I’ve decided to take a job with some Albany exterminators as my side-gig.  To provide a brief update about what’s going on, I am no longer doing hood cleaning services as my part-time job.  Despite having the correct licensing and training, my heart’s just not in it.  This past weekend, I went home to spend some time with my family and celebrate Memorial Day.  I gave my employees the weekend off from work and we shut everything down to take a short vacation.  I left Friday morning around 9 AM and arrived back in Albany at 11:30 AM, which gave me plenty of time to relax before everyone got out of work for the day.

Per usual, my mother asked how things are going with work.  It doesn’t matter how old I get, I can’t ever escape that question and it always gives me pause.  The previous cleaning position I was doing in addition to our regular services was taking up too much time and I simply wasn’t enjoying it, so I started looking for other opportunities.  My mother mentioned that Jake Anderson’s pest control company was looking for a part-time worker to help with bat removal.  I don’t know much about bats, but it certainly sounded interesting.  Plus, there aren’t many bat removal services in Albany, so it might be a good thing to experience.  Anyways, that’s when I learned about some exterminators in Albany, New York and their raving reviews.  Apparently, Albany Pest Control is one of the top services in New York, not just in the Capital District.  It strays a bit from my normal cleaning activities, but I imagine that I’ll never be bored; how could you be?  Chasing bats around with a net and trying to get them out of customers’ attics should be entertaining if nothing else.  I plan keep everyone updated on progress as this continues.

Hey everyone, just wanted to give you a quick update on how my new jobs are going.  I did end up taking the hood cleaning job in Brooklyn.  I am now certified by the New York State board!  It’s interesting being a part of this company to see how they run things.  They do zero social media, they do no advertising, and still get tons of customer leads coming in.  I asked about how they do it and they mentioned some marketing company they use that’s crushing it for them.  I mean, seriously, we’re out on calls all day long.  I can’t even imagine the hours that the full-time employees must work.

At the moment, I’m only working 2 days a week: Fridays and Saturdays.  The rest of the week is dedicated to my cleaning business, whether it’s dish-washing, vacuuming, or hosing down the outside of the house.  Whatever the clients need, I’m there.  For hood cleaning though, I show up around 8:00 AM and check in to see what my assignment is for the day.  I’ve been paired with a more experienced employee who’s been doing this for 15 years.  Most of the calls we’re going on are for estimates.  We head out to the restaurant’s location, inspect their kitchen or dining area and then provide a quote for our service based on what they need.  So far, we’re closing customers at around 80%.  That’s pretty solid because I can’t think of any other line of work where it’s nearly automatic.  The 20% that don’t end up going with us are almost always due to cost.  They want to pay some person $40 to do a quick scrub and sign-off on it, but we don’t work like that.  As a professional company, we inspect every item and clean everything with commercial grade solutions to keep everyone safe.  Half-ass jobs are not what we want to be a part of.  Great marketing occasionally brings crappy leads like that, but 8/10 are good ones that turn into deals.

Another cool thing about this setup is that when we go in for a hood cleaning, most of these people don’t shop around or just don’t feel like looking for new people each time.  These business owners want one partner that they can trust to get the job done right and come back on a recurring basis.  So, in actuality, each one of these leads this company is sending us is creating major lifetime value.  I’m very impressed and asked for a meeting to see if they can generate the same type of interest in my personal business.  If that works out, then I don’t need to be part-time here.  How funny would that be.  I take a new position to get more money, only to meet the person that can help me with my own.  Ironic right?  It’s pretty great.  My meeting is scheduled for some time next week, so I’ll provide an update afterwards to let you know how it goes.  If all goes well, I won’t have to keep a part-time job for much longer.

My goal here is to work on my own dish-washing and cleaning service full-time and have enough customers calling in to keep all of my employees busy instead of having to find contractors for each job.

Cleaning is fun for me. It always has been, but it’s tough to pay the bills sometimes when the work isn’t steady.  Cleaning jobs are great because I can help customers make everything in their home nice and tidy whether they are prepping for an event or just want to walk into a nice, clean, neat place that feels like home.  It’s like the feeling you get when Mom’s around.  But, again, dishwashing jobs and kitchen cleaning service work doesn’t always come in steadily, so I’ve been thinking about becoming a restaurant hood cleaner.  I’m currently going through all the training and getting my licensing set up.  There’s a lot to study, but I think it’ll be worthwhile.  Hood cleaners make a few hundred bucks for an inspection and that’s without having to replace anything.  If anything’s broken, kitchen equipment can be very pricey.  If you’ve never heard of it before, hood cleaners basically wash and scrub a restaurant or commercial kitchen’s cooking equipment so it’s sparkling.  There aren’t a ton of companies that do it, so it’s a relatively low visibility market, but there’s a lot of money to be made in it.

The other issue I’m, having is trying to figure out where to go.  We’re based in New York City, but I could really move anywhere.  Dishwashing and cleaning doesn’t hold me to a particular location.  I could just as easily pick up and move to another state and start there.  I don’t have any internet presence, so it’s as easy as getting there and starting fresh.  I’ve been researching different states and I don’t think I want to stay in NY, so I’m going to head west; I just don’t know how far.  I know there are some reputable Nashville hood cleaners that are hiring, so I’ll apply.  It’s all up in the air at this point, but I’ll make sure to post whatever happens. There are an unlimited supply of restaurants in every state, so I’m not too worried.  Also, if I’ve done any cleaning work for you in the past, please do refer me to anyone you know.

