Cleaning Business Life

CBL Episode # 68 Effective Training Techniques 4 UR Cleaning Tech's

• Shannon Miller and Kimberly Gonzales • Season 2024 • Episode 68

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Ever wondered if you’re misclassifying your employees and risking huge penalties? In this episode, let's pull back the curtain on hiring practices and all the intricacies that come with it. From weighing the benefits and drawbacks of W-2 employees versus 1099 contractors, to the essential steps for keeping accurate records and policies, this conversation dives deep into practical strategies for maintaining a compliant and efficient workforce. I’ll also share some personal stories about juggling family life with business responsibilities, adding a human touch to the complexities of business growth.

Feel the frustration of endlessly training new hires? You’re not alone. Listen in as I recount my experiences and share tips for creating an effective onboarding process that won't break the bank. We’ll discuss the importance of fostering independence among employees to reduce conflicts, and how pairing new staff with seasoned workers can make a world of difference. We'll also revisit an anecdote from my time with a franchise cleaning business, shedding light on varying management styles and their impacts on business success.

Want to ensure your cleaning business upholds the highest standards? Learn the tricks of the trade, from crafting detailed client checklists to understanding the correct use of cleaning chemicals. I’ll reveal my personal goal of becoming “mop free” by the end of the year to focus on scaling the business. Plus, hear about my upcoming plans for the Structure Scale and Profit Cleaning Business Academy and some fun summer break activities with my kids. Tune in to discover how balance and planning can pave the way to long-term success.

Questions? Feel free to reach out!

Shannon Miller: cleaningbusinesslife@gmail.com

Join my FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1583362158497744
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIjMz_-9YyiFvNVIgb61iYg

To order All-Natural Cleaning Products: www.purevergreen.com
See Shannon's latest courses: www.KleanFreaksUnversity.com

Speaker 1:

record to the cloud recording in progress. Let me turn on the light. Um, so you know, as as with anything, hiring can be a scary or exciting process. It's all about mindset, right you? Um, and it ebbs and flows. It it's not permanent. The days are gone of my grandparents even my mom and dad, I mean. You had to stay at a job. They provided a retirement, a pension for you when you left, before social security became a thing, and we're now learning that social security isn't going to be a thing in the very near future.

Speaker 1:

But there gets to a point in your business when you really need to start to consider hiring you. There's typically a couple of ways to do it. You obviously need to have funds to to pay right, so you either save up like 10 grand you can cover payroll and not have to sweat it out and cover all your expenses, because when you start to pay and you don't have enough clients, you're having to sacrifice your own pay and in the interim of you getting more clients to pay and cover for the payroll that would end up costing you as you're going along. So you can bootstrap it and you can totally take on more clients and just let them know that it's a very slow process and that will take a little bit longer than normal. Or you can save up the amount of money that's necessary to give you a floater so that you can invest in employees Employees personally. Let's make sure this is loud so you guys can hear me. I have the washer going. Employees are an investment in your business. Do I necessarily agree with the government for making us pay for having the privilege of an employee? No, but I don't run the government and I'm just a small little peon in the bigger scale of what's going on. And then we have this whole. You know, do I have W-2s? Do I have 1099s? Why do I pick? Why do I pick?

Speaker 1:

Oftentimes people will pick 1099s because it'll be easier, but then they end up treating them like W-2s and then it becomes a whole thing. And then they get popped by the state because one of the 1099s thinks they're a W-2. And then the state calls you and goes you know, do you have an employee named so-and-so? And they'll be like no, I don't have an employee named so-and-so. And they're like well, so-and-so came down here and is looking to get some benefits. We're going to audit you and we're going to see, we're going to need to see all of your stuff for the last three years and it can be overwhelming, especially if you're not on top of your books or you don't have any policies in place. You've just been running randomly with this individual who you've been treating like a W-2 but really isn't. So there's those decisions there and it becomes a thing. So you have to decide. You know you can do it the legitimate way or the non-legitimate ways, whatever one considers.

