 Well, hello, I'm super excited that you guys have joined me today I am here with a Ryan day and he's a franchise owner from home clean heroes calm or I think I said that right home clean How do I say this? Yeah Home clean heroes home clean heroes cleaning and I'm super excited that he's joined us today because I know we've got a lot of questions about whether you go solo whether you jump into Franchise and so we've got a lot of questions prepared today and he took time off work today to have this conversation with us So I'm really excited about this. Thank you for joining us And if you have questions drop those in the sidebar and we're going to answer as many of them as we can And I do want to say hello Crime time grime says come on in and put your feet up and don't let Angela see them on her table You know what that is true because if I see your feet on my table I'm going to come in with my little microfiber cloth and some cleaning solution. I'm going to clean it up Right so help me welcome Ryan to our show today. Hey, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it I love being here. I love dude, you know do these podcasts answer questions and just have a general conversation about what it is I do and why I do it Well, you guys I'm super excited that you've joined me and Ryan tell us I think you started this business with your mom tell us about how you got started in the cleaning business Yeah, so I'm sure when you first hear the fact that somebody has a cleaning franchise or a started cleaning company You're thinking why on earth Would you do that? Well, a big part of it is because there's a need for it Okay, so I'm a real estate agent and I really enjoy working with clients to find them their dream homes but with that come along with comes along with some Issues and problems, especially when it comes to the cleanliness of a home itself, you know When people are listing their home They need to have it clean before photos are taken and people are walking through when you purchase a new home The last thing you want to do is move in when things are super dirty So you want to start off or end off with a really fresh clean start or finish So having a home clean is really important and it was really difficult for me to find good. I Guess cleaning businesses that would work easily with me. There wasn't great communication It was very difficult to work between clients and kind of be an intermediary and so I started thinking there could be a potential there for For better just all around a better experience and a better overall look and so I knew cleaning was an issue and I'm gonna be honest with you. I've been a real estate agent for two years now and I'm only one person Okay, I busted my butt. I have sold I sold 28 homes my first year it. Thank you. Thank you Yes, it was challenging. I don't say that to both. I just say that it's a lot of work Okay, and so, you know, you make a certain amount of money from that and it's great And then you just have to make it again. Like you're just fighting for the next commission check now I love what I do But I could not see that to be sustainable Okay, I just got engaged back in September and so I know I'm getting married I'm starting a family and I couldn't see myself long term selling real estate the rest of my life Like I wanted something that would be a little more sustainable would provide a Steady or revenue stream to provide for my future family And so I started looking into companies that would help out my real estate, you know I wanted something that would Really go alongside with it so I could kind of do both and it would make sense one would help the other So I was looking at home services. I was looking at you know handyman services lawn care painting cleaning all those kind of things and I knew I wanted to start a franchise or buy into a franchise because I don't know the first thing I didn't know the first thing about starting a business Okay, you know, I've never owned a business before I've never managed people to that level I've never hired fired things like that and I really wanted an opportunity for someone to hold my hand through it for lack of a better term and I had been reading up on franchises looking into it what what all is involved. There's there's buy-ins. There's all this kind of stuff so I started doing research on it and I ended up finding a franchise business coach that would help me kind of point me in the direction I needed to go for what was best for me in my life and the things that I wanted in a business And that led me to home services So out of all those I had mentioned I kept coming back to home clean heroes for a few reasons One of those was the fact that like I told you there was a huge problem I was already experiencing all the time with my real estate cleaning was a big part of it. Okay Secondly was their marketing. I kept seeing this this, you know This cute little house with these little bubbles and all these really really well-designed Marketing materials that was it was already catching my eye. I wasn't even a part of it yet So I kept thinking to myself well if it's you know catching my eye and it's really showing me that like wow That's a really really good well put together logo that looks professional if I'm already thinking that What do you think our future customers are going to be thinking when they see that kind of stuff too? So that just kept gravitating me towards it I started having validation calls talking with people a part of the business for a couple of different franchises Just to really narrow that search down and every time home clean heroes just kept beating out everything else And so that's the direction I went in So my question is as a realtor One of the most important things about the buy or the sell is the cleaning and it's an often overlooked element of the real estate business simply for the fact that many people just kind of assume that all houses are ready to move in Right. Yes So did you did you then? Choose the cleaning business because it was a big part of the real estate Process or was it just because you thought that then like you said it was going to give you some recurring revenue where the sale and purchase of a home is a one-time sale and then you've got to start the process over again Right. Yeah, I'll be honest with you when it came to want having the idea of starting a business in general I thought the biggest thing that I needed to look for was a problem that needed to be solved That's why we all pay for things whether it be a product service or anything like that I needed to find a problem and This is the problem that kept hitting me not only with real estate, but personally so I told you I was selling 28 homes my first year I was super super busy. I didn't have time to do anything really around the house and I really like a clean space I think it clears my head. It allows me to walk in and not have clutter everywhere It gives me an excuse to pick up everything and you know, I can just come home to a clean house It's it's a great experience and so That being said personally I could see where You know, there was a need for this There was a lot of people out there that might want to save some time and not have to spend a whole week in cleaning their home you know every month or every two weeks whatever it may be and It's just available for you to have a clean space And so personally I was seeing the issues of wanting it and why people would want it and then Professionally I was seeing reasons why this was a good idea So it was kind of both that led to this point It just just you know seeing it from personal and a business side it added up to it and then yes Like you said it is a big deal when it comes to selling real estate that the home is clean And then it's done correctly and so quality assurance is a big part of our business It's why you know, we do what we do is to have a professionally clean place and and people are paying for that So we need to ensure that that clean is to the degree we wanted So what control did you have over the? Combo knowing that you could guarantee your sellers and your buyers a super clean home like hey There's a company here