How Destiny Built a $10K/Month Cleaning Business in 9 Months While Working Full Time

Vic: Okay, so we are live today with Destiny of Maid in a Moment, and Destiny is here to share everything that she's learned. So we're gonna go through her backstory, what she's learned about running a cleaning business, the mistakes she's made along the way. This is our very first YouTube live. So cut us a bit of slack.

We're a little nervous because we've never done it before and we don't really know how the software works, but we've kind of fumbled our way through it. So here we are. So thank you to Destiny for trusting me to be brave enough anyway to go online. Live?

Destiny: Yes. Yeah, I'm glad to be here.

Vic: Oh my gosh. Okay. So Destiny, where is Maid in a Moment?

Destiny: So it is in Cleveland, Tennessee, which is a smaller town, but it's near Chattanooga, so people usually know Knoxville. Chattanooga. We're like the in between.

Vic: Okay. So Tennessee. And how did you even hear about the possibility of starting one of these businesses, because you're not a cleaner yourself, right?

Destiny: No, no, no, no, no. I'm a nurse midwife and my husband's a nurse, so like medical field all the way. And then because of my schedule, I'm on call all the time, delivering babies, just my schedule's crazy. So my husband only works kind of part-time or as needed, PRN. And so we hit a point last summer where it was just really slow and he wasn't getting hours and we kind of realized, oh yeah, we need something else coming in, like this isn't sustainable.

So he gets on Reddit, like he's a redditer. I don't know if that's what you really call him, but he's on there. And so he found that infamous little post about it.

Vic: And so the Reddit post.

Destiny: I know. And so we just kind of went full force into it. And then found this community, the Convertlabs.io, and it kind of just went from there.

Vic: Amazing. Okay. So the Reddit post that Destiny is referring to, for anybody watching this, is Rohan Gilkes wrote a Reddit post in, I think it was the Entrepreneur RideAlong thread. Anyway, it went viral. If you look up how to start a cleaning company, I'm sure you can find it. Surely loads of people have.

And Rohan taught us, my sister Jen and I, how to do what we do. And then we started Cleaning Company Blueprint to share that on YouTube. And so you've watched the YouTube hot seat calls, right?

Destiny: Yes. So at first we just saw it. We were like, okay, we're gonna run with this cleaning idea. And then we, I mean, we had no idea how to do it though. And so we were like, do we hire employees? Do we do this? And I was just doing tons of research because I wanted to do it, right.

And then we were kind of like, okay, maybe this isn't right. Maybe this isn't for us. Like we can't figure it out. And so then I actually ended up selling a stroller for the same price as a business license. And that was the universe thing to go figure it out. And then I found your YouTube, this YouTube channel, and binged all the videos in probably a couple days.

Vic: Don't recommend.

Destiny: It was a lot. It's too much.

Vic: Yes. That's a lot. A lot of people do that though.

Destiny: Yes.

Vic: That's so funny. And then, so you've watched the hot seat call. So you know, and this has kind of been something we've talked about for a few months where I've been like, I'm gonna get you in the hot seat. I'm gonna get you in the hot seat. So, congratulations, you're in the hot seat.

And I know you were a little hesitant because, and forgive me for misquoting you, but something along the lines of, you know, I don't know if I'm that successful yet. So, and I have to tell you, that is universal. Every single person that has ever gone in the hot seat says the exact same thing where it's like, do I know what I'm doing? Like, we don't know what we're doing either, but here we are.

Destiny: Yes. We know more than when we first started.

Vic: For sure. So you're both working, your husband works, do you guys have kids?

Destiny: Yes. Yeah, we have three kids.

Vic: And you have three kids, not one or two, three kids. And you work in healthcare. Okay. So fast track to burnout. So tell me, where's your revenue at now with your cleaning business? I know your goals, but I want everyone else to hear your goals. And let's just dive into it.

Destiny: Yeah, so last month we were just shy of 10,000 revenue.

Vic: Amazing.

Destiny: Yep, just shy. We would've hit it, but there must be a cleaner in town that was out for surgery, and so we had like two biweeklies canceled the same day. I'm sorry, my cleaner's backup. But I have a goal.

Vic: Yes. And then this month?

Destiny: This month we're sitting at around 7,500, so it's a little bit slower. Google calls just haven't been coming in this month. But most of that's just recurrent.

Vic: So that's amazing. Do you know your percentage of recurring versus one time?

Destiny: I don't know the exact percentage, but I mean, I think we've only done like one move out clean, or like a move in, move out one time clean this month. So it's gotta be pretty high.

Vic: Oh, that's amazing. Because when you have that recurring revenue, we talk about it all the time on this channel, it is hard to not think that you need to chase all the move in move outs or all the one time deep cleans because it's good money and you can get those leads. People are always looking for it, but really the better leads are regular old biweekly. Do you know your average, like just off the top of your head, how much each of your clients is maybe spending on their biweekly cleaning?

