We were lucky to catch up with Michael Wilkins recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

It takes a lot of grit, grind, and determination to be successful and to make it in business. So many times I have wanted to quit and give up, but i kept pushing and learning and growing. In Napoleon Hill’s Book “Think and Grow Rich”, he tells the story of a man who was digging for gold over many months, but eventually the man decided to give up. The man then sold all of his equipment to a junkman; this junkman sought advice from others prior to digging, and found out that the gold was just 3 feet away from where the previous man had stopped.

This story showed me that a lot of times, we are closer to reaching our goals than we think we are; if we push through and get help from experienced professionals in our field, we will find success!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Michael Wilkins, and I am the owner of Wilkins Refresh Cleaning Service. I got into the cleaning industry after getting laid off from my cushy work from home job. For months, a friend had been encouraging me to start a cleaning business, so when I was laid off, it was the perfect time.

We provide janitorial/commercial cleaning to businesses, including: general cleaning, window cleaning, carpet cleaning, etc. We give office and facility managers peace of mind by handling the cleaning for them, so they can focus on their jobs, while we handle the cleaning; we believe that our excellent cleaning services allow them to hone their focus, which in turn makes them more profitable. I think what sets us apart from other cleaning companies is that we really care about our clients and taking stress off of them; we are not simply in it for the money.

What I am most proud of is that our company is able to provide supplemental income to our employees; we know that the cost of living is going up and everyone could use a little extra money, and our company provides that to our team members, so that they can feed their families and care for themselves.

Any advice for managing a team?

Managing a team and maintaining high morale is important if you want to decrease turnover as well as get the most out of your team members. My advice is to hold brief weekly meetings and monthly parties for your team, with gift giveaways each month. This works wonders and really builds a sense of cohesiveness and unification among your team members, and they will be more motivated to give their best when at work.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Thankfully I have never missed payroll or came close to it; but i remember when i was just starting out, I got a contract that was pretty sizeable and required some capital upfront to get the job done as well as pay my employees. I couldn’t wait 30 days to get paid (which is standard payment time in our industry), cause I definitely would have missed payroll at that pay frequency! So I was honest and upfront with the client and told them that I needed to get paid weekly in order to make it work. I expected the client to tell me no and laugh at me, but surprisingly, they obliged to my request! i was paid weekly and was able to fulfill the cleaning duties of that contract. What this taught me: if at all possible, never put yourself in a position to miss payroll. Do all you can to pay your workers at the time you said you would pay.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wilkinsrefreshcleaning.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilkinsrefreshcleaningservice_/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wilkinsrefreshcleaningservice/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wilkins-refresh-cleaning-service-starkville