Isaac and Jenna run Columbus Cleaning Service in Columbus, Ohio, and this is their third time in the Cleaning Company Blueprint hot seat. A year ago they were doing under $20K a month. In their second interview they were at $63K. Now this married couple is at $80K a month, running on the contractor model with recurring residential clients and apartment communities. In this conversation, Isaac, Jenna and I walk through how they got there, from valuing their cleaners to reading their own numbers to the website changes that lifted their SEO. Watch the full interview below, then read the complete transcript underneath. If you are weighing whether this model pays, pair this with is a cleaning business profitable, the follow-up on what Jenna and Isaac decided to do at $80K a month, and our own numbers in $780K with 28% margins, just Jen and me.
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Full transcript
Vic: Okay, I am here with Jenna and Isaac. This is our third video that we're doing together, and I'm pleased to report that Jenna and Isaac are now beating me and Jen in revenue. They're at 80K a month. It was only a year ago that we did our very first interview with these guys.
And I believe you were under 10 or 20K at that time. And then our second video, you were at 63K. Got an email from you the other day saying, "Hey, by the way, we're at 80." I was like, "Oh my god, we got to jump in the hot seat. I'm so proud of you.
I love it when the students become the teachers." So, first off, congratulations to you both.
Isaac: Thank you.
Vic: Secondly, how's it going?
Jenna: Been a wild ride.
Isaac: Last ride, too. Yeah.
Jenna: Yeah, it literally was. It's funny. I was doing our 2025 taxes and at the beginning of last year we were like 10, 12,000 in revenue a month. It just has been a wild year.
Vic: So what do you think you guys have done? Because you know loads of people start these and they crash out. They quit after a few months and you guys could have quit I'm sure a million times.
Jenna: I know we could have quit a million times. We still think about quitting all the time.
Vic: What do you think you did that's different than the people who quit?
Jenna: It's a really good question. And I can't graze over it. I believe by the grace of God we are where we are. And also, you know, it takes a little bit of luck. It takes persistence. It takes believing in not only the business and the model but also yourselves. And I will say that Isaac and I, as you know, Vic, you started coaching Isaac and then I came in several months, more than several months after that to help him.
But we have complimentary skills and I think, you know, when it comes to business, there's a lot of complexity. So a cleaning company is a wonderful business opportunity, and there's a lot of things that have to fall in place. And you have to have the right skill sets. And we're just lucky that we happen to be married to our complimentary skill set where Isaac is techy and analytical and all the things, where I really came in on the relational side of things and was able to grow us there.
So, it's not really a simple answer and it's not supposed to be cliche, but I do believe that belief in yourself and belief in your partner and what you're doing is huge, right? It's what we tell our kids. It's like the attitude's everything. And we had an attitude that this was going to work, that we were going to work, that we believed in this business.
And when you see a little glimpse of hope or results, then you know, keep going. You know that everything's not going to work. But what we found is there's so many doors to walk through with a cleaning company and you just keep doing those and you're able to discern what's for you and what's not aligned with you. And yeah, I'll put a pin in it there.
Isaac: I will go back for anybody who's watched the other videos. I owned a cleaning business in Chicago that I ran remotely before Jenna started helping me, and when I compare the two, the one in Chicago I got to about 10,000 in revenue when I hit what felt like at the time anyway a ceiling. Ended up selling that business. But I think the big difference was what I was willing to invest in the two businesses.
In terms of the growth trajectory of the two businesses, Chicago grew much slower, much more linearly than exponentially. And I think in large part because of what I was willing to invest. I was literally trying to start a business for as cheap as possible. And I did. It was successful by any stretch of the imagination.
But the difference in the growth trajectory was what we were willing to invest.
Vic: Yeah. And I think, I mean, you were working full-time then. Jenna was coaching as well on international stages, traveling. You guys are also parents of young kids. How old are your kids?
Isaac: Eight, five and one.
Vic: Yeah. So three kids under the age of 10. So you were in it in terms of the family being obviously all-consuming, but then also having full-time jobs and then leaving those jobs to go all in on Columbus Cleaning Service. So that's where you live. It's where you care the most. So it totally makes sense to me that that's where you would put all of your energy.
And something that's come up a lot with both of you has been the impact that your business is having. So, can you talk a little bit more about what impact means for you and how that has framed your business philosophy, because you're not just in it to get rich quick. You're not trying to just pay your bills. You guys are very much an inspiration I think for me and for others on how small business owners can actually have a positive impact.
Jenna: Well, thank you for the kind words. When you were talking, going to both those questions and stemming off of it of why we think that we're successful, is we really care about the people in this and everything boils down to people for us and that's on both sides. It's our cleaners. So, who's on our team and getting to know them and their families and what will really help them, right?
It makes a big difference to be able to be valued and treated well and compensated well, support their family, their children. And we take the time to get to know that. And when you're creating something that's bigger than you, then it pushes you to keep pushing. And so, we're pushing for our cleaners.
We're pushing for their families, their children. We're pushing to be able to help more people. And the way you do that is you get more clients. You get more revenue to be able to help more people. And we care about our clients, don't get me wrong. But really our heart is out to our cleaners.
And what we've always desired is to build something that's bigger than us, right? And never thought it'd be a cleaning company. But when you talk about impact, we could tell you story after story of cleaners that have come to us and gotten vulnerable quick, which shows that we are a safe space, right? And I don't take that lightly, that they feel cared for enough to be vulnerable.
And they share these stories, you know, whether that's an abusive relationship, whether that's poverty, whether that's single parenthood, whether that's being really treated poorly by a bad boss before. And those can go on and on, but they tell us these stories and then we listen to them and we say, "Okay, what would be an ideal schedule for you? What would be ideal types of jobs? What would be ideal income?" And that looks vastly different person to person, but the impact is there.
So when we say impact, you alluded to Columbus Cleaning Service. Columbus, Ohio is where we live. We really want this to be an avenue to give back to our community, and giving back through employment to our cleaners is one way. Also, we have bank accounts in the company that are for tithing and for giving.
And we also are partnering now with organizations doing really awesome work here in our community. And we now have an opportunity to come alongside them and to serve people, and that's a big deal. And Columbus Cleaning Service is how we've been able to do that.
Vic: I love that so much and I think, you know, we've touched on a few things. They're really big already right out of the gate. That's why I love talking to you guys. By the way, I know Jenna has to leave sooner than Isaac. She's got to do the kid run. But at the end of this, we are going to dive into the numbers deeper.
So, do stick around for the numbers discussion because that's Isaac's jam. So, we're going to focus on Jenna's jam first and then we'll focus on Isaac's jam. But they both obviously coincide. What we've just discussed already is mindset, which is huge. It's everything. So, believing that you can succeed, believing that your cleaners can succeed, looking for other people that have already succeeded, and then following the lessons.