that I also recommend because you're a part of it To make sure that they have the top-notch cleaning that they need in order to make the deal go through Well it helped the fact that I'm the general manager and the owner so I could speak to exactly the way that that you know Home Clean Heroes does things but again, it's the quality assurance side of it So either myself or the our co-owner Barbara will go out to the clean itself at the end So for essentially a move-and-move out clean, which would be for real estate We would go out and we would ensure that everything has been done correctly We would quality check everything and just really make sure that it's the top-notch and the best clean possible It's not to say they don't do it all the time, but we want to make sure that there are no mistakes made. I Love that So you've chosen an industry and this is really interesting And I want to highlight the fact that Ryan brought this up because a lot of people that are getting involved in the cleaning industry Missed this if you have a nine-to-five job and your job goes away all your money goes away Or if you're in an industry where you have a one-time sale and then that sale is complete You got to start all over again from scratch and where you have a cleaning business What you can do is you have slots time slots that are available And if somebody falls out, which they will they'll move or they'll drop their job or they'll get fired or they'll move or you know Something happens that eventually a customer will leave for some reason And then you just plug another person in that slot and the money continues And so it's a very different business model than a one-time deal or where you have as they say all of your eggs in one basket Yes, that's correct. That was a big part of why you know, I started it as well as again for stability Right and like you said it you don't see these grandiose numbers that come through You know with real estate and you can see thousands of dollars coming through just for one transaction And it's great, but you're kind of fighting for the next one, right? There's always the the uphill battle of okay. Well, where's the next one coming? Who am I talking to? Where am I going? What am I looking at versus with cleaning? Yes in the instance where we lose a customer due to financial reasons You know we can work with another customer who had a similar sized home Maybe in the same area and just kind of replug them in back into that route So speak to me a little bit about the franchise opportunity because I know a lot of people will get involved in the cleaning industry and they Either want to go all in on a franchise and they either don't know what is involved And then they don't do it or they decide that they're only gonna start out being solo because they don't know what is involved Or that it is it is attainable to become part of a franchise So give us a little bit of background there if you will on the process of getting involved in a franchise Sure. Yeah, so with franchising comes good and bad with anything in life, right? There's also good and bad sides to starting something on your own with franchising specifically It's gonna take a little bit of money up front now Why it takes money is because you're buying into a company that has already tried and true aspects of the business that are going to give you a headache so you can avoid some of that stuff It depends on how long the business has been in business really and How strong their corporate team is to be able to help you through this process So is it a company that has a thousand franchises? Is it a company that has one or two ten thirty? You know, it really depends on the size now That's not to say bigger or smaller is good or bad It just depends on what works best for you and that's why there is something called a validation process Where you start to ask those questions figure out what's you know What's kind of going on here talk to some of the current owners if all possible talk to the corporate team Ask them the questions that you may be you know may have burning in your mind to be able to ask So going about owning a franchise It can help you in the long run because you don't hit those initial Major hiccups that a lot of people do and end up fizzling out for business. Okay Marketing is a big one. What do they do for your marketing? How much are they asking you to spend in marketing? How is that being allocated? What does the marketing material look like? You know all those kind of things I would say for the most part a franchise should have pretty ironed out for you That's why you're getting into it, especially in a service-based industry now food. That's a different ball game Like you know picking up a fast food chain. That's a lot more money There's a lot more into that and a lot more things I don't know but when it comes to a service-based industry There's a lot of things like that that really matters So it's really important to do your research and find that out now if You don't have the funds to be able to invest in a franchise There's nothing wrong with starting something yourself. It will be less expensive in the beginning But you're going to run into a lot of headaches that will take you a lot more time to figure out and overcome So I think this comes down to a lot of things in life. It's either time or money Okay, you can apply that to cleaning. You can apply it to a lot of different things But as your time worth the money you're going to spend So either you spend the money up front get into a franchise that can help you really accelerate your business quickly or don't You know put the initial investment and put it into yourself see what you can make happen And if it turns out great, that's perfect. You didn't take as much upfront But I almost guarantee you it's going to take more time in the beginning because especially if you don't know what you're doing If it's the first business you've ever started or tried to tried to buy into Well, I love the fact that you said when you were in the process of taking a look at the franchise You said the logo kept popping up everywhere Then as you were doing validation calls you said you kept talking to owners And you just kept seeing it everywhere that you went and I love that because that Brings to the fact that there's already something established that you're buying into Instead of like you said starting and trying to create that momentum by yourself Yes I want to say hi for just a second. We've got some friends that have jumped in Michelle says how do you feel when the homeowner gives you gives the the new cleaner a list of things they want done And that's a great question Yeah, that's really important. So I would say a big aspect of what makes us a little bit different is the fact that we really try and pay attention to the customers wants and desires Okay, so for reoccurring service specifically. So somebody who's wanting You know an initial clean done and then weekly bi-weekly our monthly service We always do an in-home estimate Okay, either myself or Barbara will go to the home meet the customer And take a walk through the home to really find out what it is what we call their hot spots are So we will ensure, you know, we notate for our team. What exactly it is you're wanting done You know, are you wanting the pillows fluffed? Are you wanting your bed? She's changed Does the dust on top of the shower ledge really bother you like I want to know these things So I can relay that to my team and they can take special attention and note for those things I mean they'll clean But I want to make sure they pay special attention to the areas that matter most to you And so that's where that list kind of comes into play I love that. I love that you're so specific with that Aaron says we love a good cleaning company. Thank you guys for being in the business and for brightening up the lives of us And our clients y'all are amazing Thank you Yeah, thank you, Aaron And so my question is from a real estate standpoint when you're talking about buying and selling a home You just mentioned where you do a walk-through When you're selling a home, do you do the walk-through with a