Speaker 1:

I've done both business models. So I had W-2s for a long, long time. Oh my gosh. I've probably trained thousands of people. I have a lot of human resource experience because of being in the restaurant industry, which was also considered a transient industry.

Speaker 1:

Will that entirely change with our industry? I think, as we grow bigger and bigger, there's a lot of companies like Matt Ricketts and all those guys, and everyone wants to create a career and treat everybody better, and I think that's going to be an admirable, wonderful thing treat everybody better, and I think that's going to be an admirable, wonderful thing. Do I still think that the cleaning industry will be a transient industry? I think it will always be a transient industry. It's just a matter of you working within the parameters you're given. So it kind of ebbs and flows. I think the workforce in general, in all areas, is going to be transient. I think that once AI takes over, people are not going to realize that they no longer are viable in the picture and then they're going to find themselves without jobs, which I think is great for us. I've mentioned it more than once. I think that with the advent of AI and I think that they're giving AI a little bit too much power, but I think it's going to be beneficial for us, because now we're going to have people who've never considered cleaning cleaning now and trying to figure out how to make it work.

Speaker 1:

Um, do I think that AI is going to take over the workforce entirely? I'm on a zoom. Can I help you go? I love you. Um, sorry, it's my eight-year-old. He always, like can be concerned with me until, like, I sit down in front of the computer and then suddenly, where is she right? It's just like has a concern in the world. He watches Mummy. I've seen the Mummy movie probably a thousand times. Not the scary one I am listening, not the one with Tom Cruise, but the one with Brian French and Frazier. Friend and Frazier. I've seen that movie. I've seen all three of those movies hundreds, if not thousands of times, so I guess the movie if you wanted to know where I was. But I really genuinely think that with AI, it's going to really start to I don't want to say merge or integrate, but it's going to eliminate a lot of jobs in the economy, which means that a shift is going to happen in the economy. So you have to be prepared to onboard people who have never even considered being in the cleaning industry before, because it's going to make people by default, become entrepreneurs.

Speaker 1:

I don't think the bureaucrats will ever leave the security of their home, but I do know that there's a lot of stuff going on, because my son's wife worked for the state and I guess the state. She works for the state in the what do they call it? Oh, welfare, she works in the welfare office, so she sees all kinds of things. And she left that job and went into another state job because she has a master's in social work or whatever she does. And they ended up hiring all these people and said, oh, by the way, this isn't going to be a permanent job, it's going to last 10 weeks and there's going to be a test, and if you don't pass the test, we won't carry you on. So what they did is they? It's a 10 week program for them to practice, learn all this stuff. And so in two weeks they decided that they didn't want anybody. So they tested them out, and then every single person failed.

Speaker 1:

I was like this is so. She's just freaking out. I'm like have you considered, you know, passive income? Or, you know, have you considered starting a cleaning business? There's other avenues of income if you put your mind to it. So it is, we live in interesting times. It is, we live in interesting times, so just make sure that you are prepared to collect all the juicy crabs who happen to be swimming by.

Speaker 2:

I know that's opportunistic, but I'm just like I'm ready.

Speaker 1:

Right, I just hate training. I hate training. My training. It's kind of mundane. It's the cost. It's like like what do you mean? You just don't flip and get this. I've gone over it like 50 times is what you want to say, but you're like it's okay we just it's hard.

Speaker 1:

It's hard to be put a smile on your face every single time and you know it's like it feel. I feel like sometimes you're just handling a bunch of toddlers because they just you're taking people and you're trying to mold them to see if they fit, and then sometimes it sticks to the wall and sometimes it doesn't, and it's just they don't. You know, they don't understand the dynamics of what training dollars are and how much it costs, and there's all of the payroll taxes and the insurance and all this stuff that goes along with it. They have no clue, no concepts. So do you have any questions for me about onboarding?

