Mom and Pop’s are the heartbeat of most communities

[Mikey P]

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

We’ve gotten to the point of being able to NOT advertise.

We stay busy year around, with ZERO call backs, zero advertising, and zero logo on our truck,

This is not a good thing.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m stuck in the hamster wheel FOREVER….

If u want to get off the truck, don’t do what I do….

It’s NOT where a business owner wants to be.

We work WAY TOO HARD, and make money, but at what cost???

 

[Mikey P]

A work/life balance should be taught by example in Jr High and stressed by academia and parents until achieved.

 

[Sierra Clean Care]

I think the route I/we are following, is a carbon copy of what you experienced yourself Mike…

Just a lesson you, yourself learned a later stage in life…

 

[Mikey P]

I think the route I/we are following, is a carbon copy of what you experienced yourself Mike…

Just a lesson you, yourself learned a later stage in life…

Sounds like it.

More than happy to get in the phone with you...

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I couldn't agree more

In over 50 years of being a part of the supply end of this industry, I've watched the rise and fall of many cleaning companies. Only one company founder that I knew in 1974 is still living, and his son is a couple years from hanging up his wand, but over those years the best and brightest have been those "Mom and Pop" or "Father and Son" businesses. They weren't always the best cleaners or best people, but I can safely say that well over 90% were and are.

I cannot say that most were "great business people"; most really just "bought a job", and were content with that. Financial responsibility and paying attention to their obligations were, of course, important or they couldn't have lasted long.

Their long term success came from being trustworthy, ethical, friendly, and compassionate people who made their customers feel good about having them in their homes and businesses. That level of trust is such that only in their later years do they find out that price is never an issue, and they could have been charging a lot more.

I have a few multi-truck customers who deliver great service and have wonderful employees. In each case, though, the company culture is still "Mom and Pop" in nature. The employees are very well paid, and more importantly, treated with respect and compassion by the owners. These employees often stay for years until their own bodies fail, and those that do leave almost never become competitors.

My father always loved "the little guys". He didn't not mean that in a demeaning way. He just felt about them what I said above, and what Mike and Jeff have shared.

I make no secret of the reason I left the IICRC as a board member in 2011:

During a meeting, a board member said: "We have to still be looking out for the little guys, not just the big franchises and corporations"

A person, who I will not identify, but with a high level of visibility in the industry and with the IICRC said, and I quote:

"Screw the little guys"

That's why I left and won't ever go back.

Dad loved the little guys, and so do I.