buyer or the seller or the realtor? Who does the walk-through happen to and who pays for the clean? Yeah, so the walk-through you mean for like quality assurance standpoint Well, yes, and this is another question. We just got from Aaron. He says do you pay for the cleaning as the realtor? Do you do a pre listing clean and another before the next person moves in? Aaron you and I are on the same wavelength here. That was that was my question as well. That's awesome Yeah, it depends on the situation So everybody is a little bit different in their process like when some people decide to sell They will take photos before the furniture is out to have a more homey feel to it And then they already know where they're going so they'll move everything out and then You know the house is essentially empty when it when it lists and it hits the market Other people will move everything out already have all the furniture gone and everything else and then once They're you know moved out. They want the clean done and then they list the home It just kind of depends so there are differences with someone living in the home So we're not living in the home So if they're in the home and they have you know Objects in the cabinets where we would clean those out of the move out clean things in the refrigerator You know things like that where we would not be able to essentially access those areas and clean because there are objects there We would not You know have them probably take on that move and move out clean. We do a one time And then it'd be up to them whether they wanted us to come back for that extra deep clean once they had moved all of their furniture and things out So if you are the cleaning company And you're doing a move out move in move out clean and it could be maybe it's not a move out clean Maybe it's uh, I'm getting my home ready to list Cleaning and then they're going to try to maintain it really fast Like if they get a call from the realtor and the realtor says, uh, hey, we're coming over in 10 minutes For example now they got a hurry and tidy up or whatever What advice would you get to somebody that is in the process of moving out? And maybe they they still have all their stuff there and they haven't moved anything out yet So I think there's a difference between a dirty house and an unorganized one Okay, so a dirty house you can see dust on baseboards You know people have kicked the baseboards with their shoes or they've you know, they've got dirty dishes in the sink They've got gunk around their showers and their their their tubs their sinks things like that That's dirty. Those are the things that we want to clean for our customers and it not be a visual problem Now somebody who has their shoes in the floor has papers on the desk has Even though they may be clean like pots or pans on the kitchen countertop You can organize that and prepare a little bit for showings like that In the realtor community it's understood when someone's living in a home Okay, we get it. You can't have the house 100 perfect all the time if you're still living there It's just not feasible for people Especially who work full-time have children that are really busy. It's it's just hard to do that So there's a level of understanding there but If the house is in disarray because you've got objects laying everywhere toys out dog toys kids toys whatever it may be It's really important to really collect those kinds of things. So, you know when it comes to decluttering and collecting That's actually what we prefer before we go into clean. So we actually can access and clean those things You know, I always tell people it's kind of a joke But I always say listen as much as I would love to help We're not a moving company, you know with this business as well as a lot of others boils down to time And if you're requiring my team to move a bunch of stuff and they're there for an extra hour hour and a half Then I had originally quoted you for and that we had discussed Well, then we're behind on our entire route for the rest of the day And my cleaners aren't able to go home to their families on time and have dinner And it's all because you wanted something that shouldn't have been done or should have been told to me ahead of time So there's always a why and a reason behind things and I am transparent when it comes to stuff like that I am more than happy to talk to a customer and tell them these things because I want them to understand Why it is we do what we do I don't know about the people who are watching but in my experience, especially when it comes to service-based things I don't like being overcharged and especially not knowing why if there is a charge on there So I really do appreciate it from a person to person human standpoint of why it is you're doing what it is you're doing So that's a really important distinction as a customer. I like the transparency I love that you said that Also as a business owner, I love the fact that you are willing And this is a huge catch. So all of you listen if you did not pay attention and you missed this That you are paying attention to your employees and say I want to make sure they get home on time And they can go back to dinner with their families Instead of just saying, oh, yes, we are people-pleasers And so we'll do whatever you say just because we want either the house to be clean And you to be satisfied and keep us as as your house cleaner or because there's Heaven forbid the sale is tomorrow on the house and we got to hurry and make sure that it's ready to go Right. So instead of putting your cleaners at a disadvantage because it's convenient to the customer You say, hey, I got no problem as a business owner telling you like it is I love that. That's so cool. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, I want to make sure that Our employees are happy satisfied excited to come to work willing to to put in the extra effort And they want to do this they want to help these customers out I don't I don't ever want to put them in a compromising position and especially if that sacrifices their time with their families We do not work on weekends Because I want them to have the break. I want them to enjoy time with their families and time away and time to relax The only time it's ever happened. We had a customer who just absolutely had to have something done on on a monday you know, it had to be ready they had a party on monday or something like that and They were this was a friday, by the way friday. They call and they say, hey, is there any way you can have it done tomorrow or sunday I have a party on monday. Of course. I'm looking at the calendar. We don't work weekends, ma'am. It has to be either Today and it's friday and I did not have room for it or it has to be done on monday like monday morning And she was like, no, they're coming in at 9 a.m. There's no way you'll get it done in time So I said I'll tell you what I'm going to speak with my cleaning specialist And I'm going to see if they're willing to come in on a sunday if that's possible And so I spoke with them they were willing to they were willing to come in get some extra hours But I up charged a little bit for a weekend clean And then I turned around and gave them that extra little bit the cleaning specialist because they came in on a day They didn't have to So it's really important to take care of your employees and make sure That you know, they're happy they're satisfied because they're the ones on the front line putting that work in for you And is that also true on holidays if a holiday falls on a regular cleaning day? Do you upcharge for that or how does that work? So it depends on the holidays So we actually are we do not work six holidays throughout the year and we ensure our employees are compensated for those holidays We believe that it's really important that they spend time with their family on those holidays So we wouldn't even take a clean that was on like christmas day or Thanksgiving day. We wouldn't do that Interesting and to me that's a non-negotiable I mean, I don't care how intensely the cleaning needs to be done We're not always going to be the right fit for somebody and that's okay That's you know, you're