And that's what Isaac did when you reached out to me asking for one-on-one help, back when I did that. And then the second thing besides mindset is the impact you're having. And I love how you focused first on the cleaners. So, everyone else in this space and in most online spaces on YouTube, in particular, where they're teaching you how to make money online, it's this funny thing that happens.
They don't talk about the actual workers. And the three of us are so aligned on this where it's like your cleaners come first. And almost every single person who starts a new cleaning business starts with the leads, right? So when I do surveys and I'll ask people, I'll have 50 people on a webinar and I'd be like, okay, what do you guys want to learn?
More than half will respond, lead generation. How do I get my first leads? How do I get my first clients? And of course, it matters. It is important. And I will ask Isaac later how he got his first lead. But what is even more important, and I do believe the people that are more successful are the ones that really hear this, the cleaners come first.
Jenna: Why? Because they are in demand, right?
Vic: So we know the cleaning industry is growing year after year after year. That's why this is a great business to start. So that means people are searching for cleaners year after year after year. So there's a shortage of good cleaners. So how do you keep your good cleaners? And you guys have nailed it.
You treat them well. You ask them, right? And I know from my experience, most people don't ask them these questions. They don't ask, "What do you need in your life?"
Jenna: It's really simple. I forget what it was the other day, we were in a meeting with somebody and we were like, "It really is simple. Be kind. Treat people as humans. Be respectful." And I remember I think it was early on with a call with you and people were like, "Do you ever fear getting walked over because you're too kind or you care about them too much?" And my simple answer is no.
I don't even understand that to be honest with you. I don't understand why people are so afraid of that. I mean, I am respectful to them and I expect them to be respectful to me. We have clear expectations for them, right? But you can say it in a kind, respectful way. And when your cleaners feel that, to your point, Vic, that's how your business works.
We are very clear to our cleaners, we're a team. This doesn't work without them. And so, how silly would we be not to value them and do all we can that they feel valued? Because when they feel valued, they will do better work. Our clients will be more satisfied. Our Google reviews will go up.
Then we will get more business. But it all starts with how our cleaners feel and they bring that into their work and our clients then feel that and then that's how our business grows. If your cleaners don't feel valued, you're not going to keep them. They're not going to do as great of work.
They're not going to take pride. Your business model fails right there.
Isaac: I also think it makes those difficult situations much easier to have. Jenna's really good at having the difficult conversations, but that's predicated on that relationship. The relationship allows those difficult conversations to happen, you know?
Vic: And that's the thing, Jenna, this is where you're in your zone of genius in a way, because you've got that coaching background, right? So you did athletic coaching, sport coaching, and so you know how to set boundaries like, "No, I'm not dealing with you at midnight," but also still be kind and respectful and have high expectations and gently push. You can do this, right? And I'm sure you have a bit of tough love in you, too, where it's like, hey, you screwed this thing up.
Jenna: No, an example just this morning that happened. Our two cleaners that had been with us a while were at an apartment unit, because a big part of our business that we felt aligned with, for numerous reasons, is apartment communities and serving them. They were doing a turn clean and the shower was in really bad condition. Anytime that happens, we tell our cleaners, do a full walkthrough, send us before photos.
They have the right to refuse any job. I never want our team to do a job that they feel unsafe or they don't feel comfortable in. They didn't refuse the job, though. They refused to clean the shower. And I'm like, "No, no, no, no. It doesn't work that way." And I said, "Listen, I hear you.
I understand that's gross. I understand that's not going to be fun to clean. And also, I need you to understand that you didn't refuse the job and you can't refuse the shower. I can't turn that over to the apartment community and say, 'Hey, we cleaned everything but the shower.'" I said, "You understand what I'm saying." And they did, right?
They did, but it was kind of like, I hear you. I understand. And this is how it has to happen. If you don't want to clean that, I need you to understand my side. And so, there's a way to go about that. I could have got really mad and been like, you know, you have to clean that.
That's not good for anybody. And that's not really true.
Vic: I have a cleaner who will not touch cobwebs. And so whenever there's the cobwebs on the ceiling, she'll do the most amazing move-in, move-out clean. She's one of our specialists for move-in, move-outs, and then I'll get the note that she didn't get the cobwebs, and I'll physically go there and I take the broom and I'm like, dude, and I just laugh and I look at her and she's like, spiders, and I'm like, you know. She's like, fine.
And now she does it. We can joke about it, where I just look at her, I'm like, you're gonna get a reclean, maybe there was a spider up there way up there. It's not, you know, and she finally just does it now because I'm like, if I get a note that you didn't get the cobwebs off the ceiling again. She's like, I know, I know.
So, there's a way to do it. I want to talk more about this apartment complex thing. So, when you started, you followed the blueprint. You went after residential. You were starting to dip your toes into short-term rentals. Now, for context, Isaac is also a realtor, so he knows that world well. But you mentioned that you went into apartment complexes, so I'm assuming you're cleaning the communal areas, but then also maybe their move-in, move-outs.
Is that right?
Jenna: I'll let you take it. I feel like I've been talking the whole time.
Isaac: Yeah, we do both of those. So, we actually did last summer, we were probably doing between 40 and 60 short-term rental turns a month. So, we were doing quite a few short-term rental turns. Eventually got to the point, I think we might have mentioned this in the last hot seat call, but got to the point where we realized that was just not aligned for us.
It was a lot of energy from us. It was very highly scrutinized. The cleaners didn't enjoy it. And so, we literally just cut it off. And the profit margins are low. They're not willing to pay.
Jenna: But it was a significant percentage of our revenue at the time. It was a little bit uncomfortable to just say, "Okay, we're not going to do that anymore."
Vic: 100%. But it's low hanging fruit. And a lot of people, so for the beginner starting out, they're like, "Everybody's looking for Airbnb cleaners." There's a reason cleaners don't want to do it. Keep listening to find out.
Isaac: Yeah. It just wasn't what we were willing or ready to build around. So, we have a friend who works in the management team that manages a few different apartment complexes around the city. So she made a couple introductions for us. We had some conversations and started in that space a little bit, but yeah, right now we are cleaning four or five different apartment complexes where we do their common areas, we do all their turn cleans.
It's a pretty significant amount of our revenue.
Jenna: Then, just for one apartment community, we added carpet cleaning for turns. So, we're trying to figure out how do we go deeper with partnerships and create longevity with long-term partnerships. And that one in particular, they're a property group that is going to buy more properties here in Columbus. They're based in New York and they're looking for a long-term partner across their properties.
So for us, we're dealing with one property group. They value us. We become their trusted partner when it comes to cleaning. We're able to give teams a building or buildings to take full ownership for, to show up to the same place five days a week, take care of it. It's a really great thing for our business model and who we're trying to help and what we're trying to do.
And so we've really found, as Isaac was saying, to be more discerning. Short-term rentals are not for us. Post-construction residentials are not for us. There's been things that we've weeded out and right now we're really a residential branch, we love reoccurring residential clients, apartment communities because of the depth that we can go and also the job opportunity we're able to provide to the cleaners that we want to help.
And then commercial offices. And we're really right there in the sweet spot. Those are the three ideal clients that we're helping currently.
Isaac: I think what Jenna was saying earlier about the impact piece is the apartment communities allow us to hire cleaners without professional cleaning experience. We can walk in, we can show them the building, we can give them a very detailed checklist, we can provide them all of their supplies. If they're willing to come in, work hard, and be joyful, it can have an incredible impact on the community itself. And that has been one of our most heartwarming stories.
We have a lady and her nephew who clean one of the common areas. They've gotten incredible reviews. They just bring so much to that community aside from being able to just clean the building. They bring a lot of joy to the residents and to the staff there. And it's been awesome. And they appreciate the work that they're given.
That is a huge thing, too, that I don't know if I valued as much until recently.
Vic: When you appreciate them, but they also appreciate you, now you're in your sweet spot.
Isaac: We definitely have people that are just residential cleaners, as you were alluding to with the one cleaner. The more you're able to specialize people and fit them where they appreciate the work, it just is better on all cylinders.
Vic: Yeah. You're not treating them like they're just a number in a roster. Instead, it's, you know, this is what you're great at, this is what you like doing, and this is what you need in your life. Let's go. So question, are these on 30-day terms? Like, how are they set up?
Isaac: That's a good question. We've actually been asked that multiple times by people. So, we are on net 30 with most of our apartment communities.
Jenna: We will throw that out. That's a lot to front on the front end.
Vic: That's why you can only do it now.
Jenna: And every time you take on one of those clients and you couple them with the other client, yeah, you want them all, but you better be able to front that money. So, that's a real thing. We do always throw out on the front side if people are willing to do net 15. Some people actually are. And so we kind of have that balance. We will always ask for the net 15, but the reality is most companies are net 30.
Isaac: I will say too, a good workaround we've found is invoicing weekly.
Vic: I love invoicing weekly. We've been doing the same. And then are these independent contractors still or are they employees?
Jenna: Still independent contractors. And I will say for most of our lead cleaners, I had a conversation with them about a month ago when we knew we were switching to an S corp and Isaac and I are now employees. Most of them want to be independent contractors. There's a freedom that they have, even though they work exclusively with us, they feel like they have more autonomy and choice, and there's something to be said about how they feel.
So, we have given our lead cleaners the choice at this point. And we're still feeling into that.
Vic: That's great. Yeah. And I think it's really hard to go back, right? Like once you're an independent contractor and you get used to, I get to choose when I take days off. I get to say, you know, I'm away next week. Deal with it, right? Like ideally we want more notice than that.
The more respect you give them, the more that's reciprocal. So your cleaners do give you more notice than just next week. But life does happen, right? And so we handle what's thrown at us as the owners and they have the freedom to make those decisions. Whereas employees, you know, you get a certain number of vacation days a year, you get paid less.
But there's bonuses. There's positives and negatives to both sides. I know around 80K to 100K that's when a lot of people start making these decisions where they go, okay, am I going to have some be employees, some will stay independent contractors, and it's complicated, but certainly you guys can solve it. What's next?
Isaac: I'll plug in something there too that kind of is coming to my mind, in terms of, at least in the US there's an income threshold where it makes sense to switch to an S corp from just an LLC and sole proprietor, like Jenna was hinting at. But I think another thing that I've come to appreciate more just recently is having really good people around you in terms of our insurance agent. I can text him, I can call him and he gets back to me immediately. He happens to be my cousin which is a benefit.
But having people around you, like we just onboarded with a new CPA. We've got some good people in our back pocket that, hey, we can call this person, we can text this person, ask them questions. Because especially as we've grown recently, there are things that I just don't understand.
Vic: Yeah. Taxes is a one big one.
Isaac: They're talking about that we actually trust, like, "Hey, what would you do if you were me?" And they're like, "Yeah, probably would just go ahead and buy that." Okay.
Vic: And the great thing with your growth, and it's been so fast, has been that you're able to afford to pay people to help you, right? So, your CPA, your accountants, your bookkeepers, your insurance agents, having all these people around you, and we're the same. Our accountants are really expensive, but my god, they do a lot for us. And so, every time I send them our tax documents or something, I expect to get this massive bill and it comes back and I'm like, "Oh, that's it.
You keep doing your magic because I'm happy with that number."
Isaac: I will say though, Vic, on that, I think it's really important. It goes back to the first question that you asked. Why I think that we've been successful versus people that quit. You got to be willing to take on risk. Like we both left our traditional jobs. We both had multiple businesses. Listen, I'm not giving financial advice.
Obviously, I'm not okaying this as your path. Everybody's path is different. That's an obvious disclosure that I'm making. But we took on a lot of risk and we took on debt to be able to come out the other side. And I'm not saying take on debt. I'm saying that's a differentiator. You don't just get on the other side and have this seven-figure business and make a transition to it without hitting the trough, without being able to assume debt knowing that you believe in yourself and what comes out on the other side.
Because if we had hours and hours to tell our whole journey, we would tell you, we've been on a roller coaster for the last few years of multiple career changes. And we just so happen to be now sitting here with a seven-figure cleaning business, but we've been way lower in different times and not that long ago to be honest with you. And so if you're not willing to assume the risk and be along for the ride with the belief that you're going to come out higher than you've ever been, which is what our belief was with this company, then entrepreneurship in itself isn't for you. I'm sorry, but you're not going to sit where we were sitting because you're not willing to assume what everybody has to go through.
And you're not the exception. And trust me, I tell you that lovingly because I thought I was the exception. When people told me, I'm like, "Oh, no. We just got it figured out." And I'm like, "Oh, no, we don't."
Jenna: Like, you continue to get tested. Like, just literally in January, we didn't pay ourselves a dime because we couldn't. We took on two big clients in January. We're floating that for close to 60 days. We didn't pay ourselves anything in January. Our bills didn't stop. We just took on that risk and we accepted, okay, we're going to come out the other side better. And we lost a six-figure client in January. So those things, you know what I mean?
Isaac: And that's how it happens.
Jenna: It happened.
Vic: Yeah. And that's another thing for not putting all of your eggs in one basket, because you did mention you've got a good relationship with this one company. So we had, just for context, we had a similar thing with an apartment complex where we were cleaning eight buildings. And it was amazing, and then management went and hired in-house cleaners that live in the units in our building.
And we're going to pay them a lot less, but they get free rent or whatever their deal was. And so we lost that contract. And I have to be honest, Jen, who does our books, not accounting, but the bookkeeping. This is my sister. She's a writer-director. She does not know how to do this, but she figures it out and she does it.
It's uncomfortable, but she does it. Jen felt so much better when we lost that contract because of that management piece of that net 30 days, because you still have to pay your cleaners, guys. That's the thing, right? So, when we talk about you're not getting paid for 30 days after they get the invoice.
So, you know what Isaac said, it's 60 days that you're waiting from that first day that cleaner goes out until the money appears in your bank account. And they could always go bankrupt at any time. Apartment complexes are pretty safe. Out of all the businesses you could work for, they're probably not going to go bankrupt because people always need housing.
But certainly it has happened. In our case, we lost that contract. Our cleaner who was cleaning all eight buildings was very upset. Understandably so. She left, found herself a job, then came back to work with us again because we're nice and she hated her new boss. Once you have a nice boss, it's really hard to go to a jerk, you know?
So then we found her something else. But anyway, the not putting all your eggs in one basket piece is really important there. And so expanding your portfolio of clients, where you're working with multiple buildings, is really smart.
Isaac: Yeah. And that's a really important note, too, if you're watching: we pay our cleaners in our model same day regardless of what the net is.
Vic: Yeah. And that's why they stay with you, because that's another reason, right? Like we pay daily and so they're not going to go apply to work for some other company that pays them every two weeks. Why? You can't go back when you're used to getting paid every day. And the reason we pay daily is, from the cleaner's point of view, they could go get their own clients.
So why would they work with us if we make them work harder, or if we pay them less, right? So we always make sure we pay them at least what they would get on their own, if not more. But then they get all the support, and I'm sure you guys are the same. What are your cleaners making per hour approximately right now?
Jenna: So like you, I'm pretty sure we pay per job, not per hour, but it usually equates to around $30 an hour, sometimes more.
Vic: Sorry, you froze there for me. Can you say all that again, Jenna?
Jenna: Yeah, so we pay per job, not by the hour. And that's to protect our cleaners. You're not staying longer for more money, but typically that is around $30 an hour, sometimes more.
Vic: Yeah. Yep. That's fair. We always say it's between about 28 and 45 depending on the job. That's amazing. Okay. So, Jenna, I know you have to bounce shortly. Do you have any last and parting words that you're like, I need to make sure I say this?
Jenna: You'll get the whole, I could talk forever. No, I mean.
Vic: I mean you love it. Who knew you would love having a cleaning business?
Jenna: I know, right? My niece, I was walking her home the other day and she's like, "And Jenna, what do you do now?" And I was like, "Well, I own and I'm CEO of our cleaning company." She's like, "Why did you stop being a PA and a podcaster and a speaker?" These jobs that she thought I was so cool doing. She's like, "Why'd you do that?" And here's what I've never been in a job or done something that I'm more passionate about than this. I've never done something that I feel checks the boxes of how I want to live my life, who I want to show up for, how I want to show up, what I want to give to other people, my community and my family, than this.
And that sounds corny. It kind of sounds cliche, but it's true. And what I'm finding, and what we talk about almost weekly, is there is no ceiling with this company.
Vic: There is no ceiling. Now you got to figure that out, right? Like people will be a bottleneck, quality of cleaners or whatever, but you can always pivot and adjust and you can have higher revenue with fewer clients. You can figure it out. And so that financial piece is real with the cleaning company. There's no ceiling.
Jenna: And also the opportunity to serve, which is a huge thing. We talked about impact, but it's a huge thing for the two of us, and just partnerships with organizations doing amazing things, being able to treat people well. It's just something that we'll never take lightly and that we're just really blessed to be in a position to keep growing for the purpose of serving other people well.
Vic: And this business is truly a win-win-win. It's a win for the clients. It's a win for the cleaners. It's a win for you guys. It's a win for your communities. And I do think the world can be a pretty dark place sometimes. There's wars happening. There's people fighting. There's, especially in the United States right now, kind of black and white thinking, you know, I'm on this side and you're on that side.
And when you run a tiny little cleaning business, because let's face it, that's what this is, right? This is not a huge corporation. You've not started the next Amazon. You've not started the next Uber. This is a small local cleaning business, but look how happy you are. And the impact you're having on your local community, that expression of think global, act local.
I don't think there's anything more heartwarming than these little cleaning businesses that we start as these side hustles to maybe make some money on the side, because I remember Isaac, you were like, "Yeah, it'd be good to make a couple grand more. Wouldn't that be cool?" And then it turns into 80 grand. How many cleaners do you have?
Isaac: Right now we're just under 30, but I would say more like 15 to 20 is our main team.
Vic: Yeah, that makes sense. We have 18 cleaners and I would say like 10 to 12 are our core. We're at about 60K revenue this month. We have done as much as 90K a month in the summer last summer. God, that was a lot of work. But it was amazing. And then we just fine-tune our systems.
We are all about recurring revenue as you guys know. I'm always like, 200 bucks every two weeks from one client is worth more than a million post-constructions. Just steady Eddie. And so that's our guiding light. 200 bucks every two weeks. That's it. And trying to not get sidetracked by large projects that make your revenue really high for a month or two and then drop back down.
Jenna: So I think that would be, oh, that would be the last thing that I say, and then I do have to run, but that would be figuring out, not being afraid to say yes to everything when you're starting or when you're new, to be able to figure out what's aligned for you. From my personality, not from a metric standpoint. And maybe that is you, right? This is both sides of it here.
He's the numbers person. I'm the feeler. I'm the somatic person. But what is aligned for why you are starting a cleaning company and what you want to do with your cleaning company? For us, the reason apartment communities are so aligned, yes, it's great for revenue, but on the partnership side, it allows us to go deep with that partnership, which is important to us, and it aligns with who we are trying to give opportunity of employment to.
It sets them up for success. So when you think about what is best for your cleaning company when it comes to clients, it's got to be aligned with why you started your cleaning company and what you're trying to do with it. And for us, that has become what I told you. Reoccurring residential is a great financial base, and then apartment communities is really aligned with our heart and our mission and who we're able to serve, how we're serving, and the depth.
And then corporate offices, they're like 10% right now.
