Episode 91: Overwhelmed by Your Cleaning Business? Work Your Way Out, Step-by-Step

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed with all the stuff you've got going on in your cleaning business that you feel like hanging it all up just to get a break?

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Episode 91- Video Transcription

I'm sure we've all felt that way at some point. In fact I've talked to some cleaning business owners who have thought about downsizing or even going back to doing all the cleaning themselves -- just to get rid of the extra headaches of running a growing business!

I can relate to your pain -- I'll admit that I've had those thoughts myself. By the time I put out all the fires during the day, trained a new employee while another one quit, scrambled to find someone to fill in for an employee who didn't show up, and came home feeling exhausted and unfulfilled, I too was ready to hang it all up.

What I learned over the years is that it doesn't have to be like that. Here are some tips for lightening your load and keeping your sanity while you run your cleaning business.

Do what you do best and delegate the rest. I know, I know, you've heard this before -- easier said, then done right? But hear me out. It really does work, but it won't happen overnight. You have to be steadfast and determined to make your business work.

The first thing I recommend you do, is choose one thing that takes up a lot of your time, and that you're not very good at. Let's say it's training new employees. In order to free up your time from doing this task, you either need to find a person on your staff or hire someone who is great at training AND great with people. Spend time training this person, making sure they understand your expectations, and then give them the responsibility for this task.

Now that you've freed up this time for yourself, use the time to do something that you love to do. If it's sales and marketing, then devote more time to that. Or better yet, use this time for documenting systems within your business so that whoever you hire to perform these tasks, can follow your documented system.

When things are running smoothly for a while, choose something else that you're not very good at or that you don't enjoy doing. If you don't like bookkeeping for instance, then it's time to hire a bookkeeper. Once you've found the right person, spend plenty of time training them into the position. As in the previous example, use your freed up time to do more of what you love to do.

One of the reasons we tend to get overwhelmed is that we put things off that we don't want to do. One thing that helps me is to block off time on my calendar so I can focus and just do it.  And that means with no distractions - no checking email, no answering the phone, shutting my office door and setting my mind to it. Even if it's just for an hour each day -- you just might be surprised at how much you can get done within one focused hour of work. Once it's done I feel SO much better.

Delegating is not easy for everyone, and delegating doesn't mean you get to dump everything on the people you hire to do these tasks. You still need to supervise their work and provide continued training. But if they love what they're doing, and you now love what you're doing, then it's a win-win for all.

What advice do YOU have for dealing with overwhelm in your cleaning business? Please share your thoughts or tips by posting your Comments below the video.