Member Profile: Cintia Leone
| Name | Cintia Leone |
| Name of your business: | House Bliss Cleaning |
| When did you open your business? | 2016 |
| What services do you offer? | Post-Construction Cleaning Move-in Move-out Vacation Rental Turnover House Cleaning -Green Cleaning |
| Why did you start the business? | I started my business for my mother, who has been a house cleaner for about 15 years. She convinced me to help her start a residential cleaning business. We identified that across the board, the cleaning industry in Boston was dominated by franchises and big companies offering "hit-and-run" services with high price tags to cover high overhead, often associated with large business administration and cleaners who are earning slightly more than minimum wage. On the other side of the spectrum, I identified hundreds of solo-cleaners, many of them that don't speak English, and undercharging for their services, cutting costs using low-quality cleaning products and exposing their helpers, who clean about six to seven homes a day, using acutely toxic chemicals. They bring in helpers that have no prior cleaning experience or training, and in some cases, without any background checks. Most of them don't carry insurance or bonds and they also experience a high turnover rate. Of course, I also identified a very few small business delivering sustainable employment opportunity, responsible hiring practices and five-star service to customers, and that's the company we aim to be. |
| How many people are in your company? | |
| What has been the biggest surprise, good or bad, since you started? | In the beginning, was difficult to get clients. But once we started to get client recommendation, started a website, and joined some groups for networking, clients started to find us. Pricing is still sometimes difficult to explain. Many people want services and only look at the price; that would not allow us to be a sustainable business. |
| What is the toughest part of running your business? | For me, it's finding work-life balance. I spend a lot of hours online looking for opportunities to network in groups, answering questions in forums, and participating in Facebook groups relevant to my business. As well as organizing the business, writing a manual, website content, marketing, etc. Not to mention that I still visit my clients from time to time, or if my staff is out. |
| What is the best part of running your business? | I love to improve my processes, please clients, work on marketing, and all the "creating part" of being an entrepreneur. It's fun work for me. Not to mention I love the instant gratification on a clients faces when their home is clean (you know, those before and after pictures)? |
| Is there anything that you would have done differently? | Nothing I can think of |
| What is the most important thing you will be adding, doing, changing in the next year for your business? | Implementing more training material, including a manual. More feedback session with employee / evaluations, etc. |
| Where do you see your business in 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years? | Next 2 year scale and double our client base. 5 years, being the number one provider locally. Being known as the "influence" for the cleaning providers in my area. From 6 to 10 years, exit strategy, sell the business. |
| What advice could you give others and please don't hold back! | Start with a soundproof business plan. Always get legal consulting first, properly set up your company (LLC. or Corp.), get insurance. |
| How do you use MyHouseCleaningBiz.com to help you with your business? | The resources are a great way to work on my business documentation. |
| School - high school, college, technical school: | Some college / no formal business education. |
| What are some of your prior jobs or businesses? | In 2005 I started a language school. I started with a small group who I met with twice a week, to teach English. A few years later, I had a fantastic team of teachers, academic manager and operations running a six-classroom school in Boston. We applied for accreditation and received the federal approval to enroll international students on a student visa (F-1). In 2014, I accepted an offer I could not refuse, and excise my exit strategy, selling the school to a leader in the education industry. |
| Is there a specific person or event in your life that made you decide to go into business for yourself? | My life story started with a humble upbringing in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I discovered my entrepreneurial desire at age 12 counting a cash drawer full of cash after I sold homemade iced popsicles. I still remember that caramel and coconut were a hit and sold out in just a few hours after I hanged a handwritten sign on the entrance of the house. At that point, I was determined not to allow my circumstances to dictate my future. I knew somehow I could change my future and learned that success was the result of hard work, creativity, and a positive attitude. |
| Web Site: | https://houseblisscleaning. |
| Email Address: | [email protected] |
| Your Social Network links (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc): | https://www.instagram.com/ https://twitter.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ |
