$300 Turned Into $14M Cleaning Business
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- Опубликовано: 20 май 2024
- Wondering how to start a cleaning business? Learn from Austin Miller, who started Spruce Clean with just $300 in 2018. In 3 years, he’s grown this investment into a Seattle’s #1 house cleaning business, with a line of retail products and plans to expand through national franchising. We’ll find out the secrets to his fast growth in today’s follow-up interview.
When we last talked to Austin about how to start a cleaning business, Spruse Clean was about to launch their new line of home cleaning products. Today, we’ll talk to him about how the roll-out went and which of their new cleaning products has proven to be the most popular. We’ll also hear why he’s decided that franchising is the next step for Spruse Clean, and how a cleaning service business owner can set themselves up for franchising success.
One of the biggest keys to Spruse Clean’s success has been their remarkable performance on Yelp! Austin’s shared some tips for using the platform before, and in this interview we’ll get more of his insights on maximizing review platforms to grow your revenue as a small business. Austin has also designed a Yelp! course for business owners that he’s about to launch. We’ll hear what benefits educational content can have for a business, and what motivated him to share these insights with other entrepreneurs.
A cleaning business start up can be a great choice for a first-time entrepreneur, and Austin’s story is proof. We’ll learn what steps he followed to turn a few hundred bucks into a cleaning company valued at $14 million, as well as his advice to beginning entrepreneurs for starting a cleaning business the right way.
If you’re looking for new ways to scale and grow your business, you’ll want to hear the advice Austin has to offer in this video! You can find out more about Spruse Clean at their website, spruseclean.com/.
Interested in starting your own 7-figure cleaning business? Check out our training here: hubs.li/Q01DjzmL0
Check out our podcast where we interview successful business owners and managers: www.upflip.com/podcast
If you want to see our first conversation with Austin, you can check it out here:
How to Start a $62,000 per Month Cleaning Business from Scratch ►
• How to Start a $62,000...
Or watch these other owner interviews for more insights on the cleaning industry:
How to Start a Cleaning Business (That Makes $25,000/Month) ►
• How to Start a Cleanin...
A Real-Life Look Into Running a $100K/Year Cleaning Business ►
• A Real-Life Look Into ...
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:52 Meeting Austin
2:42 Revenue and Profit Margins
3:06 Continued Sales Growth
4:18 How To Start a Cleaning Business
6:09 Monthly Marketing Budget
7:17 Roadmap to 1 Million Dollars
9:35 Best Time To Start a Cleaning Business
10:33 Navigating Through the Pandemic
12:19 Building More Locations
13:43 Retail vs Service Based Business
15:09 Product Sales
16:01 Choosing Manufactures
17:06 Marketing Strategies
18:09 Yelp Business Course
19:59 Starting the Franchising Process
21:55 Products SKUs
23:00 Hiring Employees
24:35 Consultants
26:20 Dealing with Customer Disputes
27:38 Blitz
29:04 Retention on Hires
30:43 Running Locations Separately vs Franchising
31:38 Evaluation on the Company
34:14 Marketing Spend Increase Update
35:13 What Contributed to Success
36:40 Advice for Running a Business
#cleaningbusiness #howtostartacleaningbusiness #cleaningbusinessstartup
Learn how to start your own cleaning business here: hubs.li/Q01DjzmL0
This guy gives solid advice. Much respect for that man.
This is awesome I just started a cleaning business in July my wife has been in the cleaning industry for over 17 years working in the fire restoration industry and other restoration companies want her but they say they can't afford her she has such a great reputation because she is very detailed at what she does and as a eye for what she does she worked her way up from a service technician to a production manager and i finally convinced her to start a cleaning company located in mn a residential and commercial cleaning services and we've have some accounts we are a subcontractor for a restoration company doing post construction cleans. And being a new company is definitely a challenge getting people to trust us.
1)don't spend a lot on your website
2)upgrade your website as your business grow
3)spend a bit of money on advertising
4)people follow what other people choose, so make sure your customers are your first priority
Great feedback Dario! What type of business are you in?
@@UpFlip none. I am a student studying the dropshipping world and I gotta say I'm in love with it
I'm loving the channel, and Austin's energy!
We're glad you enjoyed!
Who’s been here since the first interview? 🙋🏻♀️
Meeee
Can you see why my channel is no growing
🙋🏻
@@vasiuddinshaikhmohammed6335 ASA
🙋🏿♂️🙋🏿♂️
Man he grow so much! So proud of him, such an inspiration
We love to see businesses thrive and grow too!
congratulations to Austin and all who succeeded
I like how he changed his mind about the east coast, we look forward to learning from the comp
I have tons of experience running a cleaning business 35 years I own a large one, but you can always learn something ALWAYS... Thanks for giving me some nuggets I will use.!