Speaker 2:

I think I'm just cruising right along. I'm really feeling the training dollars right now because I'm bringing on new clients and I am giving the new clients to my new girl, who I feel is really going to be what you call a golden unicorn. I'm taking your advice and she's will be on her fifth week next week and I'm either going to let her completely fly on her own next week. She has been a little bit so I'm bringing on more clients. I've been giving her mine you know.

Speaker 2:

So obviously it's taken out of my pocket. But I think it's going to be worth it in the long run. So it'll either be, I think, week six.

Speaker 2:

I'm really gonna let her go and then I've been paying her kind of it's kind of like a pay for performance kind of thing, but kind of not like when she's with me I pay her one fee when she goes by herself to my clients who have been maintained for like 13 years. It's a little bit higher, and when I get a new client for her and she I let her go do the deep clean and then I pay her more, okay, so that works out great.

Speaker 1:

Push her off the platform and have her start working on her own this next week. Okay, um, it's five weeks is a long time and I know you're looking for it to be entirely comfortable, but I would, I would definitely push her out and just say you know we're going to train one last day and then you're going to fly solo tomorrow and then start the process of you know, showing up, walking through, and then she should be able to. I mean by Wednesday. If you give her a full week, she should be able to do it by herself. She's, she should know where she's going, she should show up on time, she should figure it out. She should be able to be finished. Five weeks is a long time.

Speaker 2:

So I should just let her take my clients and just go.

Speaker 1:

Right, let her do it and then work on getting more clients and make sure you're touching base with your clients. You know what to do and I'm sure it'll be fine.

Speaker 2:

Because I still have the other two girls that are part time. The one works one day, tuesdays, and then the other one works Tuesdays and Fridays, okay, so, yeah. So I'm trying to grow and also try and keep those girls busy and keep them in money too, so that as I bring on new clients, I can divvy people up. I think the other two will be good as a team together. I don't see them as solos, but I see your I see why you go solo Right.

Speaker 1:

It's all of the drama that go. I mean, I've never seen so much conflict and I don't know if it's just a societal thing, but you just get tired of it. I'm like I don't have any patience.

Speaker 2:

You're here here to take a job.

Speaker 2:

Right, exactly, there's no room for oh well, I thought so-and-so got it, you know, or anything like that. They're responsible for their own stuff. It's their own name. I'm going to know who did wrong, Right, you know? And I also have an issue with I don't like the idea of making one person drive the others Me, it's a different story. Right, then, because the one who's driving is getting paid extra, you know, I give it like a gas stipends, I guess you could call it. I tell her when she drives, you know, by herself, she gets $10 for that day, you know. So ultimately it will be like 50 bucks a week, you know. So ultimately it will be like 50 bucks a week, right? So, um, on top of pay and I'm top of drive time, so I don't feel like that's too bad.

Speaker 1:

And you do not, unless gas cups as a 10 bucks a gallon. Then you'll have to work out something else. But yes, um, we, just I spoke to. I plopped another cleaner in my little messenger group that I have for all the local cleaners here and she actually is currently in Marymaids and I'm like oh wow.

Speaker 1:

I worked at Marymaids when Barbara owned it, cause Barbara was the original franchise owner. She that was. She was. She was mean at the time. I didn't understand why she was mean as I grew into a cleaning business owner. I don't know why Barbara was mean because you were messing with her income and she didn't like it. And Barbara was like right. And then Barbara sold it to Jean and Bruce and then Jean and Bruce kind of floundered around with it and they futzed around. But at the time we we worked in teams of two and we had 12 teams going out every single day. So that was a million dollar business, right.

