An in-depth look at Respite Clean in Celebration of its 1-year Anniversary!

In celebration of our first year in business, I have decided to write an article about how Respite Clean came to be. With things moving so quickly and getting so many requests from so many amazing people, it's easy for me to forget WHY I decided to do this in the first place and although I'm constantly trying to keep myself in check, keep myself grounded, and when things get hectic and stressful, remind myself why I did this in the first place. My hope with this article is not only to bring myself back down to basics, but to help all of you - especially our newer clients - understand why we do what we do and to help you see that we aren't your run-of-the-mill cleaning company - we are unique and we want everyone to be able to see that!

A Bit of History...

To get you started, here is a little bit about me - in point form:

• I’m married to my high school sweetheart – we will be celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary in November!

• We have a beautiful 7-year-old son – soon to be 8 – who I insist is never growing up – and we recently bought our first house 18 months ago.

• I have a degree in Professional Writing and Business Communications, as well as a certification in Medical Transcription.

• I have written and published 3 terrible books, and I have a number of random articles swimming around in cyberspace.

• In addition to running Respite Clean, I also write and design newsletters, brochures, and travel booklets for a small travel company called Executive Cultural Tours.

• I also have a blog (for which I have not written a word) called The Pensive Mama that I used to keep myself busy during some difficult times.

• I have had a few businesses in my time: a home daycare, which made me miserable - not because of the kids but because of the parents; a writing and design business called STC Small Business Consulting which catered to small and/or start up businesses and focused on web design, social media management, promotion creation and development, and efficiency procedure development - all of which I ended up closing - or stopping - (technically, I still have STC, I just don't actively look for work) due to my inability to say "No" to clients I felt would make life difficult or stressful for me (bills still need to be paid, you know?); and freelance writing which I have done, on-and-off, for over 12 years (search my name on Google - you'll find a lot of my articles).

• I wrote a 90-page biography for a man named Donald McKeen who was turning 90 and for whom his daughter wanted to immortalize his fascinating life. It was the funnest writing project I have ever done. It's called "His Story" (see what I did there?) and it's by far one of my greatest personal accomplishments.

• Besides my family, I have three main passions in life: writing, creating, and helping people – and not necessarily in that order.

• Professionally, I have four areas in which I feel I excel: Organization, communication, problem solving and logic. All of those things have served me well in my personal life, as well as in my professional life.

That's me in a nutshell! I also love to laugh and make others laugh, I am extremely sarcastic, I am petrified of spiders, I am 150% obsessed with the show Friends, and I hope to one day...maybe...become a teacher (I know, I know - the clock is ticking on that!)

Finding My Path

As I mentioned, I have had a few business in my years, and with each business, I continuously found myself in the same position facing the same problem - with my mini cleaning company I started in college, my freelance writing, and my daycare, my small business consulting – I was taking on clients because I had to and not because I wanted to. I was so afraid of not being able to pay my bills that I just took on anything that came my way. So what ended up happening, again? I ended up with nightmare clients. Clients who expected the world but didn't want to pay for it, clients who were condescending and disrespectful, and worst of all, clients I had to chase for money. But because I was so afraid of not being able to pay my bills, I just took it - even though a lot of them time these people made me miserable.

And not only that, the whole reason I had decided to do work from home was so that I could be home with my son, but it seemed to be that I was basically working 24/7. I was heading for a burn out. I couldn't do it anymore: dealing with difficult people, constantly working, not knowing exactly when I would get paid next, I started craving stability and predictability. It was time for me to go back to work.

Joining The Adult World...

So I pulled on my big girl pants and got a full time job. It was a dream job. It was at the Ottawa General as a Research Assistant – I worked all day, every day, on my own managing the databases for the Kidney and Bladder Studies. I was in heaven! But then – after 5 months, they lost funding and I lost my job.

While I was still there though, I was “head-hunted” by a recruiter to work for another company which I won’t mention here. It was more in line with my actual field – writing, transcription, formatting – and it seemed super promising. And when I got laid off, it had almost felt like a sign that I should take the job.

The only issue, however, was that the woman who owned the company was adamant that I cut down on my freelancing. She knew how stressful life had been and I thought she was doing it to be kind. So, after 3 weeks (I had some things to wrap up) I let go of all my clients except one and then 2 weeks later….I got laid off.

Yup! Now I had no clients and no job! So that was nice!