Is it like a hundred, 200, 300?

Destiny: Probably like 150 to 170, somewhere in that range.

Vic: Yeah. That's what I would think too for Tennessee. Because it's a little bit cheaper there. And just for context, it's May 20th, 2025. So if you're not watching this live, you know, the US has gone through a bit over the last couple of months, so I'm sure they're holding onto their money very tightly.

Destiny: Yeah, I'm sure there's some penny pinching happening.

Vic: I have no doubt about it. I'm in Canada and we certainly have that, not maybe as much, but. And then the main thing is just growing that recurring revenue on an ongoing basis.

Destiny: Exactly.

Vic: For context, I dunno if you know the stat, but apparently during the pandemic when we were all in lockdown, the house cleaning industry only dropped by 2%, which is like, you know, literal lockdown, not allowed to have somebody in your house, and yet it didn't drop that much. It's still a growth industry, so even when things are tough, people still do need house cleaners. So let's talk big, long-term goals. So I know you joked in the community today where you said, you know, you accidentally stumbled across building a business just to pay your bills.

But what are your goals now?

Destiny: So, I mean, I just want it to grow. And I don't think I'm gonna retire from my job. I just love it too much. But I'd love my husband to be able to get out of bedside nursing because that's super rough, just on your body and everything. And it's long 12 hour days.

And so I think it would be nice for him to kind of take over running it full time at some point. And then I wanna move to a farm and have cows and chickens and the homestead.

Vic: Yes. From the YouTube channel, from cleaning company to find freedom. And now I spend all my time with my chickens and cows. That's it. We do have Cecilia and Blake, who I've done a hot seat call with. You've probably seen it.

Destiny: Yes.

Vic: And they live on a big old cattle ranch in Alabama. They moved from New York City, from New Jersey, I believe, to Alabama, which is where Blake is from. So there you go. You'll have some friends in the community that you can ask questions about. He's got a lot of cows though. This is like a proper, like a legit thing.

Not just a few. And so timing wise, how long do you think it will take you to get there, to reach that goal?

Destiny: I don't know. Probably a couple years, I think. I would say in a couple years we'd be comfortable kind of making that jump.

Vic: I think that's totally fair. The fact that you're almost at 10K, so you're at 7,500 now, it's May 20th, so by the end of this month, you'll probably reach like 8,500, maybe 9,000. But most of those are recurring. And then it just keeps growing, right?

Destiny: Yes.

Vic: So you mentioned your Google calls have gone down. So how are you currently getting your leads? Like, where are these people coming from, primarily?

Destiny: Primarily through Google. And then we've gotten a few off of just like Facebook groups, like people ask, and so I always just try to plug in on those, like the website and stuff, just because then people search those and then they're gonna find it. And so I'm just planting those long-term seeds. We've kind of messed around with the Facebook ads just to test it and see, and they're super cheap, so it's not like I'm losing a bunch doing that.

Vic: And so when you say Google, is that all organic or are you paying for leads?

Destiny: Paying for leads. Google Local Service.

Vic: Google Local Services. Okay. And so approximately how much does it cost you per lead right now?

Destiny: About 40.

Vic: Okay. Yeah, it's definitely gone up. It used to only be about 25. In most regions we've heard as much as 80 or 90 right now.

Destiny: Yeah. I saw that and I was like, ooh, that wouldn't make sense. That's painful.

Vic: That's painful. Not for a one time clean. It's brutal. So for anybody who doesn't know what we're talking about, we've got videos on this stuff. It's called GLS or LSA, which stands for Local Service Ads. I don't know why there's so many names for it, but basically you pay for every phone call where the person has clicked.

It's the first ad at the very top of the page, it has a little check mark and it says Google guaranteed. And it means if your cleaner screws up and the client asks for a refund, Google will give them up to two grand back. So Google is really putting their money where their mouth is. But at the same time, you don't know when you're answering the phone if it's a Google lead or not.

Right, Destiny?

Destiny: Nope.

Vic: So you gotta answer every call. And so how do you do that when you're working, your husband's working? Like how do you do that?

Destiny: So pretty much our schedules are opposite. So one of us can always be on the phone.

Vic: So that's great. Yes. And then they email you after you hang up the phone, oh, that was a Google lead, and you're like, oh, okay. Did I have my game face on? It was almost like mystery shopping, if you remember the days of mystery shopping. You know, if you worked in retail, somebody would mystery shop you, you get a report on how good you are as a salesperson.

It's kind of the same, less information though. You either book the lead or you don't, and sometimes the leads are not great.

Destiny: No. But then every time I think about quitting, I'm like, I'm so done with this. And then I'm like, oh, nevermind. I'm not done with this. Because then you get one.

Vic: So tell us, you had one recently, you had a big one recently. Can you tell us about that one?

