The Business of Cleaning

From difficulties with staffing to the desire to improve company culture, good employee retention is a must, but how do you make yours the best it can be? I sat down with Terell Weg to find out. Terell Weg is the CEO of MSNW Group , based out of Washington. She’s worked within the industry and her family’s business from a young age, starting from the bottom and working her way up through hard work...

Whether you’re new to the industry or just starting out you’ve likely at least heard purchasing groups mentioned. We sat down with one such group to give you an idea of why you might want to join. This month’s episode is fortunate to feature three members from the NSA (National Service Alliance) team. The conversation is led by NSA President, Michael Conrad , with input from Debbie Wakefield , the...

When it comes to communicating the latest processes, keeping up to date with the news, and maintaining open lines of communication, CleanLink.com knows what they’re doing. So we sat down with Editor-in-Chief, Corinne Zudonyi, to talk about how you can do the same for your cleaning business. Corinne Zudonyi is the Editor-in-Chief of CleanLink.com , Contracting Profits magazine, Facility Cleaning De...

Between high standards and the difficulties caused by the pandemic, cleaning companies have had to learn the true meaning of change. We sat down with the University of Toledo’s custodial team to talk about how they’re working hard to meet new expectations and do the right thing for their frontline workers. Maggie Garcia, the Director of Central Services at the University of Toledo , and Candace Hu...

Have you thought about how your culture impacts your business’s success? More than likely you’ve heard many people stress culture and you’ve probably even done so yourself, but what are you really doing to ensure that you have a positive impact on that culture? Jenean Perelstein is a sociocultural anthropologist and business strategist. She has studied behavior change across many different culture...

If you’re not putting much thought into your cleaning solutions, you should be. The truth is that your employees and customers care and a good choice can make a big difference in the quality of job you provide. Dan Schmidt is co-founder of Ageless Global, the company that created the EZ Safer Surface Cleaner and Zac Miner is their VP of Sales. The reason they created their product is that they wan...

Welcome to the new schedule of the Business of Cleaning podcast! It can be hard to find qualified applicants, but it can be even harder to keep them. If you found a valuable employee then you know that they have the potential to be hired elsewhere. The real talent comes in retaining your employees and we sat down with the perfect person to talk about doing exactly that. Jason Morris is the Executi...

Embracing change as a leader is one of the true telling moments of your career. Are you using a difficult situation as an opportunity or are you floundering around for answers? Mike Derryberry is the owner and Chief Visionary Officer for Compass Cleaning Solutions . Established in 2004 Compass has consistently taken the long-term approach to growing the company based on Purpose, Values, and Missio...

A great leader understands the importance of sharing the workload and responsibility and knows the right time to let someone else’s expertise take over. Mike Derryberry of Compass Cleaning Solutions tells us about his experiences. Mike Derryberry is the owner and Chief Visionary Officer for Compass Cleaning Solutions . Established in 2004 Compass has consistently taken the long-term approach to gr...

Leaders are not born, they’re made. We sat down with Mike Derryberry to talk about what makes a good leader. Mike Derryberry is the owner and Chief Visionary Officer for Compass Cleaning Solutions . Established in 2004 Compass has consistently taken the long-term approach to grow the company based on Purpose, Values, and Mission.  Their belief that culture and people precede profits and their...

Good leadership is paramount to good business. The first thing you have to do as a leader is to establish your purpose. Mike Derryberry is the owner and Chief Visionary Officer for Compass Cleaning Solutions . Established in 2004 Compass has consistently taken the long-term approach to growing the company based on Purpose, Values, and Mission.  Their belief that culture and people precede pro...

Do you have a marketing strategy for your cleaning business? Our team sat down to talk about the ins and outs of a modern marketing strategy and why it’s vital for growth! Sam Riegsecker is becoming a familiar face amongst our episodes as an occasional host. He steps out again, from his behind-the-scenes role as Marketing Manager for Janitorial Manager , to join us behind the mic. This week we tal...