Speaker 1:

So then I got in a squabble with Gene and Bruce over pay and I was like screw this, I can do my own. I didn't take any of their own clients or anything else. But I was talking to this person who is now new in my messenger group and she was talking about the current state of this merry maids here in my location. It sounds like it's going to falter, like they can't cash the paychecks, there's no direct deposit and I happen to know the lady who owns it. Her name is Katie and she owns four other franchises in the state. So it sounds to me like she's going to run the Prescott location into the ground. And I go well, don't wait to cash your check. I said you went, you showed up at the bank and you couldn't cash your paycheck. And she goes yeah, and I go. So where are they paying you? And she's like $16 an hour. I go yeah, that's why everyone's quitting Cause you can be a box boy at Safeway and stand around for 20.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yeah, we have to be better. We have to give better than that.

Speaker 1:

We have to give them a reason to want to stay and to want to learn and work hard. And yeah, she, she gave me some candid insight. I was like, oh my gosh, I go. That was like it was a million dollar business. And she's in the amount of time I think she's only owned it three or four years she's run it into the ground. It's because she's not, there's no leader. Um, she's trying to run it from a distance and then people aren't showing up and there's no office manager and it's like, well, I'm not, I'm not being paid to fix this. This is not my problem. Bye, see you later. Yeah, exactly, I know I feel mean saying that, but it's like it's, if you're the franchisee and you have no clue, it's not my problem, this is your mistake.

Speaker 2:

Right, no, exactly Exactly. Or pay, or hire me and pay me what it's worth to help you fix it Right.

Speaker 1:

As a consult. I don't want to be there permanently doing the day in and day out of operations Pass Right. So when you, when you start to hire and this is for the newbies you have to figure out, while we're talking about pay, what is going to be paid. So, just for perspective, I just and I'm not shy about this at all I pay my people $30 to $35 an hour, billed in at a flat rate price. So I pay by the job because I only have 1099. So I work out.

Speaker 1:

If the house is three and a half hours for math, for the people who are going to watch this later and we know that I cannot do math in my head when I'm talking on a video, I don't know why Three and a half times $30 an hour. So that's going to pay. That particular job is going to pay 105 bucks. Now, if they go over the three and a half hours, they need to give you a good reason why. Like okay, mrs Smith added on an extra bedroom and I go did you call the office and get permission to do the extra work? And she's like well, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I'm like guess what? You don't get paid, it only pays 105 bucks. I won't do that all the time. If you are a chronic person who always has an issue about milking the clock, you have to be aware of what that is. So you decide how much that job is going to take and realistically, based on your PARs and your production rates, you should be pretty fluent on knowing how long those things take. So you can't hire unless you're familiar with what houses should take and what production rates are. So please learn those if you have not become familiar with them, and then decide on pay. You know pay is all over the place. I just I pay so much because I charge top dollar but I don't have my people move around like the other cleaning businesses, but I'm not paying. The reason why I'm paying such a premium is because I'm not paying any payroll taxes on these guys. I'm not paying any defense comp. I'm not, so that's for them to compensate for that. They have to carry 1099s, have to carry their own insurance or I won't work with you. So there's that dynamic too. So trying to decide and figure out what, which way you want to go, I've seen a lot of hybrids this year where people have part W-2s and some 1099s. So they have to have a firm line in the sand to not deviate over, so that there's no confusion about hiring and what to do and how to onboard. And then you also need to have paperwork. Don't be shy about putting policies in place.

Speaker 1:

I am working on standard operating procedures. It's going to happen probably right after July is when I'm going to. I've got all the content. I've got it all pre-planned. I just need to sit down, film it, edit it and upload it, and that usually takes. I have 60 modules in it so far, so it's going to take a little bit of time. Because there's every time something comes up. I type it in there so that I remember to talk about it. Because there's every time something comes up I type it in there so that I remember to talk about it, because there's so much that happens with so many people, because I talk to a hundred people every single week. I'm like let's talk about this, let's talk about this, and then sometimes it comes with a form that you can print out and add to your employee standard operating procedures or not.

Speaker 1:

When I worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art now, I came from the restaurant industry and moved into the retail industry, they handed me this big binder that I don't see, anything that size, but it was a big three inch, three and a half inch binder. You've seen them at Staples. That was the employee manual on policies and procedures and what to do at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for retail satellite stores. I was like you're kidding. They're like no, you need to read all this. I was like, oh, and it was dry. I was like, oh, my God, you don't have to go that far. But the Metropolitan Museum of Art has been around for decades. It is a great institution.