That was around the time I had a complete mental breakdown. BUT – me being me and being as resilient as I am, I took 2 days to "grieve" and then I set out to develop another plan. I went on EI and then decided to get a cleaning job working for a cleaning company a few days a week so I could earn some spending money (don’t worry – I claimed it!)

I worked with that company for one week.

“Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better”

That’s how I’ve always been. I’m not one of those people who tries to one-up other people’s stories or successes. But when I see something that I think is disorganized or lacks common sense I have this incessant need to "do it better".

Now let me just start off by saying that everyone runs their company in their own way – if it works for them than that’s all that matters. And I have worked for quite a few cleaning companies – one while I was in high school, one while I was in college, and then this last one. With each one, the hiring process was the same: I apply, they either call me or email me, I get hired during that initial contact and then I get sent off with a “veteran” who shows me the ropes. Generally, these ropes included handing me some cleaning product and some cloths and telling me where to clean.

But it was this last company that got me thinking about the ways cleaning companies function and how they are structured. I most likely noticed these things this last time because I was A. older and B. had a background in developing procedures to make companies more efficient. I also have a very unique managerial style and I also have a more consumer-based approach to dealing with customers and clients.

Here's a small anecdote: After high school, I took a year off and worked at Goodlife Fitness as a “Membership Consultant” (a salesperson). When my boss explained to me how it worked – that the memberships typically cost X amount of dollars but this month we had a promotion of paying only X amount – but ONLY for this month. I asked her afterwards: “Are the memberships ever full-price or is there a sale every month?” She leaned over and whispered to me that every month there is a different sale – she had never seen the memberships at full price. I thought about it for a second and then, very innocently and naïvely asked: “But isn’t that lying?” She just laughed and told me not to worry about it. That bothered me. It felt very “gimicky.” On top of that, I had to follow a script when we had a “walk in” come in for information. I had to give them the same schpeel while showing them around the gym. I felt like such a fake! After 3 times of doing that, I stopped. If they came in for information, I would walk them around giving them general information about the gym but in between that, I would talk to them about them. Ask them questions about their lives and their families. When my boss found out, I got reprimanded. But being the rebel I am (ha!) I refused to give into working off a script. After 3 months, I was the top salesperson in Ontario and I was racking in about $2500 a month just in commission!

Back to the story. I was hired on with this last company not because she thought I was a good cleaner (she never met with me and to this day I had never met her in person) but because of my background. She was looking to expand her company into Orleans and was looking for someone who could lead a team in Orleans. That was exciting for me! So I took the job.

My first clean was with another woman who had worked there for a long while and it was in an area about 30 minutes south of Orleans. The home was very large – probably about 4000 square feet - and we were expected to clean it in 2 hours. There was no way!

She handed me some cloths and sent me on my way to dust the bedrooms. When I entered one of the bedrooms, I saw that the desk in the back corner was so dusty it looked like it had fur on it! Immediately, I started taking everything off. She happened to walk by at that moment and stopped.

“No,” she said. “Don’t worry about that. We don’t have time for that. This house is too big.”

I was stunned. “It’s furry!” I said.

She shook her head. “We only do the basics. The client is only paying for a certain amount of time so we have to be careful what we do.”

I looked around the room. Was this not the basics? It’s a desk…in the room…and it needs to be dusted.

We managed to get out of there 15 minutes late (she was not happy) and then proceeded to drive back to Orleans, all the way down to Petrie Island area. When we got to the new house, the client was surprised to see me – someone she didn’t know – and asked a bunch of questions. The woman I was cleaning with mentioned she regularly cleaned the home with someone else and that the client didn’t like “surprises”. I felt uncomfortable, but it was over soon enough and we went upstairs.

As I cleaned the tub and went to rinse it, I couldn’t figure out how to turn on the shower. I called the other cleaner over and asked her. She looked at it for two seconds and said, “Oh, I don’t know.”

I said: “You’ve been cleaning this house on a regular basis and you don’t know how to turn on the shower?” She shrugged and walked away.

Lastly, came the kitchen. As we were finishing up and my partner was packing all of her things, I got down on my hands and knees to wipe the baseboards. Again, she stopped me. “No, no. She doesn’t pay that for that package, we don’t do the baseboards. It’s an extra cost.”

Perplexed I just stared at her. Then I got up off the floor and we left.