not you're not going to win them all and if they just have to have it done and they can't understand That family time is important and that the cleaning specialists need that time as well Then we don't need them as a customer There you go So Question and this goes back to erin's question If you were in the real estate industry and you were paying for a clean Who pays for that does does the realtor ever pay for that or is there ever a universe in which they might? It depends So it's pretty well known in the industry that a lot of times especially for buyers that you'll give You know a buyer a closing gift whether it's it can be a lot of different things Sometimes a realtor will pay to have their home clean as that gift So it just kind of depends on the situation a lot of times the customers end up paying for it themselves But if the realtor feels you know that they want to do that for them they can And as a cleaning business owner who's also a realtor and this is kind of a cool question because very rarely do we get this combo Um, what is your preference? For payment. Yeah Like I said, it just depends it depends on the gift. I like a gift. That's a little more personalized So, um, you know, I'll do a lot of different things That has maybe their home addressed etching like a like a cutting board for example. That's a big one We have a local, uh, I guess you could call like a etching kind of boutique esque store That has a lot of really cool things like that So we'll get a cutting board and it'll have their their last name their address on it the data established You know what I mean? So that'll be something that's really cool. And it's kind of the first piece of I don't want to say equipment But it's the first thing in the home that really really shows that like yes, this is this is home now and this is our home So I personally really like a customized You know gift it shows a little more you took a little more initiative a little more to it But like I said certain some realtors really like to pay for it as a gift and that's completely up to them and that's okay I love that. Um, so, uh crime time grime says we I love that company name by the way That's pretty cool. Uh weekends should be time and a half and holidays should be double time no money and no money I I love that and I I love the fact that every company is deciding their own protocols for holidays or no holidays And I know that there are and it's interesting because in my business We always did do holidays which is kind of a flip side of that Because we had a lot of people that either did not have family nearby And so they were going to be alone for the holidays And so we would upsell we would upcharge and then they would do a special package where like on Thanksgiving day for example They would go in and it was just a special package for for Thanksgiving day here in the united states People have a great big turkey dinner and they invite all their family and then the family wants to leave and not do dishes And they want to go watch a ball game for example So the cleaner would go in and do nothing but put all the food away in like little freezer packs They would wipe up all the Thanksgiving meal sweep and mop the floor and they're gone And they have all the desserts and everything out on the table and then they would go to the next house And so the house cleaners would be seven seven or eight Thanksgiving dinners and it got to the point where our Our clients would plan their dinners around when the cleaner could come to clean up the meal And so it was it was like I mean they they would top out at like, I don't know 13 1400 bucks a day on Thanksgiving day So we had people that were cleaners that would schedule their family Thanksgiving on like Sunday and on that Thursday They're like I totally want to work and they would like book themselves in advance like hey It's only may but I want to be working on Thanksgiving day this year Okay So it was weird because we always sold that as like premium time and we had Lots and lots of customers that loved it and we had lots of house cleaners that would beg for that day Like please put me on a Thanksgiving rotation. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's I think it's great The beauty about running your own business, whether it's a franchise or your own company is you completely get to decide How you want to approach this? Okay, it's up to you on how you want to go about that? Like you said, I mean if you want to charge double and your employees are willing to work on On the holidays, that's totally okay. Yeah, I didn't want to do that because I didn't want to encourage my specialists To to sacrifice the time with their families solely for the money Right So I was afraid that even if we did something like that that they would sacrifice having that Thanksgiving dinner Because the opportunity to make more money and I didn't want there to be a choice I wanted them to spend the time take the break. You're still going to get paid for a holiday You know relax for a little while And that's just how we do things Well, I love that thought because it's so easy to reach burnout as a house cleaner And so if you have built-in days off and you have built-in holidays and built-in family days That really reserves In the back of their mind and having been a cleaner myself for 25 years You start to plan for like well, okay I've got three more days this week and then I've got a day off right and you start looking forward to the day off like If I can just get through the next three days, I'll have this made, you know And so to build that into the schedule. I think is is premium. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean we reschedule cleans because of it It's it's just what what needs to be done It's it's non-negotiable for us if you can't take a break. We don't want workaholics Okay, I love the fact that when you're here you're busting butt You're busting tail to try and make these jobs happen and make customers happy. I'm all here for that Let's let's get it done but You know on a holiday time to spend with your family or just relax even like you said even a family's not in town Just an opportunity to take the break and still know you're going to get paid as a full-timer then just take the break So tell us not just specifically about holidays, but tell us what some of the specialty cleaning items are that you guys promote in your business So a big one A big one is is a valentine's day clean Now something that we're going to be rolling out in february. So we open our doors july 1st Okay, we haven't been open for years on end. Okay, so something that we're looking forward to is a good old valentine's day clean as a gift for You know a significant other for a parent whatever it may be And I don't have the details super ironed out just yet, but we want to do something special where maybe, you know We'll leave some chocolates behind and you know a nice note You know to say, you know, like somebody can custom make a note and say, you know, hey, honey I know you had a really hard day. I know it's been tough at work lately I wanted to surprise you with this happy valentine's day. I love you something like that Um, you know, like I said, I don't have the details ironed out yet But that's something I would like to implement for us to kind of go that extra mile for people and to have as an opportunity Not only for more, you know service for us as far as a potential one-time clean from somebody But for them to be able to give a gift to their significant other that they might not even know they wanted Uh, not knowing they wanted we went to a resort one time for our anniversary and as a gift They made the bed is always looks really nice and it's always really tight and the pillows are fluffed and all the things that you expect At a resort But what they did is they took rose petals and they made a great big valentine on the bed And then they made a happy face out of rose petals on the bed And I got to tell you when I walked in I just died laughing. I'm like that is the coolest thing I've ever seen Of course, I took pictures of it and this this is the step beyond I took pictures of it and I'm posting it all over social media like omg check it out. Yeah, this is the coolest thing I've got to incorporate this in the queen. Yes. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about So that would be a phenomenal idea a hashtag home Home clean What whatever huntsville whatever your whatever your hashtag is that you're using Right so that people know that that is your company and that you went to this special effort to make something happen You know and of course you would charge the client for the rose petals and all the you know But but it was it was so amazing and so impressive. So yeah, I think that's a great idea You know our hashtag is every home needs a hero, right? I don't know that's your hashtag Our hashtag every home needs a hero every home needs a hero. That's a long hashtag, but I love it It is we'll capitalize every word in there But I wanted to kind of just not distract but to be an eye grabber for people because I truly believe every home Does need a hero and so doing something like that on valentine's day. I think would be a great idea Oh, that's awesome. All right. So what other specialty projects do you guys have? Well, the big one is move and move outs So whether that be for you know, realtor selling a home people moving out of an apartment, you know We'll kind of go the extra mile on those by cleaning out all of the insides of the cabinets So in the kitchen insides of the vanities, you know pulling out drawers Um, you know really I don't want to say sweeping because you can't get a broom in there But you know a dustpan or a duster or some kind to really make sure that When the next person enters in to whether it be a home or an apartment that it truly is cleaning Inside and out from a standpoint of they're not pulling out a drawer and it's all dirty filthy And they can really move in and start enjoying the new home I love that What are some of the misconceptions that people have about specialty cleaning? I would say that people assume That every cleaning company is the same and they all do the same things And I'm not I'm not just talking about from a standpoint of the level of cleanliness like what is physically being cleaned I mean the service is provided so a lot of people assume that Everybody's a maid when they walk in and we pride ourselves and not using that word To describe anybody on this team We are cleaning specialists and they are trained to be specialized in this field at what they do But we do we're not your mama. Okay, we're not picking up toys everywhere We're not moving a thousand perfume bottles just to access something We are not a moving company. We're a cleaning company And so we really set that expectation up front to ensure to our customers say listen We'll clean what we can access but we cannot spend all day here Okay, and there's a big reason for that. It's because we're not the maid We're cleaning there's a big difference big indicator there. So That being said just setting expectations for stuff like that doing laundry is another one We we don't do that's just not a service that we provide And so in the case where you know a customer will ask well, you know, since you're here Can you do our laundry for us? Unfortunately, we can't do that. That's not a service that we provide But we do work ourselves with the laundromat and I'd be happy to give you their information So we try to help people With those connections and really helping them do what they need to do even if it's not with us And I think that's a distinction between a franchise and a smaller mom and pop company That may be able to bend the rules a little bit and create some flexibility But I love the fact that you have a very specific set of tasks Here's what we do do. Here's what we don't do and I think it is equally as important to know what you don't do As it is to know what you do do Because that way when an employee gets out on a job and the customer and I think this goes back to the question We had earlier about what happens when somebody gives you a to-do list When a cleaning Specialist gets out on a job and the client's like, oh, hey I have a couple extra things. Can you just like slide this in today? Very clearly then everybody's on the same page and go, I would love to and unfortunately That's not part of the package that you've paid for and so if you'll call the office, you know Maybe it can be arranged at a later time or something like that Absolutely, and I knew before getting into this that focus is one of the hardest things I think we all struggle with or certainly a lot of us do, you know there's going to be a lot of great opportunities for investments and You know doing things in your life that you could potentially be really successful at But focus is hard picking something and sticking to it and really staying in boundaries Can be very very good for you because if we stick to these boundaries We can be really really good at it. That's the reason we're called Specialists, you know, we call our our employees cleaning specialists because they truly are specialist at what they do And it's incredibly difficult to be a specialist at a lot of different things, right? But if you just focus on these core elements of the business, you can be the top of your game at it So that's how we approach it Well, and I think it goes back to Greg McEwen's concept of are you minoring in major things? And so there are a lot of people that like you said they they are Kind of good at a lot of things, but they're not really good at the, you know, the main thing And so if you major in in minor things or you're minoring in the major things, you know, yep, I agree But I love the focus and the attention Is there a distinction between regular cleaning and move-in move-out cleaning? Yes, so with move-in move-out cleaning specifically, we're going in all the kitchen cabinets All the vanities in your bathroom all the drawers pulls anything like that. We're wiping all of that out We're making sure that the insides of all those are clean Also, that includes all the windows throughout the home. So all the glass the window tracks the slides the Window sashes all that stuff That's all included as well The inside of the oven is included as well along with the refrigerator We want to make sure that everything is pulled out is cleaned Anything that somebody may be walking into as a new resident homeowner, whatever it may be Is ready to be lived in and called home. So that's kind of that extra mile with the move-out clean And what is different and there's a trick question But what is different between a move-in move-out clean and a deep clean? So a deep clean is a very generalized phrase Right, so we like to consider a deep clean is done every single time even for recurring service And the way we go about it is we have a certain method. Okay, so we don't miss things All right, so we want to start with you know High dusting and kind of work our way down in a room really analyze the room make sure we we're not missing things as we go along And then that way, you know, we're able to hit multiple surfaces We're able to work room by room by room and then really work our way out of the home so, you know the I guess the idea of a deep clean a lot of different companies have a very generalized surface level Of a clean where they just hit major things maybe like kitchens bathrooms all the stuff that gets used pretty regularly But they neglect baseboards or they neglect dusting ceiling fans or crown molding tray ceilings whatever it may be We are very methodical in the way we do things So we want to ensure that level and that depth of clean occurs every single time So I wouldn't necessarily say that a move-in move-out clean is a deeper clean It's just what gets attacked. You know what I mean? It's just more things are being clean not that it's a different level of in depth of a clean for those same areas Okay, so now I have another trick question. I just love trick questions. Yeah, please hit me So you go into a house and they the family has teenage daughters And I say teenage daughters meaning they've got very long hair and the long hairs have fallen into the bathtub And have been sucked down the