Speaker 1:

But I think it almost went a little too far, as, being a business owner now I understand why there was so much to it, but you just can't plop a big book down and go, okay, read it. So I'm going to be like no, I'm not reading that. Where's the cliff notes, right? How do I get all the juicy bits right? And it was boring stuff. I was like, oh, my God, they're like well, on page 171, paragraph two, subheading, blah, blah, blah. It says this and you're like well, I didn't see that. So you'd have to flip through the thing to try to find what. Page 172, paragraph two. It's just like I constantly have my butt reamed because I didn't. I hadn't read. I was brand new manager, I hadn't read. I was brand new manager, I hadn't read all of that stuff, what happened? I mean, who wants to?

Speaker 2:

what? Who would want to? I mean, you're not even going to retain like intense of it, no, until it comes up in play right it's.

Speaker 1:

it's learn as you go, it's. I try to explain that to people and that's why I've done a lot of learning. That's why I know a lot, which means that I have learned a lot. But that's the best teacher, but please learn from my mistakes. It's just, like you know I've done. I've done a lot of blunders. My call that was bad. Like you know, I've done, I've done a lot of blenders. I'm like, oh, that was bad, but any other questions? Oh, so basic stuff for the, for the guys who are new Questions.

Speaker 2:

So one of the things you were talking about, milking time I'm finding that this new girl that I have, she's a real firecracker and she, like I said, is taking I'm giving her to do on her own the homes that I have. She's a real firecracker and she, like I said, is taking I'm giving her to do on her own homes that I've been doing for like 13 years.

Speaker 1:

Right so they're well-maintained.

Speaker 2:

They're well-maintained, so giving her a half hour, I give her some some time over. Yeah, like, if it's a four hour house, I'll give her four and a half. You know, if it's a two hour house, I give her. I give her two and a quarter, like, cause I know the house is a little bit easier. You know, and I'm compensating that way. Right, she's getting out of there early, like a half an hour early, like I'm finding that. So I'm taking pictures, I go and check on her and if I'm doing another job or something and I can't come check on her before she's gone, I take pictures. And the last time I did it she left like a half an hour early and until we were going through all the pictures, I said there's your half hour. I said, because you missed this, this, this, you add all that up.

Speaker 1:

It's all small little detail, stuff, like the cleaning itself is decent, it's the aesthetics, you know, it's the hardest part of the job to learn is the little fluffy things that we do, like folding the blanket the right way, or folding the towels or straightening the chairs that it's.

Speaker 1:

That takes a little extra finessing and it does take months for them to learn that. So if she's cutting out early and you're you're checking her out, then she needs to stay until she nails it. But you should also present her, like in the house when you're I don't know if you're using job or what you're using write down what she should be checking in each house, since these are your personal clients and you've had them a long time, so that she can go down the checklist and make sure that she nails it. So that's why you know cause they're not going to fit. They've done the cleaning part, so then they think they're they're done, when in actuality they have extra time to put the pillows in the right direction and fold the blanket and maybe pick up the dog toys or what you know, the stuffies or whatever. So I would write her a list and put it in, can she? Does? She have a smart excuse me a smartphone and she does, and you know what that's.

Speaker 2:

That is on my to-do list. I want to try and do that sometime this weekend. I want to sit and make a list of all of the houses. The little hit lists like these are the things in this house that are important, just because that's what this client likes and on, and she likes to. She uses a flat mop, which I know you said, but she uses one pad and that's it, and you can't. You can't do that. Well, she has one of those that it's a white bucket and it's. I hate them. Yes, that's what she uses. And I went up unfortunately she was gone because I had to do another house and the floor was streaky because it was dark hardwood, right that you have to be very, very careful and you could see distinct tracks and I said that that and the sun shines in the window. I'm like you can't do that. You can, you can clean fabulously the whole entire house and you leave those streaks on the floor. And now you, now they're looking right now. You didn't do a good job. Now they're checking everything.