That's awesome! Glad you could learn, that's definitely our goal!
Im from France and building my cleaning company. Im so happy to discover your Chanel . Its like a free real-business-with-no-bs education in less than 5 years. Keep going
Thanks for watching! How long have you been in business?
Excellent coverage and advice. Thanks👍🏾
Thanks for watching!
Hi how are you
What an incredible Austin is. Woww. I learned so much from this video. Thank youuu.
I never hear anyone say such good things about yelp as him. That's interesting.
Thanks for watching! We appreciate you!
Yelp will keep your good reviews hostage unless you pay them monthly! I don't trust everything i hear here... But I'm still here for other reasons 😊😅
I'm testing advertising on FB, and I liked this advice that trust is most important.
I was laid off after working from home since Covid started. I always thought my line of work was safe in the healthcare field but apparently CVS feels differently. I have a degree, I’ve been a supervisor for years. So much experience and years of school that I built up and for what? My kids that just graduated high school were now making more money than mom. Then my rent went up due to Covid and bills were pulling up. I applied to every healthcare job I could find except as a CNA since that’s just my fall back. Jobs are saying no one wants to work but in my case it seems like no one is hiring. So I had to rethink what can I do that I like and make good money and cleaning came to mind. I instantly looked it up and found an ad for Merry Maids. I was instantly hired for that and when I say instantly I mean instantly the next day! I was excited like yay I love to clean and I’ll make just as much as my last job!!! Well it’s been four weeks. It’s all been a lie and Im not making anything near what they said! I have still been trying to make it work since I just started a candle business on the side and damn Im getting good at it! As you know it’s hard to start a business so the cleaning job isn’t cutting it to have enough money to keep the candles going. I seen this video and spent all of the money I had to get a cleaning caddy, supplies and a backpack vacuum which is coming today! So Im now going to try cleaning for myself and make candles to see which one does better. I really don’t know which way I should go now. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them! Hopefully within a year or two this could be me and my children on an interview like this!
How did things turn out for you?
Very informative. I watched video 1 and 2 before this one. I’ve been looking at franchise opportunities and this one stands out. I submitted a request for more info. Looking forward to learning more!
Great to hear!
Hi how are you
Simply Awesome!! I would love to work for SPRUSE, learn the ins and outs and open my own little SPRUSE franchise.
Thank you very much for all the info, and so much advise.
Be Blessed and keep spreading that wonderful energy. Much love and positivity.
Hi how are you
I’m glad I’m at the point in my business I get to have these conversations in masterminds with successful entrepreneurs all the time. It’s crazy how similar a lot of these businesses are ran.
What business do you run? :)
@@UpFlip two things. First, congratulations on your show 👏 🙌. I watch it every time I need new ideas and inspiration. Spruce cleaning is my inspiration since I own a cleaning company as well and after seeing the first interview I'm looking up after them, great story and inspiration. I almost double my business in a year after first interview. And secondly, would it be possible to help me and others the book he's talking about in this interview please??? To us, the ones following a leader would be of great help. Thanks again and much more success in this 2022, happy new year 🎉 🍾
I like to do bussiness
@@UpFlipI want work
@@UpFlip How much can you give me if I watch your videos daily ?
Your channel is one of the best❤️👍
Thank you so much 😀
Indeed Austin is a incredible business man. 👏 watching from UK. 💛
We appreciate the support Sufina. 😀Would you ever consider starting a business like this one?
This dude is chill af, I’d definitely hang with him.
My favorite videos definitely. Amazing what he has done with so little to start.
What a sharp guy. He knows his stuff
This was very very helpful to me starting. Thank you for sharing this!!
Glad you love this video! Your appreciation means a lot to us and motivates us to continue producing content like this. Do you have a business topic you want to see next on the channel? 🤔
Watch these videos are giving me confirmation and pure conviction that I need to get clear and laser focus on my marketing strategy 😩
You can do it The Debt Demolisher💪. What type of marketing strategies have you used thus far?
@@UpFlip None really. My clientele comes from referrals (word of mouth).
I've owned a commercial cleaning company just over a decade now. And was an amazing business financially and afforded time during the day with my family. However this new economy created from COVID has destroyed the commercial sector. All but 1 account have cut back thier routine cleanings by 90 percent. Due to obvious reason that companies don't need 10,000 sqft office space $$. Remote workers are fast becoming the norm now. So the phasing out of commerical office space will continue and be a cliff note in the strange time in history. Hope this post helps shine light on your new path in life. Cheer's
This man dropping gems!