Destiny: Yeah. So we went and quoted this car dealership that was just super unhappy with the service they were having. And we ended up being out of their price range, but honestly, it was gonna be like 105 man hours a week. Like just ridiculous. It would've been so much. So I was like, I'm not lowballing this because this is gonna change everything.

Two teams of three people out constantly. It was just gonna be a lot. And so I'm actually kind of thankful that it didn't work out. I mean, we would've ran with it and tried to make it work, but the right doors open when they're supposed to.

Vic: So it's so funny because we get asked all the time about commercial cleaning. You know, should I get into commercial? It's bigger money, it's long-term contracts. Like that sounds really good. And you know what I always say, right? That yes, what do I say?

Destiny: Residential wins.

Vic: Residential wins. Not that it's a competition, it's just different. Like 150 bucks every two weeks versus dealing with, now you're dealing with a bookkeeper. You have to send them invoices. They have to pay the invoices, and you've already paid your cleaners, so you've got a major cash flow issue.

Destiny: Yeah. And especially if you had three people out every day. That's a lot of cash.

Vic: So there goes any extra money. Which, let's face it, you're running a small business, as successful as you are, it's still a small business. You can't cash flow that kind of thing.

Destiny: Yeah, no.

Vic: So I'm really glad that you at least did the research, found out a lot and went, okay, this is totally right for us. So they probably found somebody who was cheaper.

Destiny: Yep.

Vic: More desperate and willing to beg the bank for a credit card or something. Right, have at it.

Destiny: Yeah. We've had so many of those. Have at it. Good luck with that. It's perfect for someone else.

Vic: And so your best GLS leads then, why are you still on there? So that one you didn't book, you paid the 40 bucks for, but that's where we've gotten our recurring from.

Destiny: They call and I don't know if it's the Google Local Service at the time. I'm like, how'd you hear about us? Oh, you were number one on Google. And that doesn't mean number one in the three pack. That means I was at the top and your reviews were fantastic. That's what they say all the time. So I'm like, that's really good. Okay, fine. Until I'm consistently in that three pack, I can't give it up.

Vic: Well, and here's the reason. The fact that they said your reviews are fantastic, that means they see you at the top of Google. Then they look at your GMB profile, and that's your Google My Business profile. So that's on the right hand side of the screen. And then they actually, they're doing some research.

So that's actually a really good lead if they ever say that to you. Because part of the reason Jen and I stopped with our Google Local Services is we were finding people, they were just kind of price shopping and they weren't, because we've got over 200 reviews, like we've proven ourselves. We are in the three pack consistently. And so we don't need to spend that money.

But it's also a long term goal. You will get there, Destiny. It's everything to do with just keep going. There's no magic formula. You just keep going. And it's the SEO game and it takes time. But those positive reviews are everything. And that has everything to do with you and your husband and how you manage the clients and their expectations.

So let's talk about that. What do you guys do in order to get that amazing review? Why is your company standing out from the others?

Destiny: We show up and we communicate. That's how. And they really like the online. They like being able to pay with a card. So I find that, because we live in a town where it's kind of a mix of, there's a lot of older people and so they get a little eh about putting their card in and I have to really talk them through it.

Like, this is Stripe. This is a real thing. Secure. I haven't charged you. I have that conversation so many times a week. It's kind of mind blowing. But so those are the ones that, if someone is not gonna be happy, it's usually that. Like they were already kind of like, I don't know about putting my card in.

And then if you have a new cleaner that's a couple weeks in and she doesn't do exactly what they thought. And so that went on for a little bit and I'm like, okay, went to the community, what am I doing wrong? And so then now I send them an email about exactly what to expect. And I think that has helped kind of set the expectations that no, we don't do X, Y, and Z.

And if you want this, let us know. And the windows are an add on and all that stuff that might not get said during a phone call.

Vic: I'm so glad to hear you say that. And you know, it took me three years to figure that one out. So kudos to you for embracing that from the community. I know we have a few samples, so for anybody watching this, I'll put this up. You've got the Convertlabs.io/blueprint link there. That's what Destiny and I are talking about when we talk about the community.

It's a community that's attached to the software that we use that gives us the online booking. But that gives us the ability to run cards and not have to deal with chasing payments. I'll take it down now, just because it's kind of obnoxious across the screen. But yeah, so I'm so glad you do that.

And I do the same thing where I have to set the boundaries and even if I've already had the phone call and I've talked to the client, I still repeat it in the email. And I honestly thought that by being so clear with people of what we don't do that people would take that as kind of rude or take offense by it. But instead the opposite has happened where people are like, I'm so glad they told me what they don't do. I'm so glad I know what to expect.

Destiny: Yes.

Vic: Right. You wanna know what your money's paying for. And so what really drove it home for me that I needed to refine it was that I got a call from someone we had done a cleaning for, and she was like, I asked the cleaner what was included in the deep cleaning. And she said, I don't know. And I'm like, oh, okay. So write it down, give it to the cleaner.