Speaker 1:

If they find one item, they will look harder for other items where before they're like I didn't see anything. But yeah, if they find something, you're on the radar and that's it. So yeah, I would totally do some sort of list per house that she could look up on her job or whatever you're using and then changing the mop water is really important and getting the chemical to water ratio. When they're new, they overpour on the chemicals all the time, Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Because in your mind, you're like if I use more chemical, then that's going to solve the problem, right? It's like the consumer, if they you, how many times have we seen a bonamess? I mean yes, and they just spray and just, and then it layers and layers, and layers and layers, and then you walk in and it's like sticky and you're like what is that? I don't know, I just put all the down like yeah, that's bad yes, yikes so, and I always.

Speaker 2:

You know that the newer the floor and the nicer the floor, you barely have to use anything because it's just going to sit on top right. You know less is more. You don't want to. You know you're just getting the dirt off with just a tiny little bit of chemical in there, and a lot of times I'll just use a little bit of dawn. It's all you need, just like a tiny little, like a like a pea sized drop in the bucket, because the floors are so maintained and they don't have a lot of traffic on them and that's all they need.

Speaker 1:

Right, I was not a fan of the Tide Pod floor washing. I know April Kowalski was really big, she does a lot of short-term rentals and she and I were talking about the Tide Pods and I go. Well, first of all, tide Pods are meant to be in the washer and I go. Second of all, we really don't know what chemicals Tide is putting in those pods and then you're reaching your hand in there and you're grabbing, so you really don't know what you're touching and it's supposed to be rinsed off your clothes but I don't know. So then she thought about she's like oh, I had no idea. I'm like you gotta like this all affects you. So, right, I love April, but I was like you can't use the Tide Pods anymore. Um, and you know what they?

Speaker 2:

they to me seem like they have something that they want to leave on the clothing to make it soft. You don't really want to leave anything on your floor. You want to take the dirt off and, you know, leave just the pretty floor behind so I would think the tide pods would leave a coating they.

Speaker 1:

They do leave a coating and I've seen a couple people ruin the floors, um, by using type and I'm like you didn't get the product up. And then the homeowner's like, well, can you fix them? Like yeah, you can call the floor guy and they'll refinish it Thousands of dollars later. But yeah, it's the dynamic of it for sure.

Speaker 2:

Right. So I guess one question that I really have. I'm the only one on here right now.

Speaker 1:

It's just you and me, and it's being recorded.

Speaker 2:

Oh, okay, this is, this is, this is. I feel special, I feel lucky. But I have a question. So right now I am, you know, they're doing all my houses that are well-maintained. I am trying really hard when I'm giving them new clients to not not infiltrate too much of myself into the finished, because I don't want they're not going to be me, no, so I don't want to go in there and, and you know, redo everything that they do. So this client goes wow, this is.

Speaker 1:

I want them to get used to the little imperfections that maybe she has, right, because I want to get used to her Right, not not me, because what happens is if you go in and you do the initial and you're the stronger cleaner, and then they're like I want you and you're like I have people because I still help out that have the cleaning business centers, that still come up and they're like, oh, would you consider coming back next time? I'm like I don't clean right right here for them. But that's what happens, is they want, they want the stronger cleaner, because they can see that there's a difference. So you have to let them go in, do the initial, even though it's not perfect, smack them on the you know, high five them. And then if you because if you go in there and you start to shush them, so to speak, and then the client's gonna be like what's wrong, what's wrong, what's wrong, and then they want you instead of the other person. So I agree with you a thousand percent.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's. That's very, very hard, but that's something I feel is really important. So I'm in training. Yes, I tell myself that every day.

