Countdown to Extinction.

I like Dust Bunnies too, although some people might expect you to show up in a Playboy outfit.

Roger is correct about employees, but it's also the only way to make real money. You will have to do a background check and make sure they don't give you their mother or best friend as a reference. You might look into what it takes to get people bonded, I've never done it but I know people who have.

Dont worry about getting bonded initially. Im bonded , but its mostly cause my business can cause damage (I use explosives)

Checking on prospective employees is a major thing. GW speaks great truth about how you check into references and .

Id make them sign some kind of binder so you dont become an agency that merely helps your employees steal your clients. In the client /business relationship--dont ever lose comunications with the clients because they will only have their needs met by the one they trust most.

Around here, cleaning services can be fairly cut-throat, unless you have some inducements for the clients.

That's the beauty of the name, Green Witch, because of the way different people will react to it. For example, a woman looking for a cleaning service will be paging through the phone book and come across Dust Bunnies and think, "Ah, that's cute. I think I will hire them."

And then some guy across town, also in need of a cleaning service, looks through the ads, sees the same thing, and thinks, "Dust Bunnies! That sounds hot! I wonder if they're topless? I'm going to hire them on the chance that they are."

Comprende, Green Witch? All of the friggin bases are covered.

Si, I see.

So maybe I should retract the 30 day goal of having all of my paper work, and take some small business classes?

I have to admit, I was going to mirror my good friend who has her own painting business for almost 10 years now. But she only has an employee when it is really busy. Not on a regular basis.

I want some on a regular basis.
As GW said, that is the way to make some real money.

AND my body cant handle this for too much longer.
I have 17 clients and work every day .
IT HURTS because I have too much work.
But that is what I need to make my bills.

I can cut my work in half, keep only a handfull of people on my own schedule and hand out the rest, find some new ones and make some money while I am working on the business as well.

I would love to have a 5 year goal of no more actual cleaning for me.
I just want to manage the business. Period.

I love pounding the pavement and finding new clients.

I love meeting them.

I love making a work list with them

then I want to move on. I dont want to hang around and DO the work.

I think 5 years for that is a reasonable goal?
Maybe a bit less..

But, I have reached my one year goal of actually DOING the work so that I can learn how to teach people, and what to provide.

I know now what makes people confident in me and I know a few perks to offer that will make my service one of the first choices.

I mean.. seriously.. TELL ME ... ONE housecleaning service you can go online with and schedule your OWN time slot?


Or even better, tell me one service where you work directly with the people who come in your home and not the upper management all the time? Where YOU call the employee to say " hey.. Im running late ,so the door isnt open..


or

I dont need you to do -this- so just finish ..blah blah blah.."

Instead of having to leave a message with a manager and HOPE the employee gets it..


a few other things I am working on that I hope will make things different enough that I should stand out as a better service even if I am a few dollars more then others.

Will you pay per unit? per hour?

Per unit will keep your employees working more efficiantly.

Client needs her bathroom kitchen and floors done you do the job a couple of times and work out how long it will take. Set the price for the client then put your employee in saying it should take 2.5 hours. the employee does the job but in a less efficiant way then puts in a wages claim for 3 hours.

Now get this shewolf It doesnt matter how motivated the employee is it will always take them longer. If you leave them unsupervised they will take advantage of that. I know this because I am self employed. If I contract a job that is based on a per hour rate i invariable get lees productivity than if the contract is on a per unit price.
Set a price to charge the client, set a price to pay the employee for the whole job show the employee that the job can be done in that amount of time then if they take longer they make less per hour its their choice.

Dont forget money only motivates for a short period of time its the other benefits such as job satisfaction that motivate over the long term.



You have a security risk with employees, how will you deal with that?

Your employees will steal your clients, and your clients will be happy about it because it costs them less.

Can you reasonably justify a level of capital investment for small appliances that your employees would not be able to afford? Heavy duty industrial washer/vaccume, floor polishers that kind of thing?

Is there a legal way to bind employees to not work outside your system? Some businesses have a clause written into the contract of sale to the effect that the seller guarentees not to engage in that form of business within a certain radius for an agreed number of years.

wow.

Ok, frankly.. there is a **** of alot more to think about then I realized.

Needless to say, I have pulled the plug for the moment .

I have some research to do and some classes to take.
Im re-setting this 30 day goal to 6 months and hoping that will work.

Just a note about employees stealing clients: It does happen, but less than might be expected. I've discovered most people do not want to run their own business and prefer other people handle the headaches and paperwork. However, the best way to prevent it from happening is by forming a personal relationship with your client. I'm NOT saying become their friend, but rather a reliable rock. You need to form a bond of trust that let's the client know you are in it for the long term. Everyone knows that service people tend to come and go, so you have to make your client see you as the person who will be there for them and not your employee.

I like to move my people around so no one gets too comfortable. Mix your employees up a little, no one person cleans the same house for too long. Many of my customers have never even spoken with my workers because it is understood that if there is a problem or change I'm the one to be called. I also try to schedule my people to be on the job site when the clients are not around. Kept in contact with your clients. Call them every few weeks and ask if they are happy, does anything about the routine need to be changed? Keep involved.

I once had a client call me to say an employee of mine offered to do the work for less money if she would hire him directly and pay him cash. She said she found his disloyalty so distasteful she would not hire such a person. She felt he was dishonest. I think she felt this because I managed to gain her trust over the years, and she felt as loyal to me as I was to her. I had numerous people work on her property, but I was the one consistent element. Yeah, I'm sure there is someone who will cut your throat to save a couple of bucks, but trust me, if it happens, you can always find a new client and/or employee.