Destiny: And then you get into their contractors, you can't tell them exactly. So I'm like, this is what they see when they book. If you can align your cleaning to resemble this. And then I need to do a better job at telling, because she shouldn't have had to ask my cleaner what was included.

Vic: Good point.

Destiny: And so that's the email. I've made it more clear to my cleaners what I hire them, exactly what is expected. I've created an email template with all of it.

Vic: When did you start the company, by the way?

Destiny: I think last September, October.

Vic: September, October. Yes. I'm using my fingers. November, December, January, February, March, April, May. So nine months. That's really good. So you have your email templates. You've almost got 10K. I don't wanna jinx it, but I can safely say you'll double that within a year if you keep doing everything you're doing, if not triple or quadruple.

Destiny: We kind of sit stagnant for a few months. We'll sit around the same and then we'll jump and then we'll sit and then we'll jump. So it's nice to pace the growth like that too. It gives me a little time to hire cleaners.

Vic: How many cleaners do you have now?

Destiny: Four.

Vic: Okay. Wow, that's really good. With only four cleaners. That's really good.

Destiny: Yeah. My number one, she's been with me almost from the beginning. She's fantastic. She takes most residential, because she just wants all of it. And she was my first girl, so I'm loading her up until she tells me to stop. And she opened up her own salon and so she's trying to get that off the ground. And so I'm like this bridge to her eventually flying.

Vic: Oh, that's so nice. Nail salon or?

Destiny: No, just like aesthetics, like eyes.

Vic: So funny. We have a cleaner exactly like that, that has been with us since 2021 and she does eyelashes on the weekends. She's not ready to open up her own salon. I don't know if she ever will. But she makes a lot of money doing lashes, and she cleans with us kind of Monday to Friday and then I never give her anything on the weekend because she says, yeah, I got lashes.

They pay more. I'm like, all right, who knew? And she loves it. So that's so lovely. And you're probably really inspiring for her, in terms of knowing like you started this business. She can certainly start hers.

Destiny: Yes. So yeah, she does the bulk of it. But then I've got a two person team, they're sisters, and they struggled with the residential side of things, about going into new houses and everything being different. And so I would get a text every single clean, okay, what are we supposed to do with this one?

Is there anything special? And I'm like, read the notes. And I was like, okay, this isn't the right spot for them. But I had a commercial job in the loop and so I was like, I think that's gonna be perfect. And so we got that bid and I put them into that and it's just two days a week, which is what they wanted.

And it's worked out perfectly. Like chef's kiss. They do the same thing every time. They like to do churches too. So I got a church bid. If we get that, they're gonna go into that. That's what they like. And so whenever I orient someone to it, I'm like, part of this first bit is me learning you, you learning us.

Like I wanna give you what you want. And so that's been really cool. Because I've got them kind of squared away now with their set stuff. And then the new girl is the worker. It'll take a minute.

Vic: Yeah, take a minute. But I love that you don't just fire someone because of the wrong fit for one type of client. Right. Because we are dealing with cleaners and there's a wide range of cleaning ability and personalities. And one cleaner might be amazing at one type of cleaning, but not the right fit for this type of client.

But at the same time, they'd be really great with this type of client. And this is where being a former recruiter is my magic superpower. Because I'm able to think that way and go, okay, you're not right for this, but you could be right for that. And then the patience that it takes.

Because this is the job, right? And you didn't know this when you started this company nine months ago?

Destiny: Nope.

Vic: And it doesn't matter how many times I say it on the channel. This is the job. You are managing cleaners, you're managing clients, and you are the person in the middle trying to make it easier for both of them.

Destiny: Yep. I'm the matchmaker.

Vic: You are the matchmaker and the software makes it easier for all of us. Thank you to Kevin and Rohan and the community for having the software, but really it's not like, we have people that think, oh, it's just software. It's like, no, it's not plug and play. You have to deal with the human beings, guys.

Destiny: Yeah. So this is not just your passive set it and forget it. It takes work, but it's so rewarding. Like, I love getting my house cleaned myself, so I like when other people get their house clean and they get people pleaser. Like, I want that. I get to see these cleaners kind of take off and it's really cool.

Vic: It's the best part. And it's something, we have our Millionaire Mastermind, which I know you'll join when you reach 50K a month in revenue, your automatic free membership. We meet once a month and we talk about what's going well, what's gone wrong. We all have the same struggles. And it's honestly no different than what we're talking about now, Destiny.

The only difference is the price tag that we can all proudly say. I don't know why 50K, that's the marker. And the number one thing that all of us say over and over again is just how happy and proud of our cleaners that we are. And yes, we've had some duds with some struggles.

We all have. We've all had to fire people. It's just the job. But at the end of the day, paying your cleaners and knowing that you're making their lives better. You're not this horrible boss taking advantage. And we've all worked those jobs. I think that's the other thing too. None of us have come into this without having had some sort of job in our past where we go, I don't wanna do that.

