Breaking the $250K Barrier in Your Cleaning Business

Episode 76

In the competitive world of cleaning businesses, reaching the $250,000 annual billing milestone is a significant achievement. For many, it’s only the beginning of a more ambitious journey. In today’s episode of “Keep it Clean,” we’ll cover steps and stumbling blocks to help you break through this threshold.

Its Not Just You

This is a common challenge faced by independent cleaning businesses and franchise owners alike. About 90% of business owners in this industry fall below this financial marker. This statistic underlines the hurdles that many commercial janitorial, maid service, and specialized cleaning businesses encounter as they strive to grow. Now you might say, “OK, I guess that’s not so bad. I’m not the only one.” True enough. But do you want successes or excuses?

One of the main issues at this stage is the transition from working in the business to working on the business. Businesses with billings under $250,000 are often owner-operated. That means the proprietors are so deeply involved in daily operations that it consumes their time and focus. From cold calling to managing supplies, this hands-on approach limits the business owner’s ability to focus on strategic growth and scaling.

Misery Loves Company

Listen, if you’re happy to remain under $250,000 in billings, that’s fine. This episode isn’t for you. However, it in this one we underscore the importance of implementing systems. Employees, automations and marketing systems exist to help you process and promote more cleaning work and employment. When managed well, these can help free up the owner’s time and facilitate business expansion.

Trust Can Be Hard

Trust is another critical factor discussed in the podcast. Many business owners are naturally inclined to maintain control over their operations. While this is a trait that makes you a leader, I encourage you to use it in small doses. It can also hinder growth. Delegating responsibilities and trusting others within or outside the organization is the only way you’ll have time. Time to grow, breathe and think. That’s what you need to break $250,000. This might involve hiring or outsourcing specific tasks so you can focus on higher-level business strategies. Overcoming the $250,000 barrier often requires business owners to step out of their comfort zones and develop trust, not only in their team but also in external partners.

Does this sound like you?

For those struggling to break past this financial plateau, I suggest a few tactics:

• Engaging in educational opportunities, such as web classes or reading industry-specific sales services books, can provide valuable insights.
• Registering and attending our Webcast classes
• Hiring a business coach can offer personalized guidance and support, helping owners navigate the complexities of scaling their businesses. Coaches can provide an external perspective, offering advice and asking the difficult questions that lead to breakthroughs.

A Pivotal Moment

Breaking the $250K barrier is a pivotal moment for cleaning business owners. It requires a shift in mindset from managing immediate tasks to focusing on long-term growth strategies. By embracing trust, utilizing technology, and seeking expert guidance, owners can overcome this challenge. Taking these steps will set their businesses on a path that reaches the next financial milestone. Whether through learning or coaching, investing in one’s growth is crucial to achieving sustained success in the cleaning industry. Looking for more? Contact me! I love helping business owners grow.

https://break250kchallenge.com/

 

This Week’s Podcast transcript can be found below.

 

00:08 Ray

Joel, we’re back. (We are!) and we are talking about the key profile for most of our listeners today, Breaking $250,000 in billings annually.

 

00:18 Joel

That is a very good observation of what most of our clients are.

 

00:24 Ray

Much the market actually is there.

 

00:26 Joel

About a year and a half ago, I had done a presentation to a bunch of businesses, and I did my research. I looked at the Labor Department. 90% of all people in business are under the $250,000 a year threshold.

 

00:41 Ray

Wow, that’s huge.

 

00:43 Joel

That is huge.

 

00:45 Ray

Joel, when you say 90%, are we counting people who are reporting that their employment is maybe with a university or school system? Or are we talking about simply independent Cleaning businesses?

 

00:56 Joel

Building service, contractors. So again, a maid service. Maybe it’s a window cleaning company, maybe it’s a power washing company, maybe it’s a hood cleaning company, duct cleaning. There’s so many facets of the cleaning world. But 90% of all those that say that they are individually in business for themselves or through a franchise system are under the $250,000 threshold.

 

01:19 Ray

Okay. One of the things that strikes me there is that is a massive chunk of this portion of business or portion of business owners. But that the principles we talk about here, geared primarily to commercial janitorial, could really apply to almost any of those businesses.

 

01:35 Joel

And that’s why I try to keep a lot of the topics that we talk about very generic, because it can be used in many different industries. And I do know that there’s companies out there that definitely have more than a quarter million dollars in billing. I have on my consulting side of clients that I work with that are between like $350,000 and a half million. But still, you know, that magic threshold of financial freedom everybody talks about is working to get to that almost $2 million threshold. And it’s a big struggle. Because when you’re around that 250,000, as we’ve done in a previous podcast, you’re still very much working in the business instead of on the business. And it’s not until you get between that million dollars to $2 million that you of the right pieces around you that can start taking things off your plate again. We talked about that in another podcast about the many hats that we wear. Right, because we, as small businesses and business owners are busy doing all the things that larger corporations tend to have other people to do. And until you can generate dollars in revenue, you can’t afford individuals like that working for you.

