Episode 123

Protocols & Profit

Protocols are your Standard Operating Procedures. And for many entrepreneurs in commercial cleaning, these are your competitive advantage!

One of the reasons I started my cleaning business was because I believed I could do things better. If you’re like most owners I meet, that’s part of your origin story, too. The trap is when “better” lives in your head and your hands and stays unrecorded. In order for “better” to spur your companies growth your SOPs need to be teachable, repeatable, and measurable.

Protocols & The Perfect Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich 

In my ISSA workshops, I use a simple exercise. This is one that’s both entertaining and drastically enlightening. Trainees are directed to write instructions for making a perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sounds easy until someone follows your directions literally. For the record, “literally” means no assumptions, no guesses and doing only what the directions tell you to do. Suddenly, the “obvious” steps aren’t obvious. You forgot to:

• Provide where your trainee can find the bread.
• Mention to untwist the tie on the bread.
• Specify creamy vs. chunky, grape vs. strawberry
• How thick to spread either one

Ten people, ten sandwiches, ten different outcomes. Most of which are not fit for human consumption by the time we’re done.

Cleaning Protocols & Profits are No Different 

“Go clean the restroom” is not a protocol. It’s a vaguely worded wish. Without clear, tested, and documented standard operating procedures (SOPs), you bake inconsistency into your business. And that inconsistency breeds chaos! It shows up in missed trash, streaked mirrors, using the wrong chemicals, safety shortcuts, and churn of both customers and employees.

When you’re solo or you’ve got one helper riding shotgun, you can get away with tribal knowledge. You do it “your way,” and it works because you’re present to correct and coach in real time. Growth breaks that model. Three buildings a night becomes six teams a night. “My way” needs to become “our way,” and that means writing down the exact steps, tools, order of operations, safety requirements, and quality checks.

Great SOPs Do The Heavy Lifting 

They make outcomes predictable. Predictable outcomes mean fewer complaints, more compliments, and renewed contracts. They protect people by specifying PPE, labeling, safe dilutions, and body mechanics. My clients have made it clear that nothing kills morale like injuries and confusion.

Well Planned SOPs Control Costs 

• The right equipment, in the right order, with the right dwell times and motions reduces rework and cuts labor minutes.
• Well planned SOPs stabilize inventory.
• They define minimum and maximum levels
• Determine replenishment triggers
• Explicitly define and direct what happens when an item is low or replaced.
• They accelerate onboarding.

A smartphone-accessible SOP library with short videos and checklists cuts ramp-up time and reduces your dependency on “that one veteran tech” who knows everything.

Developing Protocols & Profits Requires Time

Yes, SOPs take effort to build, test, and maintain, especially when you update a chemical, add a service line, or switch equipment. But that’s the cost of scale anything in your commercial cleaning business. I know that for some readers, just suggesting that you take time to do this means you quit reading this right now. I know it takes time. That’s because its valuable. I can assure you that the discipline of protocols doesn’t limit your entrepreneurial freedom; it funds it. When your teams can deliver your standard without you in the room, you unlock margin, capacity, and time.

Here’s my playbook to get started:

1. Map your top five recurring tasks end-to-end (restroom, vacuuming, dusting, spot cleaning, break rooms).
2. Document the micro-steps, tools, chemicals, labels, PPE, order, and quality checks. No assumptions.
3. Pilot with two teams. Observe, refine, and time each step.
4. Train to proficiency, not exposure. Demonstrate, do, re-demonstrate.
5. Digitize and version-control everything. Track changes and retrain on updates.
6. Inspect what you expect. Scorecards and quick huddles keep standards alive.

Do this, and in the field you’ll hear:

• Fewer “How do I…?” questions
• More “We handled it per SOP.” That’s the sound of profit!

If you own a cleaning company and want hands-on coaching to build SOPs that reduce complaints and raise margins, I’d love to help. Reach me via this platform or at docsfs.com, and let’s turn your protocols into profits.

This Week’s Podcast transcript can be downloaded here for free.