That night, when I got home, I messaged my boss and asked her about the packages. I asked her for a print out or something that would explain which package was which, but she told me that I would figure it all out in time. She then asked me if I had any notes about how the day went, if there was anything she could improve on procedural-wise and so on. I mentioned a few things - basically choosing cleaners who are in proximity, location-wise, to their cleans, and different ways she could write and structure her "Handbook" (which was super hard to read). And although she asked me for these things, when I gave her my opinion, she proceeded to defend herself to me for 2 hours. I realized then that this would be an uphill battle - I'd had enough of uphill battles.

So here were the things I didn’t love about the way most cleaning companies, are structured.

• Clients have a “base” amount they pay and then additional costs for other things – things like baseboards or windowsills.

• Clients are never informed as to who will be in their home at any particular time – they just need to trust the “boss” and that it was very rarely the same people going to the same homes. It was like musical chairs.

• Cleans are added to the schedule last minute and cleaners are shifted around at the drop of a hat so no one ever really knew where they were going until last minute.

• Cleaners have no contact with the clients at any time – unless the client was home when they cleaned – and they very rarely cleaned the same home twice.

• And most of all – it’s not about helping clients but more about getting in and out as quickly as possible and collecting their money.

• Most companies charge an hourly rate. So the first client was only paying for 4 hours of work (but actually 2 hours because there were two of us) so whatever could be done in those 2 hours was what got done – nothing more nothing less. So then my question became: What if you’re paying for a full home clean but the cleaner is slow? What one cleaner could get done in 4 hours, the other cleaner could only get done in 2.

But I wanted to test this theory of mine (although, I didn’t know that that was what I was doing at the time). I found a cleaner who gave me a time estimate based on how much I wanted to pay since not all of my house needed to be done. We agreed on 3 hours for 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, the upstairs hallway, downstairs powder room and front entrance.

So she came at noon. We chatted for a bit, I showed her around, we talked about the checklist and she started cleaning. After two hours, she finished the upstairs (let me just note here that at this time, my house was 6 months old and I have a hatred for soap scum, so 2 hours to dust two bedrooms and clean two bathrooms seemed excessive). When she came down to do the powder room, pulled everything out out of the bathroom and removed the mats at the front door, placing them in my hallway. She then cleaned the powder room and started to vacuum the front entryway.

About halfway through, she stopped. She turned off the vacuum, turned to me and said, “Three hours is up. My husband is waiting for me.” Keep in mind, she had moved everything into the hallway. I then paid her – I figured she would finish up the 2 minutes of vacuuming and replace all my things before leaving. Instead, as she changed her shoes she said to me….and wait for it...: “You might want to vacuum this area a little bit more, I didn’t get to it.” And then left. I mean…!

That’s when I decided that I would never charge my clients an hourly rate. Why should the client suffer because a cleaner is slow? In addition, I am quite possibly the slowest cleaner on the planet. I like taking my time, getting into nook and crannies, I don’t want to dictate my job and my name on time.

The other thing I noticed was that a lot of companies/cleaners simply did “surface cleans.” Which is just wiping the areas one can see, not moving anything, not cleaning anything on the counter top, not hitting tops of doors or windows.

Now, I don’t know about you but that’s what I do when I clean my home. I can wipe down my counter tops, I can mop around things, I can ignore dust/fur on the tops of my door frames. But my purpose for hiring a cleaner would be to do the things I can’t/don’t want to/don’t have time to do. Why would I pay someone my hard-earned money to do the things I’m already doing? And also, whether someone is rich or not, they all deserve the same clean. The idea of packages seems so unjust to me.

I decided then and there that I would just find some homes to clean myself. I would make more money, I could clean the way I wanted to clean and keep myself busy while I figure out what the heck I am going to do with my life! So I developed some values and principles for myself:

1. No packages: One clean, one price.

2. Predictability: Same house on the same day at the same time

3. Customer Service: Treat all my clients like they are friends to build an environment of mutual respect and appreciation.

4. And never take on, or keep, a client who makes me feel less-than

The thing is, when I was cleaning for myself while in college, I found it difficult to find clients. Facebook wasn’t a thing then so it was all about Kijiji. I also lived in the West End (don’t know if that makes a difference), so I was absolutely not expecting the outpour of requests I got for cleaning. Within 3 weeks, I had so many requests, I had to hire someone! I thought that that was pretty cool. But I wasn’t completely committed to starting a business so I hadn’t developed any procedures or marketing materials and for someone who constantly stressed how important it is for a company to have a website, I didn’t make one – and I didn’t have one for quite a long time.