We're so happy you feel this way Mel. Are you currently in this industry?
I live in Richmond, VA. I'd love to run his franchise here in my area. I'll have to inquire to see how soon he branches to the East coast. Great video as always!
Glad you enjoyed Andrew!
Hi Andrew. I live in NOVA. I am interested as well. Did you reach out to Austin? Lets connect.
Hi Joyce! I did reach out via their franchising inquiry page, but no response yet. I'd love to connect!
Hi how are you
i wanna work with this guy..best boss ever!
Great interview!
Glad you enjoyed Isaac!
He can pay $22 an hour cause they are 1099 contractors, not employees, so no work comp, payroll taxes, unemployment, medicare taxes. They probably drive personal cars too. That's why they have a contractor handbook towards end of video.
Good observation
Bingo joe!
I use 1099 contractors also and demand they carry worker comp, before bringing them on, they operate as their own mini business, because they dont have to wait on me to get work...
@@msway836 same with me. They each a franchise and can hire own employees. I just provide office service, branding, marketing help, consultation, logistics and pricing help
He's probably breaking the law by treating them as employees.
Great video that was awesome!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey guys! Thank you so much for this amazing interview! Is there any possibility to reach out to Austin personally?
This got me motivated. I’ll be back in one year.
How’s it going?
Hey Upflip, would like to ask..for cleaning procedure and also things like how to charge a premium price to customers. How do we go about it?
I like him!! He is very well articulated and backs up everything he says with numbers!! Keep it up !
Thanks for watching Jasmine. We're sure he appreciates the feedback. Should we do more videos on the cleaning industry?
@@UpFlip yes please
Thank you. I am so inspired
You are so welcome! Thanks for watching!
Our cleaning company has been doing very well which I am thankful for and have 2 employees currently. My question to Austin or anyone who is familiar with this aspect, is how do you track conversion, and your CPC with yelp? I am still learning a lot and I am trying to improve all my processes and know my numbers for once.
nick w, I was there in the beginning as well and if you don't want to invest in a software you're gonna have to it manually, yep, manually. Your business is still young I think, but once you learn this you'll be learning as you grow and once you're ready you'll be able to add software with your knowledge. Good luck 👍
Hi how are you
So as an outside sales person I can say. You have your list of clients in a spreadsheet or CSM of your choice. You should have weekly stats of calls, conversions and sources.
could you please tell me how you pay your employees per job or salary or hourly please
@@freshl2spam595 Hey Fresh, we pay employees per hour but give them a bonus if they finish faster. We also charge customers a travel fee which includes a percentage of the cost to have our employees get there and gas. The hardest thing about scaling a cleaning business is employee retention. The way we keep employees is by paying above industry hourly rates and offering those bonuses to our cleaners. It helps us retain workers much more.
Thank you so much for this information. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing how you hire people? Or what platform etc. ?
Hi Upflip, just wondering where I can find Austin's yelp course? thanks!
Thank you much, it's very useful
What’s required in terms of insurance. License and bonding, damage to property? Cost? Recommendations for companies?
Thanks austin more values 👏🏿🙏🏿
I would love to know where he goes to get his products made! i own a commercial cleaning company and would love to begin to start to selling my own products
He is so inspiring! Is it too late for the yelp class? Would Yelp work for a commercial cleaning business?
Hey Austin, great video. Congratulations on your success. I'm currently running a Trash Bin Cleaning company trying to get into different areas. Would you be able to show me how to use Yelp to get customers? TIA.
Hi Shimmy! That's all included in our yelp course we're hosting in December :)
@@austinmiller519 Cool any info where to register?
@@austinmiller519 Hi Austin, when is the next yelp training? And, what booking management software are you guys using on your website?
What is the booking system that Spruse uses in the website? I know that it is wordpress based but which plugin or theme?
I found the updated video yay
I’m curious to anyone who might have more insight on the business, how do you know how much to charge for cleaning services? And what is included? Like for wood and tile floors do you include mopping etc or do you have add on packages?
I suggest calling a few companies in your area an asking for quotes for specific services you offer and then adjust your prices within that range. Just a quick tip from someone that's just starting my own cleaning business
There is so much to this question. I could write pages in order to answer it. I personally did not look at other companies when deciding what to charge. I’ve been in the industry for years so maybe that’s part of it. I just knew the minimum of what I needed to make per job to make a profit and went from there. Mopping no matter the floor type was always included. I feel like basics are dusting, wiping down all surfaces, vacuuming and mopping. Anything over that such as laundry, doing dishes, making beds, and cleaning refrigerators/ovens, are all extras. I had a checklist tailored to each customer and extras with prices would be listed. Hope that helps.