Debbie Sardone is a brand pioneer, creating "first to market" categories in unlikely places. Her nonprofit Cleaning For A Reason (an ISSA Charities program) is the largest cleaning for cancer charity in the world. Debbie turned a cleaning job into a three-million-dollar cleaning empire. After building one of the largest self-running maid services in the country, Buckets & Bows Maid Service, In...

Running a cleaning business can be stressful, but community service offers you the chance to take a mental break, grow your network, and raise employee retention at the same time. Jill Kellermeyer-Kegler is the Director of Business Development for Janitorial Manager . She joined the company early in 2019 and has become an important part of helping our company grow. Jill is not only great at her jo...

Running a cleaning business takes a lot of work and most of your time is likely focused on improving the trade, your employees, and your customers, but are you continuing to network and connect to your community, or are you missing out on the opportunity? Amanda Villarreal is the co-founder and managing member at PLEX Capital , an invoice factoring business that provides working capital for busine...

Have you thought about your strategy recently? We have and we sat down with the strategy expert, Eric Kurjan, to get expert advice on how you can give your business the advantage and set it up for success long-term. Eric Kurjan is the president of Six Disciplines Consulting Services, based out of Toledo, Ohio. Six Disciplines is a consulting firm that specializes in the long-term development of th...

At the forefront of every great business is great leadership and if you’ve been neglecting the leadership of your company then are great repercussions that you may realize. Think you’re already there? Then, here is simply some food for thought to aid in continuous improvement in your business. Todd Hendricks Jr. is the current president of Pioneer Industrial Systems, a robotics and automation comp...

Paying for leads can be expensive and generating new business is hard work! We pulled together a shortlist that will help you do that for little to no cost. Sam Riegsecker is the Marketing Manager at Janitorial Manager. You may recognize his name from the JM weekly newsletters or a Facebook community. Sam has worked with the company since its founding and been a vital part of the branding and comm...

Having a Facebook account is now extremely commonplace, but Facebook has evolved beyond the usual company pages and share posts. Facebook groups are becoming a more popular place for like-minded people to congregate, often in the thousands, to generate ideas and share knowledge. Sam Riegsecker is the Marketing Manager at Janitorial Manager. You may recognize his name from the JM weekly newsletters...

Leading and managing successfully can be difficult to nail down, especially when in-person seminars are few and far between right now. We sat down with someone who’s expertise in management in the cleaning industry to help you refine your own management just a little bit more. Ralph Peterson is a housekeeping management trainer, specializing in the healthcare and long-term care spaces. He has hire...

There are many things you can do to strengthen your business within the cleaning industry and we can all agree that knowledge is power. Instead of reaching around the dark, many are utilizing their network and joining industry groups in order to pull from the expertise of those who have already built their keys to success. Todd Hopkins is the current president of BSCAI, of which he has been a memb...

Recruitment and hiring are never easy, but recently, there seems to be new challenges. Health is a bigger concern than ever and adjusting to meeting new demands and guidelines is difficult at best. So we asked our very own HR Generalist for her advice. Jamie Rofkar is the HR Generalist for Janitorial Manager and SHRM certified. She leads the way in helping establish HR practices, such as recruitme...

No matter how much the world changes, some things will remain relatively true. For example, starting a cleaning business is hard work. It takes a lot of knowledge, resourcefulness, skill, and connectivity to succeed. There are various ways an ambitious entrepreneur can approach doing so. One of those ways is to look at franchising options and create your business around a brand that is already est...

It’s what we focus so much of our time and effort to develop and while it’s not the only solution to increase retention and engagement of employees, there’s no doubt that it’s a heavy hitter. So what is the right approach to creating and maintaining good leadership? We’ve outlined a few suggestions to get you set on the right path to impactful success. As we wrap our first mini-season and swing in...

When considering the retention and engagement of employees, it is also important to consider your growth strategy and some of the factors that make it effective. Why? Because employees want to feel invested and that they’re part of something important. You’ll also find that investing in things like reporting and education go a long way in raising the effectiveness and morale of your team. Learn mo...