Speaker 1:

I'm in training, you could make a basic list so that you don't overlook like with it. Does that make sense? You don't want to overlook on anything because then if you tear it apart, then the homeowner goes well, what else is?

Speaker 2:

wrong. Right, exactly, exactly. And the one I let her do a deep clean, um, and it was a client I had prior to COVID. And then, when COVID came, they got really scared and they got rid of us. Well, well, he, the wife, left him a year and a half ago, so there was no cleaning done in the house for a year and a half.

Speaker 2:

And I knew the house really well and I figured it was a good place to start her. So I just let her do it. I just let her do it, and it was so funny because she ran an hour over. I went and helped her finish the end because I just wanted her done at that point. And then when we were talking the next day, she was talking about how she was out looking at the motor on his cars and all that stuff. And I'm thinking so I'm like you, idiot Again. You paid her extra time and yet here she is the next day telling you about obviously they were spending some time out in the garage and I'm thinking don't do that again.

Speaker 1:

Right. Well, it becomes this thing that they want to people please. So part of that is this conversation who who had a post? It was someone who put a post. I don't remember what group it was in. It wasn't in my group, it was another group and she build this client. First of all she undercharged it was for a deep clean and the person got really upset because it was a deep clean. And then they had a 30 minute conversation and basically the girl was on the clock talking to her and the client got mad because she didn't realize that she's being billed to talk. She goes that's just unprofessional. I never make that kind of money and I'm like first of all, it was under charge and, second of all, you have to make it obvious that if you're going to, let me get comfortable, if you want to sit and talk to me, it's your dime. Let me sit down here on the couch. I want to get comfortable.

Speaker 2:

Yeah exactly.

Speaker 1:

But with that, I think that's just her being eager to please and it was a mistake, so I would overlook it this time. But if it were to happen again, say you know, eyes down. It's like when you learn how to be a barback eyes down. You're not here to wait on customers, you're here to wash glasses and change kegs right. Eyes down, eyes down. You just got to keep eyes down, put in your headphones so that you don't talk too much, but she could be chatty. But if it becomes a problem, then you know. Say that this job, unfortunately, is going to have to. I'm going to have to because you cannot control yourself. You're going to have to only work within these parameters and after that the clock stops.

Speaker 2:

Right, which is what I'm going to do.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, If it still continues and you have to look at what is going on. Are you chatting it up? Did something get spilled? What happened? What's causing you to go an hour over every time?

Speaker 1:

Sometimes it genuinely is when you call them, because the protocol for for me is they get to the job, they walk it, and then they call me because everything we do is sight unseen. And then I get them on the phone, I'm like okay, I've budgeted it for a certain amount. What do you think it's going to take? And they're like I think I can probably do it in about six, six and a half. And I said okay, so about the halfway mark I call and I'm like hey, I'm just checking in, How's it going, Right? Oh well, I don't think it's going to take six and a half, I think it's going to take seven and a half, Cause normally I always have an extra hour build in Um, and so I never tell them.

Speaker 1:

Because if you tell them, it's going in the six and a half, and sometimes I genuinely need the extra hour and then it's when they go way over that I'm like dude, you can't do this in the day. It's like 13 hours. I'm like why did it take you 13 hours. You just said you could do it in six and a half. Yeah, you got to. You got to watch those for sure. But yeah, definitely, I think it's just her wanting to be a people pleaser. And look at my he's lonely, His wife has left him or whatever, and he's 20. Look at my cars. Look at how great you know how guys are. Look at how great I am.

Speaker 2:

And they are. They have, yeah, and they have a like personality, so I knew they would hit it off. So I knew it was a good match that way right. But I just said a mental note to self these two are going to chat, it's only.