drain and when they take baths the water rises to a certain level And then when it tries to drain it creates a ring around the tub and then everything below that ring is all muckety muck Yep That tub and we all know what that tub is right all of you guys have a vision in your mind of that tub I know you've seen them Is that a deep clean or is that like a special project that you do on the side? It's it comes with the territory Okay, so even if that occurred on a bi-weekly basis for a clean that tub was going to be challenging every single time Then we need to account for that when it comes to the estimate So that's why we do in-home estimates to see those kinds of things So, you know when we go say well, I'll give you a live example We go to a home I'm walking the home to see it in person to see what we're working with what we're working with I'll go in the bathroom and I see the fact that long air is everywhere There are two teenage girls that live here and share this bathroom together I'm already doing the math to figure out if the drain is getting clogged. I'll ask I'm transparent. I'll ask the homeowner. I said no, I'm gonna be honest with you Do you tend to have draining issues? Do you have a lot of hair in this tub? And they'll know They'll know and then they'll say one way or another And so I know that like you said if there's like a line there and everything underneath it kind of like a gunk line kind of thing I know that that's going to take some extra time and attention for the cleaning specialist to really work on that every single time And so I need to account for that when it comes to pricing for that job So it's really important that I'm able to see those kinds of things and that's why we do an in-home estimate So yes, that would occur whether it's recurring a move and move out a one-time clean We're going to make sure that looks good But you're going to pay a little bit more if it's going to require more time. I mean time is money Mm-hmm So what advice would you give to a homeowner that pays for a professional cleaning company like yours to come in and clean their home To keep their home maintained between cleanings. You mentioned you're not a made service Correct. Yeah, there's a lot of things you can do to help You know to help with the next and the recurring services and their little things obviously like I'd mentioned before decluttering is a big one Decluttering goes a really long way, but there are subtle things that can help as well So bathrooms for example Glass showers are a big one glass showers can be very troublesome Uh, you know having a full glass panel Top to bottom a lot of times calcium build-ups soak scum that kind of stuff really sticks on glass and it's difficult to get that off sometimes So on a bi-weekly clean It might come off a little bit easier because it's only been say two weeks since we've been there now for a monthly clean That's been four weeks of a you know constant build-up if nothing's been done We can most of the time get that off. There are things and methods we use to get that off But what really helps is when people have like squeegees They squeegee it like the back of a car window or something like that They take a squeegee at the end of every shower and they just squeegee the excess water off that way that stuff doesn't stay on there And maybe we only have to worry about the you know the bottom lip instead of the entire panel of glass That's a big help While you're talking about that can we can we clarify something real quick? Okay, sure The squeegee also works for the shower floor and a lot of people think that if they'll squeegee the glass I'm done. Uh, no, you are not if they're standing water on the bottom of the shower floor That's going to help create mold and it's going to keep the area Just all the moisture inside your shower and that is where even if your walls are Semi clean you're still going to get mold in the corners So if you are squeegeeing the the glass If you'll just like reach down and squeegee the floor as well, squeegee all the water towards the drain That will make me that will make me really happy Well, it not only makes things a little easier for the cleaning specialist But it also makes things a lot better for the homeowner because you're not seeing that discoloration in your grout So for somebody like myself, I love a dark shower. Oh a black tile, you know the the white grout It's just it just pops. I love it But water and and hard water stain soaps gum that stuff shows up really really easily And if you're not doing those kinds of things you could potentially ruin the grout So there is um, I did a home remodel a couple years ago and I'd use something called snow white grout It's like stark white. It looked incredible But if you're not careful with it it can really Especially stain the grout by getting in there. It won't keep its complexion Speaking about grout. What is your philosophy on those little tiny tiles that there are so popular right now? Those little hexagon shaped tiles that are like all over the showers and they're only like, you know Half of an inch and you walk in and your eyes get really big and you try not to cry While you're doing the estimate like, uh, no you didn't and you're asking me to clean Absolutely. I think the biggest thing to remember here is that you know You want to live your life and you want to have the things in it that you absolutely love I will never tell a customer. They shouldn't get something because keeping up with it is is difficult Now it's not to say it won't be mentioned like if I see the littlest little hexagon squares in there I could say, you know, hey, listen, this is going to take a little bit longer because of this or You know, we really need to be coming by weekly or weekly instead of you know Every month or just you know one time like throughout the year kind of thing Because if you don't keep up with this, it's going to be really noticeable The smaller the squares are the more grout there is and the easier you're going to be able to spot stuff like that Um, okay, so you said that you're getting married soon and so congratulations. Thank you so much Is there anything in your home in your married home that you chose not to have Based on your experience in the cleaning industry Like oh wait, that's really hard to clean. I'm not having that in my house Yeah, no the good thing is is that we've been in a home with before I did this So it's not like I chose anything because that and I still don't think that would deter me The only thing that would deter me. I'm trying to think of exactly what it what it was I went into a home one time and they had Some sort of wall inlet design. It was like it wasn't wanes coating But it was some sort of wood design that had like multiple like levels to it And it looked incredible and the only thing I could think of the entire time was wow Is just all in that That's all I could think about was how much dust was in there and how hard it would be to clean that so Um, you know, that would be one of those things where I probably I don't even think I could help it I would just see it and be like, no, that's not a good idea. I can tell you right now It's going to be terrible to keep clean But for the most part You know, you like what you like if it's a really really awesome design unless I knew it was going to be catastrophic to try and keep it clean Which a lot of those tile situations It's not as long as you keep it, you know, you squeegee the floor and very often have it Professionally cleaned especially to our standards. It won't really be an issue But yeah, things like that with the inlets and you know, really thick wanes coating that could be kind of tricky That reminds me I recently went and I've been a job on a house and they had this amazing It was a brand new house an amazing fireplace And the stones on the fireplace were jutted out so that there's like this much of a lip on all of the All of the stones and they were all kind of like in different patterns like close up far away Whatever and they're like isn't this amazing and I was like it is amazing for so many reasons and not the reasons that you think And I'm thinking