So thank you to the bad bosses, the crappy managers, because now we know. Running this kind of a business where it's transparent, the pay is transparent. Do you do the 60 40 split?

Destiny: That's, I believe in it wholeheartedly.

Vic: Same. I'm always shocked when people don't.

Destiny: I don't do half the work. I shouldn't. They do more. I've never, I mean, I cleaned my own house, but I've never gone out and cleaned until last month and it finally happened. I had to go clean a house.

Vic: You poor thing. They can have 80%.

Destiny: Don't tell them that. But I mean, because they appreciate what we do too. Like they don't want to deal with chasing the money and they don't wanna deal with finding more clients. They just wanna show up and do their job and get treated right and be kind and go home at the end of the day and leave their job at the job site and have that better quality of life.

Vic: We all want the same thing. Like this is just human need. We all want this. And so to be able to provide that is the best. So I've got a little secret to tell you and everybody who's watching this. It's not really a secret because I've already announced it in the community, so you probably know.

But we have replicated our cleaning business and done the exact same thing for lawn care. And so our company's called Oak Bay Clean, so we started Oak Bay Lawns.com. And let me tell you, I have met with maybe four different landscaping companies over the last four years of running this cleaning business. And I would business network with them and try to get them to understand how online booking works.

And every single one is like, nah, you can't do online because you've gotta go in person and do a quote. And I'm like, yeah, people used to say that about cleaning too. And then they're like, nah, you can't use independent contractors because they won't show up. Half your staff will be drug addicts, like just the worst.

And so then my sister's son thinks he's gonna start one, but he is only 19, so he does like half the legwork and then he is like, it's summer, I wanna have fun. And so he passes it back to us.

Destiny: Totally fair. He's 19, have fun.

Vic: Yes. And so we end up, we're like, well, we have to do it, we know what we're doing. And so within two weeks we're in the Google three pack. And it's not for any other reason, pardon me, because there's no one else doing that. Literally none. And I challenge you to do the research in your city, wherever you are, on lawn care, because once you know how to do this for cleaning, it is the exact same thing.

Destiny: I am a jump on it and go person. As soon as you posted that, I was Googling. And did you see, like, hardly any reviews?

Vic: Yes.

Destiny: I was like, hmm. I was like, how do I tell my husband I wanna do this? Because our competition has 10 reviews. One of them has 10, one has 11 and one has like 30. And it's a major chain.

Vic: So it's a bit like Molly Maid's or Merry Maids, right? But it's called Jim's Mowing. And so they've been around a long time. They look like they're local, because their name is Jim's Mowing, which is very smart. Whoever started that, you know, you see their trucks driving around, you're like, oh, that's Jim, right?

But it's a chain. No shade. Chains are fine, but it's just a different model. And so of course they have more reviews, but nobody else has any. We already have five. We already have two recurring clients within a week and they both came on organically. And that's because we've got four years of Google history with Oak Bay Clean.

We have Oak Bay Clean pointing to Oak Bay Lawns. Oak Bay Lawns pointing to Oak Bay Clean, and we filled out the Google profile in full. Now the other thing is that people said, and I bring this up because of what you said about working with these amazing people as cleaners, so my biggest concern going into lawn care was these four guys, and they were all guys, saying to me, no, because the guys will show up or they won't show up, or they'll be drunk. Like, it's a whole different ballgame.

You have no idea what you're getting into. And I was like, hmm. I have a feeling I can probably find the good ones. And so I explained the model, you get 60%, we take 40%. You cover your costs. So your truck, your supplies, your time, your gas, that's yours. Our costs are our software, Visa, MasterCard, Amex fees, Stripe fees, my time.

How does that sound? Nobody's ever given me more than an hourly wage. And then I'm like, well, what are your complaints about working for these other companies? Well, they don't listen to me. I tell them X and they do Y, and they just treat me like, you know. And I'm like, okay, well I'll tell you what, I know nothing about lawn care.

I've never even used a lawn mower. And it's not, I'm not saying say that to everybody because that's not a great policy long term. But in our case, we've got the credibility of running this other company. So I'm not sure I would advise anybody from their first week to start that way. But respecting, listening, caring and paying more goes a long way.

Destiny: Yep. My number one cleaner, she worked for a different company before. And it's kind of the same. You can get a quote online, it's a little bit harder. It's not as transparent. It's kind of the same vibe, I guess. She was like, I never made anywhere close to the amount of money, and she was like, I never felt like I was a part of it.

And that's totally, she always, whenever I get a new cleaner, she does their test clean. It's just cool watching her. That's the best leadership role really, is my lead cleaner. And so it's been really cool.

Vic: Oh, I just love that, that makes me so happy. And this is the stuff that I didn't know when we started this either. I just thought it was money in the bank. Let's be real. I was like, okay, we just gotta make some money. We gotta make some money fast. And we gotta do it where I don't have to get a job, because I can't work for anyone else ever again.