Vic: Yeah. That's like icing on the cake. Like the cake is still the recurring revenue. That's number one. And the apartment complexes are recurring revenue. You're cleaning the communal areas every day, I imagine, or at least a few times a week, right? So that is recurring revenue with the icing on the cake being the move-in, move-outs, the carpet cleaning, the offices.
So, I'll dive in deeper with Isaac in terms of the numbers of what the split is, but yeah, he's your numbers guy. His brain works wild. If you're watching, guys, this guy's analytical, mathematical brain is something crazy. That's not me.
Jenna: Not a successful business without him.
Vic: I love it. Thank you. Thank you for jumping in.
Vic: Okay, so Isaac, let's dive deep on numbers. So, do you know your revenue split between recurring and one-off?
Isaac: You know, I know that, I've never broken it out by recurring like that. I do break it out, so we're using, this is the first year we've used QuickBooks. I've always just used spreadsheets, and I created spreadsheets that did a lot of the stuff for us and it was great. It just got to the point where, in order to see different views, do different things, it would have gotten too difficult.
So I finally switched to QuickBooks and I do have different classes in there that will show me revenue splits by residential, commercial, multifamily common areas, multifamily turns and post-construction branches that we have.
Vic: Oh wow.
Isaac: I don't know off the top of my head, ballpark it's like 60% residential, like 30% multifamily and then like 10% commercial.
Vic: Okay, that's not bad. That's good. And then in terms of your day-to-day, can you walk us through, and this isn't so much numbers, but if you do time blocking, what do your days look like right now?
Isaac: Oh gosh. So, Jenna does most of the operation. So, first thing in the morning, she's making sure we didn't get this SOS call or one of our cleaners' kid was sick or tire's flat or whatever else. Making sure everybody's checking into their first job, because once they've checked into their first job, they're probably okay.
And then, yeah, she's managing the schedule, she's managing the phones, she's managing that type of stuff. For me, I guess the wild card here is too, we still have our one-year-old with us all day. Our five-year-old goes to preschool at nine and we pick him up at noon. So, there's like a three-hour block where we actually have to work.
I don't know if I could accurately say like this is what my average day looks like. I don't feel like there really is much of an average day. I think one thing I'm spending, maybe I'll even back up, like last quarter a couple of my big things were new website. So we went away from the Convertlabs.io template website.
There were certain things we couldn't do that I wanted control over. So, for instance, just today, we're going to a trade show tomorrow. And I wanted a landing page for a QR code that they could scan at the booth. I couldn't have done that on my Convertlabs.io page. So, I basically copied everything over, did it all manually, and still kind of in the process of fine-tuning that, but that was one of my big first quarter goals.
Vic: Are you embracing AI, Isaac, for that or are you just doing it manually?
Isaac: Yeah, so going into quarter two, that's one of my big quarter two goals. So actually Jenna joined a mastermind that is focused on integrating AI. I just literally got started with Claude within the last week or so. We were using a lot of ChatGPT. I think the biggest thing was when she was preparing for that mastermind.
One of the questions was how are you integrating or what are you using for AI? And I think we started to realize how little we actually were using it. I think one of the biggest things we were using ChatGPT for, one of the biggest benefits we had of it was the estimating. So, specifically like post-construction jobs, even on a new commercial job, here's the square footage, this is what it looks like, help me estimate this.
Just being able to have that conversation where it keeps track of everything and at the end it's just going to spit out a nice proposal for you. I think that was the biggest time-saving thing that we had going in terms of AI last quarter. This quarter, one of the things I'm trying to do, and actually even just this morning, was trying to unpack the back end of Convertlabs.io.
Vic: Yeah.
Isaac: Because there's things there where the booking page is telling it to schedule this into your calendar, right? So when I tell Claude, "Hey, this is what it's doing. Unpack that and let's try to figure out how we could do that ourselves without having to go through the booking page." So I'm going to web pages, I'm going to the developer inspect tool and I'm looking at all these different things trying to figure out how is Convertlabs.io actually working.
Vic: Okay, I'm going to interrupt you there. So quickly, for anybody who's like, what is he talking about, so just use that link. So Convertlabs.io is our booking software. It's our websites. It's our scheduling. It reminds the cleaners. It reminds the clients. It's $197 a month US dollars. And it basically runs your business.
It's as close to a business in a box as you're ever going to get. Yes, you can use AI and work this out and try to figure out how is this working. What I do want to say is that it is something that happens around 50 to 60K a month. A lot of companies go, "Hey, I want this.
I want this. I want this." You can email the team at Convertlabs.io and they will help you. But sometimes there's just a roadblock there where you want more. The key is the booking software for the cleaners, and making sure that they can get to work and get in and get out. So, I wouldn't make a change on that because it's working and it's worth the money and not you having to learn it.
But the second thing with that, that I will tell you about offline as well, but I'll tell the audience here. I want you to meet Russ Henneberry. We've done a call with him on the YouTube channel. Russ wrote Digital Marketing for Dummies. You know the yellow books that look like that?
Isaac: That's my beekeeping one.
Vic: So he wrote the digital marketing one and he's a former teacher just like you and I. And so he has a teaching style that works really well no matter how your brain works. So whether you're mathy or artsy or whatever, it doesn't matter. Russ is able to explain the customer journey in terms of somebody thinks, oh I need to solve this problem I have, and then the business solves the problem.
That's all business. It's just basic, right? And then the funny thing with this is I joined this. This is a mastermind as well. I bet you Jenna paid way more for her mastermind. We paid.
Jenna: I don't want to know.
Vic: Yeah, I don't want to know. For Russ's mastermind, it's $990 a year. It's on sale right now. It's 300 bucks off. So it's $690 a year. And I'm literally in a Zoom with Russ a couple of times a week with a group of fellow business owners learning AI together. So just for our own business, we don't have any virtual assistants.
Jen and I both work less than two hours a day. Similar to Isaac and Jenna where they're like, what does a typical day look like? It's like, you take some phone calls, you take some texts, you take some emails, but you're doing it in this way that is different than any other job. And because of our use of AI, it's so next level, you know.
It's not for everyone, but for people that embrace understanding the entire journey for the customer, that's the key. So, you will never see us produce AI slop. Everyone else is producing AI slop, you know, where you can see it in their social media posts. It's so obvious it turns you off. You might read it and just look away and be like, I didn't like that post, I don't know why.
People who hate AI, they definitely know why. And so the way we use it from the customer's point of view and from the cleaner's point of view, for everybody we communicate with, they're just hearing a really great message because we've created it and crafted it specifically for them. So anyway, I'll tell you about that offline as well, and I will put the link to join it. It's called the Click.
It's the best money I've spent in the last year. And you'll see, Isaac, it's so funny, there's at least 10 of us in there from the cleaning company world now, because every time I end up talking to somebody about AI, I'm like, oh I've got to stop you there.