once the dust settles on top of all of those lips and ledges It's going to be so hard because you can't use like a swift or duster to clean it You're going to have to use like literally a vacuum or like a brush Just to try to get off it's going to be so high maintenance And I mean I just looked at it my eyes got really big and I was like biting my tongue like don't offend these people They think this is the coolest thing ever and I'm thinking to myself Not So that's part of the conversation having with the customer and I'm sure you did this where you know, I would If I was in that situation, I'd look at the customer and I say so what are your expectations on cleaning the fireplace And some people will say oh, I didn't didn't intend for you to even touch that like I like the way it is And don't worry about it. That's fine. So that doesn't go into the price of the estimate But they're like, you know, if they say Well, you know, I expect you to clean it, you know dust it really well clean it really well And here you are thinking well, there's always little juts and stones and things to work around You know where the dust is going to lead to one of these days and so you're just oh my gosh That would be difficult and so you need to plan for that accordingly We've always done the same, you know, like tell me about this fireplace And let them tell you because if they're if they tell me all how cool it is I don't want to defame them by saying well, it sucks because it's going to be really hard to clean I want I want to like if they tell me oh, we spent so much money on this and it's this and Okay This is a special project And I would love to honor this by really spending a day going over it That's not part of the regular clean when we can dust off each one of those ledges with a fine brush That's not going to rip and shred and it's going to make this look top notch Absolutely for that. Let's build this as a separate project altogether because we no way you can do it in a regular clean No way off Absolutely. No, I agree with you 100 and you never want to defame or you know Tell anybody their stuff is ugly because you wouldn't want somebody coming in your house and saying that like what if you take pride in I don't know a marble fireplace and somebody says oh marble is just the ugliest thing around That's offensive like you want to hear that. Why would you say it? Well, you know, it reminds me of this florist and the florist was um I don't for lack of a better term. He had to have like ferns everywhere Except they also cooked a lot of bacon and fried foods inside their house And so to me I was looking at all those ferns up there on top of all the cabinets And I'm like oh no way no way because The dust then settles every time the air conditioning kicks on or whatever the dust settles on all that grease They just settle on all that and you've got to literally take all the plants out And you've got to hose them down with soap and water and it's it's it's just a whole different ball of wax And so while he was like so into having ferns and plants all over his house, they were silk plants Let's say that all of the silk plants are a special project that we won't touch Except on a special day when that's what we're doing That's a good idea. Yeah, that's a good way to approach it But one of those things that I walked in I'm like, uh, no, we're not doing that Yeah Somebody I think a customer had asked me once if we could dust their fine china set it. Oh my gosh It was immaculate and I said I am so sorry, but I cannot do that Like I cannot be held responsible for us potentially breaking one of these literally priceless artifacts like it just You need to do it yourself. I'm sorry Well, and that became one of our questions because on my walkthrough I would always ask the family There's probably something in this house that is irreplaceable and it's really expensive and if we broke it We would both be devastated because it would be irreplaceable Tell me what those things are as we walk through your house so that I don't accidentally bump them Oh this this this this I'm like only make a note of that. Oh gotta write it down. Yeah, you gotta be ready So speaking of which, how do you train your house cleaners at your cleaning specialists? So that they are on top of their a game at every house and they know what all of those specific issues are Absolutely, so we have an onboarding day when everybody starts where we take the day to walk through our policies and procedures Talk about the job itself how we do things why we do it the way we do And then we actually have them watch a set of videos that really goes into detail and explains A lot of the nuances while on the job And so after they've had that virtual training Barbara our operations manager and co-owner will go out with them and really take the time to sit there and Work alongside them to ensure that they can then take that virtual training and apply it in person So, you know, she's the patient teaching type that she's had a background in teaching an hr for years She's really really good at it. That's why she does this part of the business And she just takes the time to ensure that they understand why it is we do it this way You know the products to use in the situation how to I hate to say how to scrub But truly what brushes to use in what areas of the home that kind of stuff So we'll take the time to really really make sure that they understand well how to approach cleaning I love that What role does technology play in home clean heroes? So technology is a big one and a lot of industries not industries a lot of companies Especially in service industries don't have it from a standpoint of communication So you remember earlier? I told you communication was a big part of why I wanted to do this because it was been it had been so poor in previous encounters with other cleaners and most of the time it's mom and pops who Rarely check their phone because they have no employees are the only ones out there cleaning They don't always have their phones with them How we instill technology in that instance is We actually send a text reminder 24 hours beforehand to say hey, you know as a reminder We're coming out tomorrow. Let us know if you need anything or if you're sick And then the day of we'll send one with an estimated time of arrival so that people can be prepared and know when we're on the way And then if they need to run an errand even if they're home We're going to send a text to say hey, you know, we've finished our cleaning up Thank you so much for allowing us to fight the grime in your home So those three pieces there not only are well, you know, well communicated with our customers But it shows them where the team is in this process. You know, there's a lot of faith There's a lot of trust here for a cleaner to come into your home Perhaps in the middle of the day while you're at work and you don't really know what's going on So it's a great aspect and tool to have that they know when they're on the way And when they've left So how does home clean heroes handle feedback from customers that have an issue or something while the They're at work or something and the home specialists come in and clean Yeah, so we actually really really take feedback seriously and we usually I think we yeah, we send a feedback request after an in-home estimate after the initial first clean and then we send one out Periodically after that to ensure things are still going smoothly. We'll email that feedback request And that's what really determines What needs to happen if anything didn't go right? Okay, and it happens, you know Everybody's level of cleanliness and what their expectation of a clean are are different You know what you think is really clean and what I think is really clean could be two totally different things It just depends and so in that instance We have something called a hero guarantee where we will make sure that we make things right No matter what if it's reasonable, right? So depending on what it is and what that feedback looks like I or myself myself or barber will reach out to the customer say Hey, listen, I saw your feedback. I really hate that, you know, if