So, you know, the Reddit post and then Rohan's course over the 30 days, and now we have the YouTube channel where you can literally just follow it, right? And I think Destiny, you even posted, just do what they say. Anytime someone's like, I'm thinking about it, no, just follow the post, follow the formula. Try not to think too much about it.

Destiny: It's the thinking too much. We all got into this, well, I won't say all of us, but to not work as much, to get some extra money. Like don't overthink it. They've already done all the thinking. You just need to follow it.

Vic: And chances are you're gonna create problems for yourself because you don't trust the model yet. And there's a reason that we're all here saying, hey guys, we found this amazing model. 60 40 is the game changer when it comes to treating people well. If you try to pay them 40% and you take 60%, you know.

Although, having said that, I do know people that do that, and they have a very successful business. It wouldn't work for me, but I get it. Like, if people are willing, I don't think they're transparent about giving them 40%. I think they just say it's $25 or whatever. Whereas I'm big on transparency.

I just think it's the way forward. It's how we get gender equality when it comes to rates of pay. Because there's no, does he get 65% and she gets 55%? Nope. Both get 60. It's the same. So let's talk about some mistakes that you've made. Because I'm sure you've made a few. So tell us about any of them that you're willing to share.

Destiny: Let's see, what has been. Oh, I didn't listen to my gut. It's always there telling you. This person called from Google Local Service and it was an older person and he just needed someone to come help clean. And I was like, yeah, no problem. And he's like, well, you guys ever had COVID?

I mean, we won't come to your house sick. Like, because he said he had had cleaners before and they came in sick with COVID. And I was like, well, we would never do that. And he is like, no, have you ever had COVID? And I'm pretty sure everyone has at this point, sir.

Vic: Yes. Surely.

Destiny: And he was like, no, not me. And I'm like, okay, well I don't think we're a good fit then. And I just ended it at that. Two months later I get another phone call and I'm like, is this the same person? Kind of similar backstory, but they didn't ask about COVID. It had to have been the same person.

I went back and checked the number, it was the same person. And now he's threatened to sue us. Like for what? He got sick? He won't let the cleaners clean on the side for him. It's just silly stuff. And when he first booked, the first 24 hour hold went through it, said like, oh, the card's been reported stolen.

So we called and he's like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. It had to be reported. Gave him a new card. I'm like, whatever, it happened. Well then whenever he canceled, the money got booted back out. And I'm like, well that's weird. Because it went through Stripe and it was refunded and I was like, I didn't do that.

And so I tried to recharge it, because as you would, it's my money. And then it didn't go through and it said it was reported as fraud and I'm like, what? So it's been a whole thing. So I wish I would've just listened to my gut and just said, again, the second time, no, we're not a good fit for you.

I had this feeling about it, but I was like, I'm really chasing that money.

Vic: Oh man. The number of times I've done that, Destiny, where it's like, you've got this goal in your head and then you shut down the voice that's like, no, not this client. Not all clients are the right fit. And sometimes I wonder, and I don't think anybody's done this yet, but you know how there's, like for dating, there's sites that will say like, are we dating the same guy?

And women will post a picture. So I often think within the cleaning industry, we almost need like a private members group of all the cleaning companies in our city and be like, hey, heads up, this one is going to make you pay for their cleaning. You are never gonna get a dime out of this person. And they jump from one cleaning company to another.

Destiny: Yep. I think that's what happened. And I think he's reporting the card stolen so he doesn't have to pay.

Vic: And I'm like, can you do this before your company catches on? But you know what, you have your $150 and life is short and they're less than 2% and they are not worth your time.

Destiny: No. And I still didn't put two and two together because I just assumed the best of people. So I call them up like, hey, I just wanna say something weird is going on with your card. And he was like, y'all are a scam and I'm suing you. I'm like, oh, that's different than how I thought this was gonna go.

Vic: It's like, oh, okay. Well, good luck. Best of luck to you, sir. It's no scam. We cleaned your apartment. You have to pay us money. We had somebody similar who, they were going bankrupt and they knew they were going bankrupt. Anyway, we never got a dime out of them. And it was just like, who does that?

But people do that and it's okay because it's not worth it. How much are you spending in total per month on your GLS ads? Do you know?

Destiny: I cap it at 400.

Vic: Okay. And you just said that the phone has not been ringing lately?

Destiny: Yeah. So I've only spent like 250 this month, and usually I'm through my budget at this point.

Vic: So I'll tell you a little hack. You probably already know this one, but I'll tell it. Do you know it? Increase it.

Destiny: Yeah.

Vic: And then drop it right before the 400. Because just by increasing, and that's what your competitors are doing. So I know somebody in the community has theirs, I think it was like a million dollars that she was willing to spend a week. Like, I can't believe they'll even let you raise it to that.

You're gonna spend 300 bucks max, there's not that many people calling. But yeah, so that's the little hack, just to get the phone to ring. And then SEO, are you doing anything for SEO?