Isaac: Before you go on, I will give a plug to the Convertlabs.io team also. Whenever I email them they are so responsive. It doesn't matter how specific it is to me or not, they help me figure it out. So, in terms of business in a box, I 100% agree. I also think the automations that come inherently in Convertlabs.io are fantastic.
Clients get automatic messages like, hey, your booking came through. Check these details, 24 hours, 48 hours in advance. They get an automated message. Hey, don't forget about your upcoming cleaning. The automations that happen just rolled out of the box are fantastic. I also go high level. When everybody else is spending between three and $500 a month for Go High Level, Convertlabs.io is already doing what we needed to do, you know.
And I will say too, I will hedge against what I said about AI. We are not at the point, and I don't see it in the foreseeable future, where we are going to have AI answering our text messages or our phone calls or things like that. People choose us because we are local and we are family-owned. That is one of the big differentiators that we have and we cannot give that up.
So we're never, at least for this foreseeable future, going to get to the point where we don't want a human in Columbus, Ohio answering that phone.
Vic: Yeah, I agree with you, and I think a lot of people within our community have been trying to create these voice agents that will answer the phone. But my challenge for them is, so we've, it's taken us a really long time to figure this out, Isaac. I don't think I've explained it to you yet. So, I'll walk you through it now.
I think I've done 144 discovery calls now. So, one-on-one calls that people can book just on cleaningcompanyblueprint.com. So, I've done over 144 of those calls, one-on-one where I get to know people, their business. Some of them have multiple franchises. Some of them are just starting or haven't started yet. It's taking me this long, all of the coaching, all these YouTube videos, so many hot seat calls, to learn our customer journey as business owners and what we go through.
So, we go from zero to 10K, which I call the leap. And the leap is where you have to just believe in yourself and believe in the model and believe in the community and just do what we say to do, like we had to do the same with the people that taught us. Then we put it out there for everyone else. And so it's a leap because it is uncomfortable and it's hard and you're leaping into the unknown.
And there you have to learn so many things, and you know, we try to make it as easy as possible for you, but you do have to do the learning yourself. And then around 10K to 25K is what we call the engine. And that's the fine-tuning. Now you, Isaac, you were trying to fine-tune at like 2K, 3K, because you wanted to build to scale.
That was your whole going-in.
Isaac: 100%.
Vic: That is so how your brain works. And so that's when you brought in Jenna, who's actually the engine, which is the captain of the ship, being like, hey, welcome aboard, right? And then you're behind the scenes, literally fine-tuning. And then 25K to 50K we call the boring phase. And the boring phase is where everything is working.
You fine-tune the crap out of this thing. You can keep fine-tuning forever, but it's working and all you have to do is hold and just keep going, and it's uncomfortable because it's boring. And most of us are used to working so hard and so intensely. And when our jobs get boring, it's a bad thing.
And in this case, it's actually a really good thing. It's when it's like, oh, everything's working. There's no crises. There's nothing to react to. You're no longer reactionary. You're proactive. And then after 50K, we call it the other side. And that's where you guys are now, which is where you get to do, do I want to grow this business?
Do I want to expand it to another location? Do I want to expand in terms of our service offerings? Maybe we have Columbus carpet cleaning services, Columbus window washing services, whatever you want to do. Don't do it until then because you got to learn all the hard stuff. And then once you know that stuff, now you know how to do it.
And the other side is the best, right?
Isaac: There's so many options. There's just so many.
Vic: The sky is the limit, you know? And then you add AI to that and the sky is truly the limit because it's just such an exciting playground. We play with AI. So anyway, why did I bring all that up? Oh, I brought all that up because I didn't know any of those phases before.
And as a teacher, now that I know these phases, I know how to help people depending on what phase they're in. So if they're in zero to 10K and they start talking to me about adding Go High Level or adding, you know, and I'm like, wait, you haven't had your first 10K yet, let's get you there per month. So let's get you there. And then you have actual data, you have actual evidence for what works for you in your town and your location, right?
And so for you guys, is there a point where you're like, "Enough. No more new business, no more new cleaners," or is it just, this is just how life is now, we're just going to keep going forever? What's your plan?
Isaac: Our plan is surrender. And I think Jenna hinted at this earlier, that God has blessed us with this business and we view ourselves as the managers. We're not the owners of this business. It's God's business. He's using it however he sees fit. It's our job to make sure we are stewarding that opportunity and the resources that we've been given and the people that we've been connected with wisely.
At this point in time, I think God has bigger things planned for this business than for us to sit back and let it go stale. So that's kind of where we're leaning into. I think we have a lot more impact to have than what we're currently having. And so, yeah, our plan is further surrender, I guess.
Vic: Went wild from teaching. And you were like a math teacher, right?
Isaac: Oh, yeah. I was a high school math teacher for 14 years.
Vic: For 14 years to God's business. I'm the manager. Surrender to whatever the universe and God has in store for you. I love that. It's so great. Okay. I wanted to ask you, if you remember, because one of the things we talk a lot about is that you never forget your very first client. Do you remember how you got that client?
Isaac: In Chicago it was most certainly on Yelp. I vividly remember, on in Columbus, it is funny when you look back, not monthly but probably every couple of months we look back at those first few bookings. The cleaner that Jenna was talking about earlier that didn't want to clean the shower today was our very first cleaner. She happened to be on a team of two today, and the one has been with us from the beginning kind of off and on.
She's had kids. She's had sicknesses. She's had some personal issues that have come up that have made her take pauses and breaks, but it never ceased the relationship. And so Jenna was continually reaching out, you know, how can we help, how can we support, we've given her a stroller, we've given her baby clothes.
It's just become a really cool relationship. And so, Yelp was most certainly in Chicago. In Columbus, I would assume probably one of those sites also, Yelp. I don't think I even tried Thumbtack in Columbus, and I don't think I went straight to Google Ads either. So, I would assume it had to be Yelp or maybe local services.
Vic: And when you say Yelp, do you mean that you filled out your profile completely and then somebody just organically reached out to you, or did Yelp phone you offering you money in exchange and then you bought into their program?
Isaac: Yeah. So, I think Yelp has changed a lot. The last time I even looked at it, and it was very briefly, at that point in time, I think they had a program where anybody can respond and if the client responds to you, then you pay. And it was, I forget what it was, 30 to 40 bucks to even write the message.
And so I would assume it was one of those. I doubt it was just one of the ones they have that's different, that's just tossed up to anybody and anybody can respond and it's free. I doubt it was one of those. I would assume it was one of the paid ones where you have to pay just to send the message.
