Member Profile: Tracey Thoren
| Name | Tracey Thoren |
| Name of your business: | Mystic Cleaning Services, Inc |
| When did you open your business? | June 2011 |
| What services do you offer? | We offer Residential, Commercial, Real Estate (move in/ move out) and after construction cleanings. We are branching into Organizing as soon as we have the man power to do so. Our cleanings range from weekly, bi weekly to monthly or as needed and we offer seasonal specials regularly. |
| Why did you start the business? | My sister, mother and I started this business when my father and brother in law both became very ill and we needed a flexible source of income. My parents owned two gas stations, I owned a childcare business and my sister owned her own salon business so while we were all familiar with owning our own companies to go at it as a joint endeavor was new to us, as was opening a business where we travel to our clients. Mystic has served its purpose well. We lost both of them within 2 months of each other and the business has been a great way to move forward and help each other through the grieving process. It is thriving with so much potential and keeps us busier than any of our other careers have in the past. |
| How many people are in your company? | Less than 10 although we are in the process of hiring. |
| What has been the biggest surprise, good or bad, since you started? | The biggest surprise since we have started is how difficult it is to find employees that take pride in their job performance and work ethics. We have had to learn quickly that one of us needs to be in the field every day to keep our performance up with our standards. |
| What is the toughest part of running your business? | Finding good quality employees that take pride in their work and loyalty to their company. |
| What is the best part of running your business? | The best part of running Mystic is watching it grow into a successful business that keeps quality and values as its highest priority. We work with a couple of charitable organizations for the purpose of helping those in need and giving back to our community. |
| Is there anything that you would have done differently? | I would have consulted a small business advisor at the beginning of this process for the purpose of learning the taxes and laws that go hand in hand with having employees. |
| What is the most important thing you will be adding, doing, changing in the next year for your business? | We are going to do a major push for expansion. To do so, I will be consulting the advisor as I stated earlier, and doing group hiring and trainings. We have had to hold our marketing back due to lack of quality employees. My intention is to work from the angle of building our staff rapidly and working with more management companies for the purpose of acquiring jobs as opposed to residential clients. |
| Where do you see your business in 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years? | In 2 years I see us with a much broader clientele base, hopefully directed toward the real estate angle. In 5 years I see us franchising to the south as we have plans of moving there, but would keep the Southern Md company open. In 10 years, my goal is to have upper level management running the day to day operations. |
| What advice could you give others and please don't hold back! | Always start at the bottom by doing the cleaning yourself so that you know the ins and outs of each job position that you plan to offer. Know your rights as an employer BEFORE you begin hiring employees. Have enough employees that they need you more than you need them. |
| How do you use MyHouseCleaningBiz.com to help you with your business? | I use MyHouseCleaningBiz.com right now mainly as a way of not losing heart when times are tough. When I see that we are not alone in our issues it makes the issues less daunting. I also use the training videos and the reading resources as learning tools. |
| chool - high school, college, technical school: | Associates Degree in Accounting |
| What are some of your prior jobs or businesses? | I owned a childcare business for 19 years while I was raising my family. |
| Is there a specific person or event in your life that made you decide to go into business for yourself? | My family has always owned their own businesses. It just came naturally. |
| Web Site: | http://www.mysticcleaning.com/ |
| Email Address: | [email protected] |