Destiny: So, a couple months ago I went kind of crazy on SEO and watched all the videos and I signed up for like the Hey Tony site audit, which was super duper helpful, like honestly. I paid $10 to go on, because you really only need it to fix it. So I canceled. Actually, I might not have canceled, I may need to do that.

But anyways, that's 10 bucks a month. That's easy to do. And it just lays it out. Here's the problem, here's a video about how you fix it. It was the ABCs of SEO that I needed. And I did that, and now I get Semrush notifications that we're number three for this search, or number two for this search, and then we'll drop down for a few days, then we'll get back up there.

So I see the progress, like we're getting there. I've Googled myself at one point on the little private tab and I was up in the top three. So it's not consistent, but.

Vic: It takes time, and nine months in, that's amazing. I think it's great.

Destiny: I couldn't be happier. So I've laid off it for a little bit because I don't understand it and it hurts my brain.

Vic: Yeah. We go through the same thing. And Jen, sometimes I'll hear her like, ugh, I have to do this again. But we know people in the community spending $2,000 a month to do exactly what we're doing. And they don't have the time. Totally fair. You spend your money how you wanna spend your money, but in our case, we just do what Matt says from Hey Tony and what Daniel says in the video that Jen did on the channel.

And that's it. There's no magic. It's boring, it's repetitive, it's a bit painful, because you have to just constantly be trying to get links to your website and reviews and links and reviews.

Destiny: And they make it seem so hard by using fancy words. It's just like, oh, I was like, I don't know what even is that.

Vic: No, it's dead simple. You need other people talking about how great your company is. That's it. And then the other thing that's changing obviously is AI, but AI is still using Google, so don't panic yet. I know a lot of people out there are like, Google's losing its search power. But when I look at any of the AI tools and I do a search on who are the best cleaning companies, ours happens to come up and I'm like, that's because of Google.

Because they wouldn't have, so it's all the same. It's just getting other people to talk about your business, because they've had a great experience or even a bad experience. It doesn't really matter. Okay, last question. What advice would you give to someone who is watching this? They haven't launched yet, they're just thinking about it.

What advice would you give to them?

Destiny: Go do it. Like just go do it. The way I thought about it, there was this back and forth, and then I was like, you know what? It's like 300 bucks for a business license. Like I don't have a lot of skin in this game. If it doesn't work out, oh well, next year I'm not gonna miss this $300 I spent on my business license. And so just go do it. Like what do you have to lose?

Vic: And actually, sorry, I said it was the last question, but I have one more to follow up on that, because you said it was $300, that's your business license. What were your startup costs, if you remember?

Destiny: I mean, there was, we did silly things like buy car magnets.

Vic: Oh, bless.

Destiny: Stuff that before you really know, like before I even found the community, I was like, oh, we need to get t-shirts.

Vic: Okay. Thank goodness. I do want a t-shirt now. Just because I want it. I kind of want one too, because if you remember Tommy's hot seat call where Tommy talks about how he's an introvert and he wears his business shirt and he goes out for coffee so that people will talk to him and he gets business out of it. And he plays pickleball in his shirt and he gets lots of business from pickleball.

Destiny: That's hilarious. Like the car magnet, literally, I don't think anyone's ever scanned it. Thinking back, I'm like, that was silly. So I won't count that towards startup costs. That was just me being crazy. But I mean, 600 maybe between everything, because even Convertlabs is free for the first month. So you don't have to worry about that. So yeah, as long as you use that blueprint link, then it's free.

Vic: I'll throw that thing in again. This is so obnoxious. But yeah, that link gives you 30 days free. Otherwise it's 197 US dollars a month. And then you've got your insurance, your OpenPhone, which is your phone line. Best 20 bucks you ever spent, right?

Destiny: Yep. And I upgraded to the 30 bucks plan, because I needed the scammers to stop calling me.

Vic: Oh, it's 30 bucks now, because you wanted press one or press two, right?

Destiny: Yeah, I think it's around 30.

Vic: We're still paying 20, which is lucky. So I think they grandfather you in or something. And they could charge me a hundred bucks and I would still love OpenPhone. Like you can't even imagine life without it. Somebody tried to scam a cleaning company. It's the most ridiculous thing. And I was like, how much more do I have to pay? I'll pay whatever to get these calls, the robocalls, it just shuts it down right away.

Destiny: Some sneaky salespeople will still press two.

Vic: And I'm like, I see what you did there. And I wanted to have, press one if you're a regular client of ours, press two if you're a new client, or press three if you're trying to sell me something. I thought, as someone on the other side of that, that would make me laugh as a customer. But Jen was like, you can't do that.

I'm like, all right. I thought it was funny. And she's like, no, it'll set people off. I'm like, all right, whatever. But yeah, I think in terms of costs, you've pretty much nailed it. And then your insurance. But somebody asked me today, I did a discovery call and somebody asked like, is this like $2,000 a month, 3,000?