Speaker 1:

It's tapped at this much. This is what it pays, that's it. You go over, that's on you, right. And sometimes you have to do that because some people are more. They don't realize the homeowner doesn't realize, as you know that. You know this is a timed event. We're not here. Yes, I love chatting it up and visiting and loving on people's doggies and kitties, but I'm not really here for you, I'm here for your house. That's the mentality I mean. But they're like, yeah, would you like some lunch? Or you know, if we, if, if people we've had clients feed other cleaning techs over the years. Oh yeah, I, I, yes, just gotta take it off your thing. Okay, no problem, it's just how it works. Yep, some people are great and like will buy, bring you lunch and tip you every time, and others are like why aren't you out of my house yet?

Speaker 2:

I know, know, I know Some are like got to get out of here. They're going to come home, they're going to want to make dinner. Come on, let's go, we're out Right, it's crazy Crazy.

Speaker 1:

It just depends on the type of customer. Any other light questions? No, no, I'm just cruising along. Awesome, awesome. I'm excited at your success You're going to do this.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, and I know that you can do this. You're silently holding my hand. Totally Just tweak it Because I've had a good run, but I need to do better. I need to be bigger, I need to make more. I'm killing myself and that's not my intent.

Speaker 1:

No, you should be out. I would like to see you out, mop free by the end of the year. That would be wonderful, wonderful. Definitely by the end of the year should be goal. Pick a random day in December that you were going to be mop free. We're going to. We're going to watch you walk across that threshold and you're going to do it.

Speaker 2:

And you know what? It's so funny because I had a five-year plan right before COVID and I would be kind of right right there. And now I feel like I'm just that's it. I'm just fast tracking it, we're doing this, what I felt would have taken five years. I'm trying to do like you said, like maybe by the end of the year. It's time. My body is telling me, you cannot do this much longer.

Speaker 1:

Right and you need to step out before that becomes a problem. I know a couple of people who didn't tap out when they should have and then they had a major health crisis. And then, you know, the universe stepped in and said guess what? You're not clean anymore and you're sick.

Speaker 2:

That's not fine.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, don't do that to yourself, right Plus. I don't have. Don't do that to yourself.

Speaker 2:

Right, plus I don't have a significant other that can help. I mean, I'm it, so I have to make it work.

Speaker 1:

Definitely All right.

Speaker 2:

Thank you.

Speaker 1:

Let you go, and then I guess I won't see you next Wednesday. But if you have any questions, I'm going to probably start the next structure scale and profit cleaning business Academy. Um, I'm probably going to do another run, starting up pretty quick, um, because I'm going to take the whole month of July off. I'm burnt out. I wanted to go on vacation, um to my mom's's house, which is what we normally do after um, the kids get out, but my mom is waiting for something to happen and we couldn't make it work. So we're gonna go in july, but the kids and I are gonna go do the. We're gonna go to the petrified forest and there's a couple other like day trip things we're gonna go do to make up for not going on vacation. Like what do you mean? We're going to grandma's house. You know what I mean? What?

Speaker 2:

do you mean Right, right? They don't understand. What do you mean? We're not going.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, didn't you already? Why aren't we packed? Why aren't we going? Because it's like two days, there's literally two full days and a half day, and then they're out and then camp for two whole weeks. So we had a weird camp cycle this summer too. So, just trying to figure it out, they go away to camp like is it or is it day camp? No, it's just day camp. We don't. Um, they're not old enough. She does offer it. I just be living already at times I don't know if they're even gonna ever be old enough. I just we just live in interesting times. I just don't't. I don't know.

Speaker 2:

No, I never sent mine overnight in camp anywhere like that. I was not comfortable with it Definitely, and that was. That was back in the nineties and the early two thousands Right.

Speaker 1:

And when I was a kid I used to go with my cousin Tracy and my cousin Donnie to Christian camp and we would be gone for like a week up in the mountains with, and then there was boy camp and girl camp and we got to sleep in bunk beds and you know, it was just wild. It was just wild. But those times I think are gone, definitely. I think they are too.

Speaker 1:

Unfortunately they are. Yeah, that rite of passage is no longer there for sure, but in any case, if you have any questions, reach out.

Speaker 2:

Okay, thank.

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Jamie Runco

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