Turn your nest into your own castle, no matter how little. Organizing a small space is the ultimate challenge, especially for those dwelling in compact cities where space comes at a high cost. There are thousands of hacks for organizing small spaces out there and it feels like you have tried them all: alphabetizing your books, color-coding your wardrobe, labeling your cabinets. And yet, nothing seems to work for you. The mess still eventually catches up; and how quickly that happens in a small space. Or maybe, you just haven’t found the perfect organization hack yet that best suits your lifestyle or your personality.

‘Out of sight, out of mind’ kind of person

You are most likely to find expired canned goods and bottled sauces at the very back of the cabinet. The reason? You forget about even putting them there in the first place. This is not just limited to the perishables: it can be that pair of shoes from two seasons ago, a set of kitchen knives gifted to you, products still in their packaging – and all these do take up precious space (and it can be annoying trying to look for these once you need them).

What to do?

Ditch the closed shelving and put your things where you can see them. Re-purpose a pegboard for your kitchen utensils or for your office supplies. Or you can use transparent containers to easily see the contents inside. Or if you cannot replace your current storage units, make a list of the what’s inside and stick it where you can review it from time to time.  The hacks for organizing small spaces vary from person to person.

‘Clean space, clean mind’ kind of person

Visual clutter causes chaos in your head. Having a small space and too much stuff out in
the open can get too overwhelming for you. The aesthetic minimalist in you must be put to ease
before you can fully operate in your space.

What to do?

Invest in bigger storage units where you can put multiple kinds of items, i.e. one cabinet for all your clothes, shoes, bags, and perhaps even turn a portion of it into your own dresser. Of course, try not to overcrowd your small space with big furniture; choose what fits just right. The point is organizing most of your stuff out of sight. You may also opt not to display the spine of your books if too much color is an issue; or if you do not mind colors, you can create visual harmony by color-coding the spine.

‘I’m late, I’m late, I’m late’ kind of person

You may see yourself in the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland – always busy, always in a hurry, and have so little time to organize even a small space. Organizing may actually save you more time in the long run; what you need is an organization system that is quick and easy
to maintain.

What to do?

Keep the things you only use on special occasions and put the daily essentials within reach – the last thing you need in the morning as you are rushing out is to look

The thing that makes our company stand out from the rest is the sheer volume of services we provide on demand.  We can do so many that it’s hard to picture sometimes.  So, let me share a quick story about one of our customers, Stan.  We’ll keep his last name removed for privacy.

Stan was a very wealthy business owner who inherited a large portion of his wealth from his family when they died in a tragic plane accident.  He took this money and reinvested it directly into Yahoo stock prior to the stock market collapse in the early 2000’s.  That single investment, albeit a large one, made him $21 million, which he then used to purchase a large home on the outskirts of New York City.  His large home in Brooklyn is the one we visited to provide cleaning services, and let me tell you – it was something!

We started by doing 14 loads of laundry.  I’m not exaggerating here.  Stan had not washed an article of clothing in 9 months; he simply purchased more.  Finally, he brought back a Tinder date who called him out on this disgusting habit, so he called us.  After washing his clothes for a few hours, we then proceeded to fold each item and neatly store them in one of 8 large dressers in the master bedroom.

The next service we provided was home office organization.  Normally, most home offices will have a chair, a desk, a bookshelf, and a rug, but not much else.  Stan had an office space the size of an apartment, nearly 800 square feet.  The office contained a massive bookshelf, a huge rug covering 80% of the floor, and two desks with full computer setups and 3 monitors each.  It looked like something from a movie.  We steam-cleaned the rug, wiped down the bookcase with sanitary disinfectants and special wood cleaner, then dusted the entire room.  It was quite a large undertaking, but the end product looked sparkling.

Next, we moved to the kitchen.  Similar to clothing from earlier, food and dishes were scattered all over the place.  It appeared a single dish had not been washed since he moved in last year.  One by one, our cleaning staff collected the dishes and washed them all by hand using a premium dish-washing soap.  Our cleaners then stored each dish in a logical manner in the kitchen cabinets.  We scrubbed the floors, we washed the 20 foot kitchen table, we steam-cleaned the upholstery on the chairs, and we mopped the floors until they were perfectly clean.

Next, we proceeded outside to power-wash the house.  As you can probably imagine, that was quite the process as well due to the size of the structure.  With more than 220 windows, we spent the remainder of day 1 outdoors spraying a commercial version of Windex on the windows and power-washing them all to sparkling perfection.  After rinsing the glass thoroughly, our cleaning staff hopped on adjustable ladders and wiped down each window individually to remove streaking.  The amount of paper towel and cleaning supplies used in this process is nearly unfathomable.

Finally, our team of professionals helped Stan prepare for a birthday party he was planning on hosting at his estate.  We traveled from room to room, dusting, vacuuming, and organizing for the entirety of day 2.  After 26 hours of cleaning split over the course of 2 days, Stan’s home was ready to display.  The bill for all of these services was large because of the sheer volume of work and the number of employees we had to use to meet the time constraint, but we completed it.  It was an all-hands-on-deck moment that our company is proud of.  I’m not sure we’ll ever have a residential customer as big as Stan again, but it shows that we can handle any size task you throw at us.  Call today for a free estimate and we’ll knock out your job faster than we could here.  We’ll provide any cleaning service on demand.