I'm like, it's under a grand. You can spend a thousand on marketing easily. But then you have to have enough cleaners to handle that demand that you're gonna get.

Destiny: Right. And that's the other thing. Right now I wanna get the new girl kind of more comfortable. That way when I do increase the budget and start throwing stuff at her, she's ready for it, because I wanna set her up for success too. It's not fair just to throw her into the deep end and then when it doesn't work out, be like, oh, I'm sorry, bye.

Vic: You know, it's funny, we had a cleaner, it took 11 months to get there with her. But it was worth it. And the reason I stuck with her is I knew it was a communication thing and I knew it wasn't about her cleaning. She just asked a lot of questions. And I realized, okay, this woman wants to understand everything, and I would even show her my screen to show her the bookings.

And now she's one of our best cleaners. She's totally reliable. She has no problems with the cleaning. She gets along with all her clients. She never loses a client. We lost one weekly recently, and I think it's because of the tariffs or something, because there's been some job losses. But otherwise she hasn't lost a single client.

So it's worth it.

Destiny: Yeah, usually. Trust your instinct. When your spidey senses tell you it's not, then it's not.

Vic: And you gotta think about the customers too, right? Because they're not all sunshine and rainbows. Some of them are not easy to work with.

Destiny: Nope. And so like I had this with the new cleaner. I lost a biweekly and I was like, oh my God. And I reached out to them, what's going on? And they're like, well, we really loved her, but we didn't feel like she paid attention to detail. And I was like, oh, okay, we need to do another orientation.

Let's get her back out with a cleaner, let's go through it again. And then the timing just didn't work out great for this past week, but I needed to get someone back out to reclean, so I sent my lead cleaner. She texted me and she was like, don't hate me. I don't ever wanna come back to this house.

She was like, this is the dirtiest house I've ever been in in my life. And I was like, okay, so let's backtrack.

Vic: Interesting. So some of, like when complaints come in, fill them out. Is this a cleaner problem? Is this a thin problem, or is it a both, and we just didn't understand each other problem? And oftentimes, you bring up a really good point. So someone with a really, really dirty house that's calling and saying they didn't get the details, have they ever had cleaners before?

And their other cleaner did better, and I said, well, where did she go, or he, where did they go?

Destiny: Used the credit cards.

Vic: Right. Yeah. Oh, you know it. I love it. I'm so grateful to you, Destiny. I'm so proud of you. I remember when you first started and like, hey, I'm so excited. But also, you know, and now, it's been nine months, we're looking at a year and I'm like, it's been life changing.

Destiny: Like honestly, my cleaners all say it's been life changing. It's just beautiful, that is growing and I just can't wait.

Vic: That's so cool. And eventually one of you, probably your husband, will be able to do this full time. And honestly, Jen and I don't do this full time. Like we don't. I mean, maybe if I was chasing leads, if I was going after commercial, if I was business networking, I could make anything full-time.

Especially with ADHD, it is very easy for me to fill my day with nonsense. But the reality is, I take a few bookings, I take a few phone calls and I send the cleaners out. Now your first nine months, year, you've had to build all the emails, you've had to build your onboarding documents. There's a lot that you can use in the community, but you still have to tailor it for your business.

Some people just try to plug and play and it's like, they'll use mine and Oak Bay Clean comes up on their business. You really have to make your own.

Destiny: We try to make it as simple as possible. I copied yours and then thought I did a good job and then still found an Oak Bay in there somewhere.

Vic: Find the Oak Bay. That's hilarious. And hey, we did the exact same thing when we started. Like Rohan shared his stuff. We copied and pasted and edited, and now I use AI to do that. Thank God for ChatGPT Pro. It's such a game changer. Hey, can you make this nicer? Not as blunt.

Destiny: Because in healthcare you're blunt. Like my documentation is blunt. It is no nonsense. And so sometimes I'm like, oh, I need to soften this, chat.

Vic: That's exactly what I use mine for too. It knows, because I'm the same, and I do what I call the verbal diarrhea dump where I just go into chat and I'm like, get this out of my system and then make this the perfect onboarding document to invite this new client, but also tell them we don't clean up feces or urine or rat droppings or whatever. Because I would just be like, we don't do that, don't be a dirty pig. I don't say that, but you got it.

Anyway, I am so grateful for you and the community, and I hope this helps other people out there. This is why we do the hot seat calls, is to help others that are just starting out. So Destiny, if they wanna reach out to you, I'm gonna tell them to find you in the community.

Destiny: Yep, do it.

Vic: And then there's the link. So perfect. That's it. Alright. Thank you. So proud of you. I wanna meet your husband next time, too. Okay?

Destiny: Okay, sounds good.

Vic: All right, I'm gonna shut this down. Thank you.

Destiny: Yeah. Oh, I think I have to end the stream. Whoops.