-dollar business with kids and building a business that gives them options. And this is what's possible when you stop making excuses and start taking action. So, if you got any value from this conversation, let us know in the comments. Hit the notification button, let them know how well they um, and obviously, you guys can find us at Cleaning Business Universe. Have a good night, everybody. Bye, good night, all right, bye.