 

Or maybe you’re outsourcing pieces to other companies that fill those gaps.

 

02:47 Ray

So, for Our listeners, how do we crack that? We’re approaching that 250k or we’re there and we’ve been stuck there for three years.

 

02:55 Joel

Well, I mean, it does take a while. And it takes focus, dedication. It’s having some systems that are in place, maybe some of them electronically. I work with Adon Rigg that helps do some of that type of stuff for you. Because when you’re in business and have about a quarter million dollars in sales, you, the business owner probably is not doing cold calls anymore. So, you to have a system in place that’s doing those touches to get people to realize who you are, what your company name is, what types of services that do you provide. And that usually takes between 7 and 13 touches. If you just pick up the phone and say, “Hey, you know, this is Joel and I want to clean your building,” that’s the first time they ever heard of you. You’re probably not going to get the work.

 

03:38 Ray

Well, that’s one touch.

 

03:39 Joel

That’s one touch. And when you’re that busy and you have clients and you have employees at a quarter million, most of the time you don’t have the time in your day to a lot to spending one or two hours on just cold calling to get the number of dials that you need. Because there’s outside firms that’ll do 200, 300 dials a day that you can purchase and have do the work.

 

04:01 Ray

By the way, we know what someone who’s great at that. So if, dear listener, if you are looking for someone, please contact Joel. Boy, do we have a guy for you.

 

04:09 Joel

So, there are things that are like that that you don’t have time as a business owner because you gotta do inventory. You have to do supplies. You have complaints. You have new clients coming up, you’re working on quotes for new potential work. You have all these other tasks that you’re doing throughout the day. You have to start offloading some of those items in order to get through that $250,000 barrier. The other thing is people have a problem with trust. What, did I say something wrong? Did I say something wrong? The word trust?

 

04:37 Ray

Joel, one of the reasons that we go into business ourselves is it’s part of who we are. We want a certain level of control. We don’t mind taking responsibility for those things. Listener, if you’re shaking your head, you’re equally guilty, just like Joel and I are nodding our heads at each other right now. Yes, we are. And we understand that that’s who and what we are. That’s okay.

 

04:59 Joel

Personal pride.

 

05:01 Ray

But at some point, in order to grow, you have to be able to hand something off.

 

05:06 Joel

You do and finding somebody that either works currently in your organization or works outside your organization or maybe even a smaller competitor, that you can acquire that business and help your business grow that way. So, there are ways that you can get through this $250,000  barrier. But it does take an element of trust and putting your neck out there, knowing you have to take things off your plate in order to get to the next level. Because there’s still only so many hours in a day.

 

05:33 Ray

What I hear is we have a business owner, probably a commercial cleaning business owner, maid service business owner, cleaning business owner. They’ve been at this for a little while. 10 years, 2 years, 15 years, I don’t care. But they haven’t gotten well past $250,000 in billings annually. They’re stuck there. There’s probably a list of 25 things that they should be doing.

 

05:52 Joel

Probably.

 

05:54 Ray

What three do you recommend?

 

05:56 Joel

First one I would recommend is that I’m going to be teaching a web class with Adon Rigg that people can sign up for. If they miss that opportunity, there will be a rebroadcast of that at a lower price because they won’t have the interaction with the two speakers which are Adon and myself. The next thing is that we have a couple of books coming out on sales, particularly for smaller companies that, you know, can kind of get that foothold going. That will be out one of them probably before summer and the other one right around fall for a release for download. In addition to coaching, if you really want to get past that quarter of a million dollars in business and you’re struggling to do it, there’s nothing wrong with hiring a coach to get you through the next phase. Maybe it’s a three-month time, maybe it’s six months. Most people will work with you on how long that you want to spend on a coach. I know clients I work with and I, you know, on a per diem basis. I have clients that I work with on a monthly basis. So, it’ all what that person is willing to put into themselves because you have to invest in yourself.

 

06:59 Ray

Having someone who really has the understanding of being in the trenches in this business, it’s just priceless for that.

 

07:05 Joel

I personally think that’s the truth. I still own a building service contracting company and I deal with the same issues and problems other people have. And I’ve even hired coaches to be able to get me through some of the breaks because there’s times, you can’t see the forest from the trees. And you do need that outside look and holistic look and ask questions. Maybe the difficult questions you don’t want to ask yourself.

 

07:29 Ray

Or sometimes you can’t see the (toilet paper) rolls past the poop stains.

 

07:32 Joel

Oh, we see that daily, folks.

 

07:36 Ray

If you really want to crack this thing and you want to increase your business, increase your profits, and feel like you’ve got a better handle on life, contact Joel. Links are below. We’ll see you soon. Thanks, Joel.

 

07:44 Joel

You’re welcome.