I was lucky, though, when I hired my first cleaner. Not only was she personable, she was thorough and cooperative, and the best part – she stuck around! After I hired her I thought – Wow! This might actually be easy!

Well, unfortunately – or fortunately depending on the way you look at it – Leah was one in a million. Although my goal had been to hire long term cleaners so my clients would “always know who is in your home," it was quite difficult to find good, high-quality, reliable cleaners. And it has a very stressful portion of building my business. And although I have been tempted once or twice, I have never rebuked on my promise not to hire just anyone, not at all.

In fact, I have fired almost the same number of people that I’ve hired. I never went into this with the idea of becoming the next Molly Maid or Mopify – I went into this wanting to help people, to offer families a way to have less stress in their lives, to offer my clients the cleans they are paying for. So if it means I have to keep my clientele small to match our staffing capabilities (rather than hiring to keep up with demand) than that’s what I would do. I am still so extremely picky about who I hire and who I bring into this “family.” And I think this is the one part that I was naïve about – assuming there were a lot of people like me who were looking for work during the days while their kids were at school, who wanted to be able to drop their kids off and pick them up from school, and who wanted the flexibility and independence that comes along with the types of cleans that we do. And through it all, I have learned to be less "desperate" to hire and what questions to ask in order to have a more through hiring process.

About a month ago, I was becoming pretty stressed. I had just let go of my 6th cleaner, our demands were increasing, I was tired, and I was getting a little discouraged. And I think that that is why what happened next happened: to show me why I do what I do.

I hired another cleaner for my home (I don't like the idea of using my own cleaners to clean my home).

What a disaster! Point form, here's what happened:

• I didn't know who was coming to my home - how many, what their names were, nothing. I didn't even know that the person I was speaking to over email was the owner!

• Products were used on my floors that should never be used on hardwood floors and when I said something, they shrugged and said they always use it.

• Although I felt like my bathrooms were “bad” they just had some spots on the faucets, a bit of mildew around the drains, and toothpaste in the sink. When the cleaners left, there was a white film over everything. So badly that I had to clean it all again.

• Spots and areas I was excited to have cleaned - for which I had hired a cleaner in the first place - weren't touched

As an owner of a cleaning company, I truly understand that you can't always control what your staff is doing when they're in other people's homes. You can never be 100% certain that they are delivering the clean they are supposed to, have been trained to do. And when I do find out about it, I apologize, offer to make it up, and sometimes offer a discount.

When I contacted the owner to let her know that things she said would be done were not and the other issues, she apologized profusely and told me she would ensure it was rectified and would do what she needed to do make it up to me. Then, three days later, sent me an invoice for a larger amount than we had agreed upon.

Now, I wasn't expecting a hand-out. Like I said, I get it. But the whole experience in itself - what's the point in hiring a company to clean my home when cleaning my home myself would be of better quality and less stress? Simple: There isn't one.

And that is why I am so strict about what gets cleaned, why I am - and expect my cleaners to be - so meticulous, why I want us to move things, to get down to the nitty gritty - because those are all the things you don't have time to do, or don't want to do, or can't do. Which is why you hired someone to do it - so why should you get the bare minimum - why not just do it yourself?!

At the end of the day, this business that I created is so much more than collecting a pay check, getting in and out as quickly as possible (and expecting my staff to - I actually urge them to stay longer if they need to), and pretending that we don't exist while we're in someone's home; it's about community, it's about connecting, it's about helping our fellow neighbors. What's that old saying? "It takes a village..."? That's exactly what it's all about for me - and what I want it to be all about for my staff, as well. That's not to say that every client we take on has that same vision: Not every client is willing to be flexible, some have unrealistic expectations, some think that because they're paying us we will/should do anything (I had one client, after forgetting to put out her vacuum tell me, and I quote, "You could have just picked it up with your hands"), and that's OK. That just tells me that we are not the right fit for them. But the difference now then it was for me back then, is that I have such a strong group of amazing women (and some men) as clients who are respectful, supportive, understanding, and appreciative that when we cross paths with a client who doesn't "fit," I am confident enough to break ties.

And with that, I can celebrate the momentous - and pretty amazing - occasion that is Respite Clean's Birthday. I can celebrate the amazing women I have working by side who share the same values as I do, and I can celebrate the amazing women (and some men) who have joined our little family in an effort to make their lives easier.

So thank you, to all of you, for making this first year so successful - I know that there was no way I could have done it without you! THANK YOU!