it was bad. I really hate that this happened We definitely want to make that right for you Do you have availability on xyz day for for myself or us personally to come out there? See it and see what's going on Anytime there's poor feedback because of something happening We want to ensure that we see what's going on here because I don't know whether to reprimand my specialist Or if they did what they were trained to do and this customer just has unrealistic expectations of what needed to occur And so I am never going to jump down the throat of my specialist and say you guys just screwed this all up If I haven't actually seen it So it's really imperative that one of us goes out there and looks at it and if it warrants You know us coming back and really taking another 30 minutes to an hour to fix things that we're just forgotten that day Then we'll do it and if not if it's something myself or barber can fix pretty quickly Then we'll just knock it out right then and there we always take product with us and ensure that things are done right You just said something about a customer with unrealistic expectations And in the cleaning behind the cleaning scenes Cleaners call those high maintenance customers It's yeah, it's a little more brash, but so what do you do when you run into a homeowner with unrealistic expectations You just have to handle it accordingly. So I'll give you a prime example We had a customer that we went on in an initial clean for And their house was let's just say I needed some tlc. I'll leave it there for the imagination In their kitchen. They had very older traditional wooden cabinets and they cook a lot I don't know what exactly it is they cook a lot, but there's a lot of kick up onto the cabinets There was a lot of things on these cabinets and because it's real wood a lot of that has soaked into the wood over the years So it's really really hard to get that off of there And frankly it probably will take multiple sessions of cleaning it like sometimes you can't get everything on the first round You need to let the products do what they need to do Loosen some of that up and then the next time we come by we'll hit it again really hard until we can try and get it off But there is a point where we're not hgtv We can't remodel a home right and those those cabinets were just they were they were too far gone There was no way to bring those back up without refinishing them and getting that that layer literally out of the wood So I had that conversation with her. I said listen ma'am. I'm really sorry to tell you this but You know these cabinets, I don't think we're going to be able to get them back original like they're They're raw wood things have soaked into them and she's well, you know do what you can I said, okay All right, so I believed we were on the same page with this and my specialist worked as hard as they could to really get Some of that off I personally I mean really gave it the scrub and and try to get some of that stuff off there But like I said, it those cabinets couldn't have been saved And we got called on it. I think she called A day later and said I'm really disappointed in the fact that you guys couldn't get my my cabinets to look like I bought when I bought them 40 years ago or whatever. I said ma'am. I'm really sorry We had this conversation, you know, I hate to say this but I told you I Didn't think we'd be able to get these original it's there's just And this is the part that's really tricky. You can't just sit there and tell somebody you've you destroyed them too much You know, this is your fault. You know, it's very aggressive. It doesn't come along. It doesn't come across very professional So I said ma'am. I'm really sorry. There's just been it's been too long of too much going against the wood We just are not able to repair that. I'm sorry You're probably going to need to refinish those cabinets to get that that layer of stuff off there She didn't like that answer and so she requested to cancel all future services and And that's okay. I mean I I tried to set the expectation upfront You cannot please everybody and that was one of those unrealistic expectations of something And so what do you do when you run into a situation where you have to cut ties and you're like This is not working and it's not going to be healthy for us to try to continue this relationship Let's say that it wasn't the customer that wanted to to cancel the service But let's suppose that it was you How do you deal with that? It's a really sensitive sensitive talk whether that be on the like on site on the job or a phone conversation I try and make time to do that in person if I can We haven't had too much of that because generally on the in-home estimate I won't take the job if it's going to be something that's a little too out of our scope of work But in the instance we have to essentially Fire a customer, you know, we have that conversation. I say listen ma'am sir I'm really sorry that we have to do this But I don't think we're going to continue to be a good fit for you For x amount of reasons and it depends on what it is kind of how you'll phrase that conversation But say the Say the cabinet person wasn't You know really up in arms about it But every time we would go there She had the expectation it would get better or get better and it wouldn't But she wasn't willing to split ties with us and she just kept bringing it up and bringing it up And after I've told her numerous times there's just no way of bringing this back That this just is not going to be a good fit because we can't do what you're asking us to do Just fall on the sword. That's my thing If you take that bullet you fall on the sword And you're the bad guy they can relinquish ties with you. They can say, okay I'm not going to use their service anymore And you did the best you could with what you had, you know what I mean? But the customer hopefully won't hold it against you personally to say, you know, listen, you're not the problem I am I'm really sorry. This just isn't going to be a good fit for us any longer We'll do what we can we'll get you situated and you know possibly even give recommendations to others but You know, like I said, the biggest thing is you just want to say, you know, this isn't a good fit for us anymore Wow, I love your answers Guys, if you're joining us, this is ryan day from home clean heroes huntsville And I I just really appreciate him joining us today giving us all the inside secrets To how to run a cleaning business and then also from a franchise perspective. This has been really really awesome Ryan if you will tell our listeners where they can go to find you Yeah, so we're on facebook and instagram Okay, we try and post as much as possible And so if you guys want to check out our social media kind of see some of the things we've been posting about with Holidays coming up and previous things going on. We've been part of street festivals We've been doing a lot of things in our community. We've got reviews on our social media to really Show what we've been able to do for other customers So I definitely encourage you guys to check us out. You can also look on our website home clean heroes dot com For slash huntsville for our location now. We are franchise. So there are other locations throughout the country So if you're here listening in um and the dowsport worth area, you know, there is a home clean heroes in that location in Charlotte, there's a location. There's multiple locations throughout the country So if anything if you just look up home clean heroes more than likely you'll be able to find the location closest to you But our link is home clean heroes dot com forward slash huntsville This is so awesome. Thank you so much for joining us today And i'm going to leave links in the show notes to all the things that ryan talked about and also how you can get in Touch with him if by chance you happen to be Listening to this as a podcast or you're out walking your dog or something like that right now So thanks again for joining us. We will see you guys same time same place next week And thank you ryan so much for joining us today. Thank you so much for having me. I really do appreciate it