Scaling my remote service business to $50k MRR: Month 1
Everything I wish I would’ve known before I started.
Brutally Honest Reflections in a Thread:
Where We Stand Today:
Things moved slower than we wanted to at the start.
We launched at what turned out to be the peak of the pandemic and right after the holidays.
It was a rough start, but things are starting to pick up.
We will do $1.3k in revenue in the past week and a half.
We have an ads budget of $1,000/mo. on Google and $500/mo. on Yelp.
Since cutting Partner Ads (see no.7), we will only actually spend about $200 in Google this month. Our ads are pretty targeted.
We pay our husband/wife crew $18/hour each for most jobs (see no.4)
That’s about 200% of market value. It took about $900 in startup costs and 1 month to launch.
We’re still negative, but approaching the black quickly.
My initial goal was to lock up $2.5k MRR in our first 3 months.
I’m now shooting for $5k MRR, and believe we can blow that out.
Others here have done $10k+ in their first month, and I admire that, but that’s not always the case.
1. Do Your Market Research Spend time doing your DD to understand the landscape of an area.
Pick 2 or 3 locations and compare opportunities.
Don’t just look for other businesses. Look and ask around for individuals, taskrabbit or other gig workers, etc.
There are virtually no barriers to entry in this market.
Anyone with a mop and a cell phone can enter this space.
That is both a good & bad thing, but creates opportunity to grab market share.
2. Pricing
Get quotes from everybody and build a spreadsheet tracking everybody’s models and price points.
Don’t overprice. Be willing to take a the market average or undercut prices to sacrifice margin for volume in your first few months.
Build in a discount for new clients and routine service at your preferred cleaning frequency.
Ex: We offer 10% off our rate for weekly cleanings to encourage higher volume.
We also offer $50 off first time clients and a $10 coupon for submitting a Google review.
Clients love the “discount” bc it gives then a shiny object and makes them feel like they won something.
We shoot for a min 55% gross margin across the board, but honestly, we’ve taken as low as 20% on the first job just to win the recurring business.
3. Reliability as a Value Prop
Almost every client we’ve won over has complained about the unreliability of their previous provider.
People don’t want to deal with you. They want you to show up and clean at the exact time & day you told them you’d be there.
As a business, you are positioned to do this better than the individuals & gig workers in your market.
People turn to cleaning businesses for that reliability in both operation and quality.
4. Staffing, Staffing, Staffing
Yes, it is as difficult as people say.
We’ve had 3 workers ghost the day before a scheduled job.
Not good for our value prop.
Realistically, you need 1-2 really good, RELIABLE cleaners.
Pay them well. Be transparent with them.
View them as a partner and someone to build a business around. In a virtual setting this might be your greatest challenge. We have a husband/wife duo who do exceptional work and are always willing to step up when needed. Without them we would have failed already.
Most workers want full-time, which we’re unable to give as a new business. Make sure working part-time is worth it for them.
5. Move Fast
Respond to quote requests, texts, emails, etc. FAST. Time is of the essence.
Also, it’s just good business. If you have an instant-quote system like BookingKoala you’re already ahead. Follow up quickly on every quote.
Make sure the prospect knows there is a human on the other end and move while the lead is hot.
Call, text, email.
We have a “Preferred Communication Method” option in our quote form to tailor to client preferences. Highly recommend.
6. Familiar Voice
My partner runs our sales process and he has a near perfect conversion rate.
His secret? He’s human. He’s relatable. He uses smiley faces in his texts. He speaks clearly on the phone. He feels familiar to our clients.
Our competitors can take hours to return communication, are cut and dry, and present like a machine running a business.
People are drawn to people. Even if you’re not good at sales, work fast and be human. It goes a long way.
7. Marketing & Advertising
We use Google & Yelp ads. We are beginning to make posts in community groups, etc. as a form of free marketing. Our biggest mistake was allowing Partner Ads in our first Google Ads campaign.
This is controversial, but we disabled that feature completely. We spent hundreds on those clicks with almost ZERO conversions. It was a huge money drain.
Final Takeaways Be patient & be diligent. Nothing is easy, especially in our current environment. Stay on top of your financials and focus on building a reliable team before anything. Please DM me with any questions, insights, or just to chat
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