Can you tell me what type of Hoover that is used for the company. Fab video by the way ..
Hey there... I'm curious! What is the course Austin mentioned at the 6:46 mark? Cheers, Laurie
We found out people they don’t value cleaning business but being cleaning at the time parties of your faithful & also Almighty Allah loves clean thank you everyone for sharing
Thank for watching Emer. Are you in the cleaning business?
Hello Austin, I own a residental cleaning company in NJ. Before covid I have 5 girls working for me, after it was just myself and one girl. Everyone was cleaning 1 home a day with each clean taking about 3-5 hours a day. My issues is not getting clients, it's been finding reliable people to work for me that actually know how to clean. I have turned away about 37 clients since mid last year. What can I do to find people.
What’s your pay like ??
what have you been doing, during a pandemic, to get more customers?
Sounds like you do not have any training for new employees. Even if they have hotel cleaning experience or school janitorial experience they will need to be trained to understand: They are paying for you to actually disinfect, dust, sweep, wash, wipe etc. It could be for health reasons, to assuage their personal germaphobia or because they like the smell of a freshly sprayed and wiped window.
I have seen employees come out of a public bathrooms thinking "Oh good it might be safe to use since the janitor just left." Only to find nasty toilets but full toilet paper holders.
The training is on you.
I would recommend offering insentives. Performance reviews and apply bonuses. My past work experience was with a fortune 500 company and talent develpoment was one of my duties. I will say you can hire anyone if you set up a training program. Cleaning may seem like common sense, however no one is going to know what your standard of clean is if you don't teach them.
. I hope this was valuble.
I know a good cleaner available in the Sparta area of NJ. Super honest, flexible about salary, can start at low prices. email my channel
Awesome channel im new love it
Great video, great products. Im sold
That's awesome! Hope we've also inspired you to create your own business. ☺️
Very useful information, if I may ask what website does Spruce uses.
Good going Austin!! 👍🏻
Awesome!! But how do you sign up for the Yelp course?
What was the book called he mentioned?
36:30 very admirable and rare to see boss give credits to worker +1000 social credit
Thanks for your comment David. We agree! 😀Workers are the backbone of a business.
For those with cleaning services, what type of insurance did you purchase.
Magnificent Video
Glad you enjoyed it
I love this pod cast dude all the uo coming people are on here wait till my business gets semi big inwana join and tell my story in the future
Keep us updated!
Thats my plan 1 step at a time fashure
Good stuff! Really interested to see the growth under the franchise model. And did anyone catch the name of the book?
Very confused at that book title part.
Super Confused also. Could not find it.
I think its Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results - Jack Mitchell
Jack Mitchell wrote three books
Hug Your Customers (2003)
Hug Your People (2008)
Selling the 'Hug Your Customers Way' (2018)
Although, I too am confused of the title of the book mentioned in the video so this was my best guess. Hope this helps
Love this 🙌🙌🙌🙌💓💓💓💓
Glad you enjoyed Kelly!
What was the hospitality book he recommended at the end?
great applicable advice but what was the name of the book he recommended?
I can't find the book the mentioned in 28:07
You could tell hes beenn through some shit as an entrepreneur. These are the guys i RESPECT the most
I would really like to know how RIGHT AT THE START where did the money come from, decisions made, how did he enter the cleaning market, what equipment did he start with. It's great hearing the success of now but I would like to know the detailed beginnings of all the great entrepreneurs you have interviewed.
I just came across this video,im wanting to start a cleaning buisness, i dont know were to start exactly and obviously i was concerned it would be over saturated with cleaning businesses but its something i enjoy and im set on trying!
Me too, I have like this big urge to start one
@@millicentokero2752 yeah you should just try it too! 😁
How and where can someone buy the Spruse cleaning products?
He is not lying about his profits because I am planning to start this cleaning business
Good luck! I suggest using very simple arsenal
This was the best master class i hv ever heard on maid services
Awesome! Are you running your own maid services now?
Hey UpFlip! Can we see an episode with a business importing products from overseas?
Our episode on Beard Head got all of their inventory from China :)
He talked about sourcing Nationally, where your sht isnt stuck on a cargo ship for months...
Hi how are you
Is his website down? Does the business still exist?
I love his office, it’s clean!!!!!
Great ideas come from clean spaces!
