Episode 53:

In 2008, Marci Hernandez’s husband, Carlos, was working as an insurance agent primarily for construction companies. Due to the recession, most of his clients were going out of business, which meant there was no income for their young family. Carlos had lots of ideas, but he finally convinced Marci they could start a cleaning business. This was mostly due to the low entry cost: a mop and a vacuum. Carlos would go out and knock on doors to obtain new clients during the day, and then go at night and clean the handful of customers they had by himself. In the meantime, Marci handled the admin work with the proposals, marketing, and bookkeeping while still working part time for another company and caring for their three kids at the same time. Little by little, Marci and Carlos worked to figure out better systems and processes. Year after year, they added more and more customers and team members. Today, they service hundreds of business all over Arizona and in 2019 were listed at #17 by the Phoenix Business Journal’s Top Janitorial Firms.

What the podcast will teach you:

  • How Marci and her husband Carlos started and grew their cleaning business, Arizona-based Office Keepers LLC
  • How Marci and Carlos were able to achieve significant growth, from just 10 monthly customers in 2008 to more than 500 by 2020
  • How Marci and Carlos learned to hire employees and delegate the work to further the growth of their company
  • What challenges Marci and Carlos experienced on their growth journey to seven figures, including having to let go of longtime team members and building a leadership team
  • How Marci came to the tough but necessary realization that when things weren’t going right, it was often because of something she was or wasn’t doing
  • What growth plateaus Office Keepers hit that required new strategies, systems, and operational changes to overcome
  • How experiencing their entrepreneurial journey and starting and growing their own business has made a significant impact on Marci and Carlos
  • How Marci continues to grow as a business leader, and what strategies and habits she has developed to continue learning
  • Why Marci sees every day as a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and why she loves the work she does and the excitement of the experience

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