The point I wanted to make is that any one can buy a franchise, but you have to be good at what you do to make it work.

The person who owned the Franchise in Seattle talked to me before he bought it. He leased a location that was a property we had looked at, but declined, because you need to have employee parking. He was sincere enough, and followed the program to a fault, which may have been another problem. There are many times in business when you need to color outside of the lines. It’s hard to do that with a policy, and procedure manual that some one else creates for you.

The biggest problem was customer communication. My feeling is that we need to have a relationship with the people we work with. There is a certain amount of give, and take that needs to be done. That is an intangible. Having a long term working relationship is what has people referring you. It gives you more insight so you can do a better job. It’s a big part of the learning curve.

Most important is that the cleaning business, any business, is something you get better at as you learn more about the trade. It takes a personal involvement you won’t find in the manual.

A Spring Cleaning was my first web site, that’s why you see it in the placement on Google search. I started the site in 1998. We got a lot of attention in those years being interviewed on the radio, and mentioned on TV. When we added the business name of Seattle House Cleaning more of our focus was put there and in 2009 we converted A Spring Cleaning to a WordPress blog site.

Last night we celebrated twenty four years of having the business, and it’s continued expansion. I added some photos on FaceBook  http://www.facebook.com/SeattleHouseCleaning

We are in the process of rebuilding the A Spring Cleaning portion of our business so that next year we can do more. We want to expand the original business model to help people maintain the homes they have with an eye on a future sale. Contact us to learn more about what we have to offer.

On March 30th there was a change in the way FaceBook operates, that I don’t fully understand, but it gave us the ability to claim our business pages. It made me more comfortable spending the time on those pages knowing I can keep them.

We have a very limited exposure, and few friends, but it has had an immediate impact. People talk to me about our FaceBook page. People can respond to things that we put onto the pages at the time they see them. As the network grows there will be more reach.

We will now include our FaceBook page in our advertising, and share it with our current clients. It will help to broaden our communication about what we are doing to make our business better. It’s really a great tool.

http://www.facebook.com/SeattleHouseCleaning

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/A-Spring-Cleaning/142653529083181

The upright vacuum we use is a Sanitaire, and the style hasn’t changed in probably forty years. The motor sits above the fan which sits above the beater bar. That gives the greatest amount of suction.

The canister vacuum we have used for years is a Kenmore. The style was called Magic Blue which was discontinued about eight months ago. It was replaced by the black model shown below.

The yellow canister is made by Hoover. It is smaller, and has a smaller bag, but is very powerful. We’re trying it as an alternative because it was recommended by another cleaning company. We’ll see which one works better for us.

We are familiar with the other company, they have been around for a while. They have good workers, good systems, but we are better at training, and supervision. Two of the people we hired this year have worked for other companies, and one of them told me today that I was very particular. She’s right.

We have higher standards, and expect the people who work with us to have the same set of standards. Our workers take pride in a job well done. When we walk out the door every one is responsible for the way the home looks. We have a very tight group that communicates well. It’s those little things that make a difference.

Our client was thrilled to have us back, and as we cleaned we could see the places they missed, repeatedly, over the past year. Even with a written check list there were little things out of place, areas that weren’t dusted, or corners that weren’t cleaned. We were happy to see the differences. It makes a good object lesson for our team.

We have worked in households who have all three sets of domestics. The house keeper directed the tasks, did shopping, laundry, ran errands, and in general kept track of the house hold. The maid came in Monday through Friday made the beds, tidied the bathrooms, picked up, set the laundry schedule, did some light cleaning, ironing, and kept the house looking pretty. Our team of three came in once every two week for two hours, and cleaned the bathrooms, and kitchens.

There was also a gardener, personal assistant, and a cook. The cook, and gardener had limited schedules. We never knew how the whole process worked, but I thought that would give you an idea of the differences.