Hi, My husband and I own a Cleaning and Maintenance company with various cleaning services. We would like to grow our business but have had a hard time with marketing our business online. If you can please link Austin’s Yelp course. We would definitely like to learn how to advertise our service business online better. Thank you.
Love the transparency
We're glad you enjoyed Alan!
Great video guys . Can you'll do a video on the dropshipping business model.
Great suggestion!
@@UpFlip Like that you ask for Numbers, because at the end of the day its all about the numbers bruh...
Thank you for the interview. I have called them about 10 times for last 2 weeks and nobody picked the phone. Left franchise request 3 times - no respond. Not sure if I want to work with them after this kind of attitude
I honestly don't know how he's done well during Covid. Our cleaning business had 24 employees prior to the pandemic and we were grossing around 1.5 million a year... then Covid came and cut our business nearly in half. Things haven't improved since then. Maybe it depends on your geographical area? We are a 5 star rated yelp company, so that wasn't an issue. Needless to say, I started another business a few months into the pandemic that's *way* more profitable, and pandemic proof. I still have the cleaning business, but it's not my main focus anymore.
Hey Ken! Yes, location can make a difference. There have been so many changes in the world these last few years, but everything will be ok. We love your resilience!!!⭐👍What type of industry is your new business in?
@@UpFlip The new business is a logistics business (transportation and delivery). We actually have a contract with Amazon right now, which is huge. I'm also planning on starting a second logistics company as well this year. The demand for delivery drivers is huge right now, so building this kind of business is really where it's at.
Don't buy too much into this guy's business claims. He's trying to sell franchises and he sounds like he watches wayyy too much Grant Cardone.
Where can we find his yelp business course?
They should try tiktok videos. People love watching the day in the life of a builder, mechanic, cleaner, landscaper etc. Great video
Interesting idea!
Yes. You can get views but thats not in your irl market per say. Im sure he would rather invest time into real life than a childrens app
Where do I find the Yelp business course? Can anybody help please
how much to start up a site like yours ?love it. where to start
Where do we get the yelp class?
Great story, he's such an incredible entrepreneur, got me wanting to get his franchise 😄
He really is! Glad you found value in the video :)
Hi how are you
Has he ever released the yelp business course ?
Did anyone catch the name of the book on hospitality he referenced?
Where do I get info for his course?!
I do we get the yelp course ?
Started black ribbon homes during covid , I just quite my job at the pst office and I’m taking off, no website, I’m in Tampa Florida.
When can I hire more help,and what do you do when people think your prices are too high, they think a clean is 100, we also organize and do interior design, and people try to put organizing and cleaning together for $100
ZipRecruiter is good to hire more people. As for price, try to explain to them your cost and value and maybe even break it down to an hourly rate and that's why you have your prices that way. Hope this helps!
Did he say his franchise cost was $ 35K ? Can someone confirm? what about other fees ( annually, etc ) & rules / regulations of running it ? Where can we find the info...
$110,000
hey, is that yelp business course up yet? can you give us an
Where is the yelp course?
Best place to advertise your cleaning business? Any idea
Sorry, but this seems to be a total fluff piece. How can 45% profit be real? I don't believe he's running a labor based business, paying employees more than his competitors, paying workers comp insurance, paying a lease, paying for cleaning supplies, paying travel costs, paying for ads, paying office staff, paying himself a salary, paying employment taxes... and then pocketing 45% of $100K per month... all while charging less than his competitors. His claim of servicing 450 clients, 60 to 70% of whom are new, per week with a staff of 20 is bogus. Just the customer service logistics behind these numbers are staggering... people cancel and reschedule constantly, so your utilization rate per employee is no where near 100%.
Penciling out some of his numbers... even if all 20 employees were cleaners, he'd have each employee servicing 4 clients per day 6 days a week. His customer acquisition costs on $2000 a month would be... $2000 a month spend divided by 450 customers a week x 60% new customers x 4 weeks per month = $1.80 per customer. Come on...
He grossed a million... pocketed $450K... so he ran the whole business on $550K for a year? If his ONLY overhead was 20 employees... that's $2300 per month per employee... with no taxes, no lease, no insurance, no ad spend, no cleaning supplies... that's $14 per hour.
$70 average per job... really? I can't book a job on your site for the smallest house for less than $93, so he must be talking profit. Profit or gross... either way the numbers don't pencil out. 450 customers per week x 52 weeks x $70 is $1.6 million in profit annually.
The other feature you did on Queen Bee cleaning was much more real. He's busting his ass to eek out 15%... that's real. UpFlip should vet some of these numbers before putting up content that makes no sense.
Does he do Airbnb? And commercial cleaning?