Vic: Okay, interesting. And then are you paying for leads now or are they all coming in organically?
Isaac: Good question. So, we just a few weeks ago started working with a small marketing agency and we brought him on. We kind of had a conversation that was more as a fractional CMO than a social media manager or anything like that, with the whole goal of just increasing our exposure. We had social media channels but we weren't posting very frequently.
I haven't written a blog post in months. We've just gotten to the point where that has kind of gone on the back burner. And I think there's a lot of room for organic growth there where we don't have to pay for those leads. But we just aren't taking advantage of it. So, when I did that, I turned off all of our Google ads.
We were probably spending between two and three thousand a month on Google ads. We had turned off local services. I haven't been to Yelp in over a year.
Vic: I'm sure they're calling you.
Isaac: In my mind, yeah, I do still get some.
Vic: Constantly. Yeah.
Isaac: The worst are the guys who are calling and say, "Hey, I can help optimize your Yelp page." I'm like, "Yeah, no thanks." But yeah, we haven't done any of those. In my mind, I would never, if I were starting over again, I would do it on local services and Google ads.
Vic: Yeah, that's generally what we say, too. Interesting. So, so now you've turned it off. And you're still getting bookings.
Isaac: We're getting a lot more. And I think part of it is because of our website, that our website has such better copy at this point in time. Not the format, not the aesthetics of it. It looks very, very similar to what we got with Convertlabs.io. And Convertlabs.io being able to roll that out and say, okay, our website is done, we don't have to worry about it, like let's just focus on, like you were saying, in those growth phases, you just get to build at that point in time.
Don't worry about all the other stuff. Use Convertlabs.io template website and go with it. We got to the point where, hey, we really want to focus on apartment communities. And at that point in time, I didn't have a page in my website that even talked about apartment communities in depth. So, I went through and recreated all those things.
And I think our SEO has gotten a lot better.
Vic: Oh, I'm sure. And is this you guys? Columbus Cleaning Service right here. Okay. So, let me click on that. So, first off, all I did was I typed into Google Columbus Cleaning Services. Okay. So, I didn't do anything fancy here. You named your company, right? I want to plug that.
Isaac: Well, hold on real quick. You named our company, right?
Vic: That's, I'll take it. I'll take it. The number of people that we have coached on the naming of their company, and I love it when people listen and they do it, because you did and it works. Okay, so Columbus Cleaning Services, and the reason I want to point this out, so Google right now, I'm in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Google knows that. I didn't do incognito. I just did a regular search. So, these guys are paying for this search, Columbus Cleaning Services. And if I call them, then they would be charged $25 to $80 for my phone call. Okay. So, that's a local competitor of ours. This here is called the Google 3-pack.
Isaac, I know I'm not telling you anything new, but just for the audience, this is free and this is prime real estate right here. And to come up first is amazing. So, you don't need to pay for advertising right now, Isaac, at all, because you're here in this position. So, that was partly his name.
It's partly the reviews. It's that he's been in business three years. So, you don't get in the three-pack in your first six months. So, don't worry about that. But you do get there when you've got your reputation going. And it's relatively easy to get there when you've named your company, right? You've got your reviews, everything else.
So, now let's go to your website. This looks great.
Isaac: Real quick. I want to add on to that, because I did read something recently. The number of people that click on the ads, the number of people that click in that Google Maps, and the number of people that scroll past those because they know that people are paying for them. It was over 60% get past that.
So, your organic SEO, even though it's not showing up in that first fold, it feels like you're not being seen. But in the grand scheme of things, most people who know what they're searching for, which is really who we're targeting, right? We're targeting a more tech-comfortable client to begin with, they're scrolling past the ads, and honestly, most of the time they're scrolling past the three-pack. So, being able to see your name there adds some reputation.
They're getting down to the organic results anyway.
Vic: Yeah, it's absolutely true. And the next thing that you did really well: what you've done is you've said what you do and where you do it in the first line. And anyone doing the research on cleaning companies will see, people do not do this. It's just a generic cleaning website and it doesn't even say the word cleaning.
And I bet if we go back and look at your competitors, right away, and I don't know these businesses, so my apologies to them. Oh, they did it. Good for them. Okay, that's good. That's a step above. Let's check out, I mean these guys are in the three-pack and Columbus is a big, okay, this is Ohio.
So, they've done a generic one, right? And then they talk below. So, that's not great. But I bet if we keep going down, we will find the vast majority don't say what they do and where they do it.
Isaac: We know who our competitors are and we know who are doing it the right way. Those are two that are definitely doing it the right way.
Vic: Yeah, that was in Ohio because they serve a lot more than just Columbus.
Isaac: Yeah.
Vic: Fair. And you guys are just focusing on Columbus because you don't need millions. You need a few hundred to make a lot of money. That's it. And then you've got your phone number nice and big. And then this is the Convertlabs.io widget. This is the money maker. Isaac, do you know your percentage of people that fill this out that actually convert to be paying clients?
Isaac: I have not checked it recently. I think off the top of my head, it was in the 30s maybe.
Vic: Yeah, it will be. It'll be the average for Convertlabs.io users, which this is a Convertlabs.io widget, is 33%. So, what happens is somebody does a Google search. So, this is your customer journey in action. They do a Google search for cleaning companies because they're fed up and they don't want to do the cleaning themselves.
So, they do the search, they come to the website, within less than 10 seconds, they know what you do and where you do it. And then they start filling this out. Now, they don't actually need to put their email address in. They can get the answer to their question right now, which is smart.
This is not a bad thing. All the other competitors are hiding this and we're not hiding it. Okay? So, we want to say, you know, one-time service, whatever, and this number shows up. Then they click this or they click over here to book now, and then they put in all their information. So, we're not hiding our prices.
Okay?
Isaac: And one thing I'll say too that we did is I've used Zapier to automatically send them a text message so that we don't have to start that conversation. So Convertlabs.io will automatically send you an email that said, "Hey, somebody just filled out your lead form." I've set up a Zap to then actually text them as well, so that we see it in our phone like, "Hey, this is something that we need to take care of right away."
Vic: Yeah, it's perfect. And then I'll point out, so if we look at the competitor here that's also in the three-pack, these guys are leaving 30% left, you know. So in our case, we're at about 800K. Isaac, you're better at math than I am. What is that number-wise? Like 250K just left on the table, ridiculous.
And they just don't know because Convertlabs.io is a tiny little company. It doesn't advertise. And if they're not watching our channel, they would have no idea. And most cleaning companies aren't watching our channel. So that was that one. But if I look at who else? Real World, was that the other one? Who is it?
Seab bus.
Isaac: Seab bus is another one. Yeah.
