Member Profile: Grace Grimaldi
| Name | Grace Grimaldi |
| Name of your business: | Bee Team Cleaning |
| When did you open your business? | August 2013 |
| What services do you offer? | Residential Cleaning and Light Commercial, Home Organization, Home Staging, and Event Clean-Up |
| Why did you start the business? | My husband had to medically retire from the military and I was happy to finally be able to lay down some roots, but after working in different areas I wanted to have a business of my own. I chose the cleaning business after sitting down with friends, family, coworkers, and looking really hard at what would be a service people in my area would need and pay for, but that was always hard to find. Cleaning it was! Thankfully, I am a clean freak and enjoy teaching people about cleaning, but I also chose this business for it's profitable business model and the challenge of starting and owning something that I can call all mine. |
| How many people are in your company? | 4 |
| What has been the biggest surprise, good or bad, since you started? | I am always surprised at how my clients feel ashamed of wanting to hire a cleaning service. I tell them that it's time they are getting back and that it isn't necessarily about being dirty or lazy; just about finding the time. I am always happy to help them feel better about it, but it really does surprise me that people are very self conscious if they aren't keeping up with their house on their own. |
| What is the toughest part of running your business? | I would say the toughest part so far is taking the risks I want to take with my marketing or with my training. I have good ideas and I believe in them, but sometimes I find that I hold myself back out of fear of the unknown. |
| What is the best part of running your business? | The funny thing is that while taking risks is the toughest part, taking risks is also the best part of my business. I love when I learn what works and what does not work for the advancement of my business. That learning process gives me direction and that's something I can't get without taking risks every now and then. I also love people able to influence my clients in how they view cleaning professionals as service providers and not "just the maid". |
| Is there anything that you would have done differently? | I would have trusted my gut more in the beginning when it came to pricing. I researched a lot of different pricing calculators and estimates of other companies, but I didn't trust myself in determining the value of my work. I kept thinking of how it would be the best price for the customer and was a little unfair to the growth of my business. Happy to say that I have learned my lesson or rather STILL learning my lesson! : ) |
| What is the most important thing you will be adding, doing, changing in the next year for your business? | Getting my website designed and running!! |
| Where do you see your business in 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years? | I am in this business for the long haul and would like to see a lot of growth overall in the next 2-10 years! In 2 years, I hope we increase our staff to at least 8 and add 2 more vehicles, and have a solid presence in my community. 5 years from now, I hope to add an in house laundry service and have a commercial space, and a staff of 16. 10 years from now, I hope that we become a household name in my area for providing the best residential cleaning service and we are heavily involved with community projects and educating the public on the future of cleaning industry and an advocate for the professional workers within it. |
| What advice could you give others and please don't hold back! | I would tell people to trust themselves and constantly be on top of your planning. If possible work on putting the business plan down on paper, but don;t get hung up on having it "look" like a business plan. Just get your ideas and your path written down so you can see it and commit to working on it! I also would also say VALUE YOUR WORK AND YOUR TIME! You are not here to be the sole worker; you're trying to GROW your business and you have to plan on not doing the work. I heard this from another cleaning business owner " Have the heart to serve, but always be smart and fair to yourself" |
| How do you use MyHouseCleaningBiz.com to help you with your business? | There is a wealth of information on this site that has been extremely helpful! Forms, training check lists, and the articles on how to be an owner of a cleaning business really gives me the boost I need when I think I am going about everything the wrong way. |
| School - high school, college, technical school: | High School graduate Year 2000; Douglas Byrd Senior High Some college; Fayetteville Technical Community College and Ashford University Major Psychology |
| What are some of your prior jobs or businesses? | Family Readiness Support Assistant (Federal Civilian Department of the Army) Restaurant Supervisor (Brinker Corporation) Lead Server and Trainer Volunteer |
| Is there a specific person or event in your life that made you decide to go into business for yourself? | I always wanted to have my own business, though it took me quite some time to figure out which way to go with it. Many people inspired me with their work ethic and their desire to give back to people trying to work their way up the ladder. I wanted to be able to build a company that could give people that same satisfaction of a job well done, but also give them the work environment that could help them get to where they wanted to go in life. |
| Email Address: | [email protected] |
| Your Social Network links (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc): | https://www.facebook.com/ http://therosienetwork.org/ http://www.thumbtack.com/nc/ https://squareup.com/market/ |
