Last Updated on March 4, 2024 by The ZenMaid Team
The way we see it, there are two ways to start a cleaning business:
Option #1: Figure everything out as you go, make mistakes, think about quitting, re-assess, and then set up automated systems.
Option #2: Start with the right systems from day one and scale.
Dayane and her team at Washe Cleaning opted for option #2.
Throughout this article, youβll see little microphones: ποΈThese indicate direct quotes from our interview with Dayane of Washe Cleaning.
Unicorns in the cleaning industry
The Washe Cleaning team is made up of three partners: Dayane (CMO), Juliana (CEO), and Mara (CFO). Before going into business together, they each ran independent cleaning services. But they knew theyβd be better together, so they combined their client lists, connections, and expertise to build what is now a 20-cleaner team who, in the last year alone, took on over 6,000 residential jobs.
Washe Cleaningβs revenue projections for the next year are impressive, but they caught our attention for another reason: they have a 100% employee retention rate and a waiting list of cleaners who WANT to work with them β howβs that for a positive work environment? Hiring, training, and retaining cleaners are of the most expensive challenges of running a maid service.
Let’s talk numbers for a second: Onboarding a new cleaner in the United States can cost anywhere from $870 to $2,050, and that’s just the start. Lose that cleaner, and the ripple effects β from lost bookings to shaky client trust β can skyrocket costs to a staggering $37,500 to $60,000. And thatβs just from losing one cleaner. Ouch.
Starting off (almost) right
Do insanely high employee retention rates just happen? No. In most cases, theyβre a direct result of streamlined communication and automated scheduling systems.
The Washe Cleaning team knew they wanted to build the βrightβ way. (Remember, theyβre option #2 people.) So, starting on day one, they had the following things in place:
β Personal cleaning experience
β A team of cleaners ready to work
β Professional in-house marketing experience
β A full calendar of clients
β A scheduling system that involved five paper calendars.
Yeah, you read that right. Five paper calendars.
Researching software options
Luckily, Dayane and her team spent some time researching the top options for cleaning business scheduling apps.
The most popular option in the industry offered scheduling, but it wasnβt designed to grow with them, and it wasnβt made for cleaning businesses. So that was an easy pass.
They also looked at the options designed for maid services, but most of them werenβt intuitive and didnβt have the easy-to-read calendar interface they were looking for.
The one exception was ZenMaid.
π§ββοΈ ZenMaid is the all-in-one maid service management software, designed to automate, simplify, and grow maid services. Loved by over 3,000 maid service owners, itβs known for being the easiest-to-use software on the market.
And the deciding factor for the Washe Cleaning team? The kind of calendar interface that cleaning business owners thought they could only dream about.
Go ahead, take a look π
ποΈ”The calendar view was the selling point for ZenMaid,” Dayane recalls. “We wanted something that would be specific for the cleaning business.”
The alternative reality: What if?
Dayane and her team are starting their third year in business together, expecting at least 1M dollars in revenue. We could wrap up the story right here with that happy ending.
ποΈ “In 2021, our first year when we implemented ZenMaid, our revenue was a bit over $165k. Now our projection is to close 2024 at $1 million.
But let’s pause for a moment and imagine a world where Washe Cleaning decided to “figure things out” as they grew, a path many cleaning businesses unwittingly take.
Picture the chaos of scaling with paper calendars, the juggling act of managing a growing team, and the inevitable communication breakdowns. Unhappy cleaners, lost clients, scheduling nightmares, and the daunting task of reassessing and organizing a now larger, more complex operation.
Building a foundation for growth
By choosing ZenMaid from the start, Washe Cleaning sidestepped the chaos and likely saved thousands (and thousands) of dollars from turnover and missed appointments. They built their operations on a solid foundation, enabling them to focus on what they do best: delivering top-notch cleaning services.
The easy-to-use, intuitive scheduling system ZenMaid offers means they can scale their operations without the growing pains typical of the cleaning industry.
ποΈ Dayane reflects, “I donβt think we wouldβve been able to grow like we have without ZenMaid”
It’s never too early to automate
For cleaning business owners who are struggling to decide when to integrate an intuitive scheduling system, let Washe Cleaning’s example be your guide.
Washe Cleaning’s success is not just in its impressive revenue growth or exceptional employee retention rate. It’s in their strategic choice to build their cleaning business on the right systems from day one.
Save yourself thousands of dollars and build your maid service with ZenMaid.