Vic: Okay. Terrible name. But you know, doesn't help them. I'm sure it doesn't.
Isaac: Well, they started after us. So I think they would be a Columbus Cleaning Service if they could.
Vic: You got the name. But yeah. So here's what they're doing wrong. So, Seab bus, if you ever see this, this is great. Amazing. Love that. Love that this is what's above the fold. So, we don't have to scroll. What I don't love is I don't see the number. I have to message them for a free quote.
I don't want a message. I'm busy. I want the answer now. And that's the game changer. Nobody else is giving the answer now, which is how much is it for my size house? When can you come? That's all they want to know. This whole message for a free quote, and then they get back to you, probably with Zapier as well or probably with some salesperson, all of that is just a waste of time for our ideal clients.
So kudos to you.
Isaac: That's the thing you just said, ideal client, right? There are people who will still want to request a quote. Oh, my home's a little bit different, but what about this custom quote?
Vic: Those aren't your people.
Isaac: They are not your people.
Vic: We call them Nancy. So now we call, Jordan is our ideal customer and Nancy is our not ideal. Nancy wants to micromanage the clean. She's a pain in the butt. Jordan wants the clean done without having to micromanage it. Jordan's busy. Nancy's usually retired. Oh my gosh, look at this.
Isaac: This who we are page is really the kind of the thing that broke the camel's back that made me create this different website, because that's again one of our differentiators, the local family-owned business. And I think this page in particular has allowed us to really lean in.
Vic: I have another mentor who's in the pest control business and he said his about us page is his most frequently visited page. And it is, and we don't coach that in Cleaning Company Blueprint, because for Jen and I, we haven't even used our last names for the majority of the time when we're talking about our cleaning business, because that hasn't been our angle. But for you guys leaning into family, local, like this, these pictures of your kids in the background, the fact, oh my gosh, are you kidding me? Take my money.
I want you guys to hire cleaners 100%. And actually, someone on the channel, I think it was yesterday, wrote a comment asking, should I use pictures of myself? And the answer is yes, if you do it like this. Okay, so what they're doing is they're showing their values. And values matter, particularly for millennials and Gen X who are your ideal clientele more often than not, because they're working, they're busy, they want cleaners, they're not able to micromanage, and they don't want to micromanage.
And so values are particularly important. Price is really important for the micromanagers who have all the time in the world, right? So they're not necessarily working and they're very cash conscious because they don't have a lot of money. And I'm not saying, it sounds a little classist what I'm saying. It's not really about class.
It's more about what service are you looking for.
Isaac: It's about value. Like what they believe they're getting for their money.
Vic: Yeah, that's it. It's about value. What they believe they're getting for their money. And you know Nancy, I apologize to all the Nancys out there that I'm using her name, but I had to give her a name. Nancy, she's not a Karen. I want to be clear there. She's not calling the manager, although she might.
But Nancy is cash poor. She's house rich, but cash poor. And so she has all the time in the world to tell the cleaners, I want you to clean it this way. And the reason for that is she's done the cleaning her whole life for free. And now she can't, because physically she can't or whatever.
And so she needs the cleaners to do it her way. Jordan works full-time, doesn't clean herself, doesn't want to clean, and wants to outsource it and wants it to also be a good positive contribution to her local community. Jordan is you guys. She's also me, right? So what you guys have done here is you're showing your core beliefs and Jordan cares about values.
She doesn't care about price. She will pay more to get more. That's our people.
Isaac: You got it.
Vic: This is gold. So yeah, if you're out there and you're watching this and you want to do this, take a look at this website because it's beautiful. It's perfect. Well done.
Isaac: And that's not how we started. I very much started like I want to automate everything. I want it to all run on its own. At that time, I was working full-time, so I didn't have the time and energy to pour into that. I wanted it to be a standalone business. And it just kind of has.
You kind of mentioned it earlier, my view of the cleaning business has changed so much. And even Jenna mentioned it too, you have to know why you started the cleaning business. Here's the interesting thing about that. It's going to change. The reason that you start the business at the very beginning is different.
As you grow and as you evolve and as you learn, your why is going to change, and ours certainly has.
Vic: Yeah. And I think the way you think today is not the same way that you're going to think in a year or two. Right. So the way you think today is not the same way when you're making 250K a month. You just see the world a different way. And it only gets better.
That's the best part, you know. And I'm just so damn proud of you guys. I'm so proud of everything you've done. I knew you would be successful when I first met you because you had this, you know, you're very methodical and you're analytical.
Isaac: I had the benefit of, I knew it worked, right? I had gone through even some of Rohan's stuff and met with Kevin a couple times. I knew that it worked and I'd kind of prototyped it in Chicago to the point where I was like, "Okay, this has potential to be real." So, yes, I did have that, but I had a benefit that some people don't have, I guess.
Vic: Yeah. And I mean really it goes back to the beginning of our conversation, which is that belief in yourself as a result of, you know, adding on to that, seeing other people doing it and having a belief inside yourself that's like, well, if they could do it, why can't I? And that is something that Jen and I say to ourselves all the time. If that ding-dong can do it, why can't I?
You know, and that's it. And like we were the ding-dongs there. Kevin and Rohan were the ding-dongs before us. We're constantly learning from each other. We're also lifelong learners. That's part of being school teachers. We love learning. And we embrace learning and getting uncomfortable and going, okay, I'm going to try this new thing.
And yeah, I might fall on my face.
Isaac: If you're actually challenging yourself, you're most certainly going to fall on your face.
Vic: Yeah. And you're going to get back up and you're going to do it. Okay. So, on that note, if people want to reach out to you, what's the best way to find you? Is it through Columbus Cleaning Service, your website?
Isaac: Jen and I are both active on Instagram. You certainly can reach out on the cleaning site. It's only Jen and I who ever answer that number. That's kind of still where we're at right now, and that's where we want to be. So, yeah, if you Google either one of our names, you'll certainly find it.
Vic: Okay. Amazing. They're also inside the Convertlabs.io community, so if you are a Convertlabs.io subscriber, you can DM them as well as me and anyone else in there. And yeah, I just thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to end it here and then stay on with me, Isaac, because I've got a couple things to talk to you about afterwards.
But that's it for our live stream. Thank you for watching. And if you would like to join us, or book a discovery call with me, you can find everything at cleaningcompanyblueprint.com, and I'd love to see you inside the Inner Circle.
About the author
Victoria Westcott co-founded Cleaning Company Blueprint with her sister Jen. Together they built Oak Bay Clean, their cleaning company in Victoria, BC, to $2.8M in sales since 2021, running it with a team of contractors. Vic writes these guides from inside the business, sharing the model and the numbers behind it. More about Vic and Jen.
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