Getting Started: The Why Behind the Choice

So, it's gotta be asked:

• Why would anyone decided to start a cleaning business?
• Isn't it hard enough to manage one's own house and it's cleaning needs?
• Can cleaning actually be a fulfilling line of work? 
• Isn't it a lot of work for little pay?

Well, yes and no. 

Yes, it can be hard to juggle a family and keep your own house in order while cleaning other people's places. After a day (or several days) of particularly hard work, who wants to come home and clean house? I have to admit, there are days that I just ignore it all and save energy for my clients. And that is okay! It's my choice, and that is the beauty of it!

On the flip side, I find it rather rewarding to go into a building and leave it better than I found it, especially when the client is unable to do it themselves. Despite the energy expended during a job, I find a certain satisfaction in seeing everything put back to order and knowing that my honest, hard work will help others live healthier and happier lives in their home and work spaces. 

As for the pay, while cleaning does not create a fortune (for most cleaning businesses at least), it is enough for our family to pay the bills, put food on the table, and even squirrel a little money into savings, which is why we work, right? I feel cleaning is often taken for granted, but that it is a service that people will always need (like nursing, food production, or construction) and therefore offers a basic level of job security, if you are willing to work for it. 

So, here comes the most important question: Why start a professional cleaning business? 

The answer to this question is different for everyone, however, the biggest driving factor for us was to spend more time together as a family. We felt that the regular 9am-5pm work week prevented us from having the family-time we craved. With a toddler added to the mix, we found it was quite stressful for one of us to be gone all day and sometimes not even see our little-one due to sleep schedules, much less have the energy to play or fully interact if he was awake. This coupled with an unsustainable living situation and the need to move to Hollis, AK, we had the perfect storm for change. 

So after some brainstorming, we did the unthinkable. We both quit the jobs that were keeping our family apart, moved to Hollis, and used our skills to create an opportunity to work as a family: Southeast Clean & Care! 

Sure, there are some days we look back and wondered if we made the right decision, but we have never been stronger as a family, than after we started working for ourselves. There is a certain satisfaction in not only being with my family all day, but also creating the ability for ourselves to decide our own schedules and to be fully responsible for our own income.  

This is the first post for the Southeast Clean & Care blog, so stay tuned for more tips, tricks, and insights into general cleaning and running your own cleaning business!