We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jack Merwin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jack, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I don’t like to operate within the ‘mission’ mentality. Missions imply completion or finality, and I want to convey to my team that we are never done. I learned about this while participating in the dreaded ‘annual business planning’ meetings at former jobs, where you put the goal post 12 months away and don’t look past it. We are on a continual road trip; a path that has turns, speed bumps, and pot holes. It is my job as a business owner and leader to keep the business always moving forward, while remaining aware of scenarios that could slow our speed or take us off the road to success.

The rest of the story is simple: Create a workplace and environment that is inclusive; continue to provide better service with each client; engage and support the community that listened to and supported us; and have fun!

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?

I prioritize family and my personal health above all else. As a father of two boys, and a husband to an amazingly patient and support wife of almost 20 years, I understand how a poor balance of work and life can derail both. My business, TeamCleanMN, takes that idea to heart with our clients. We want to free you up to spend more time enjoying life, whether it’s with family, friends, yourself, or just more time to focus on your career. We offer professional cleaning services in a time when the demands of our lives are at an all-time high. We ask a simple question to our clients: Do you want to work 10 hours a day, just to come home and keep working (cleaning), not spending your limited time with your children/family/friends; or do you want to be stuck in the grind that will only lead to mental and physical burnout? For the price of a cup of coffee a day, TeamCleanMN gives you the freedom to focus on what matters most in your life. No job is too big or too small, and we have the same standards and attention to detail for each client.

With 25 years of customer service experience in hospitality, retail, and sales, as well as strong ties to community engagement with non-profits and local government, our clients can have the utmost confidence and trust in TeamCleanMN to not just get the job done, but also support a local business that cares about each job, our neighbors, and our community as a whole.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

For TeamCleanMN, the best source of gaining new clients, although a bit old-school, is purely word-of-mouth. We started our business very small with the goal of strategic/planned growth, and that was due in part to a strong knowledge of supply vs demand. My business partner and I have been a part of the community we serve for over 30 years and have deep ties to residents, the schools, businesses, leaders, and more. We purposely set our initial business framework around working with people we know and trust, and keeping our workload lower than normal. This has allowed us to focus on service and satisfaction over profit. Once our friends, families, and neighbors see and trust the work we provide, the rest happens naturally.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Funding TeamCleanMN was probably the easiest part of starting a business. Luckily, my business partner and I have been very successful in our professions before starting a business, which has allowed us to use our own money to fund the business. Additionally, the professional cleaning industry requires such a minimal initial investment to any folks that are willing to work hard, sweat, and budget the profits accordingly. Investing from our own pockets and eliminating the need for silent partners has given us absolute freedom and that is one of the biggest keys to our success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.teamcleanmn.com
• Instagram: @TeamCleanMN
• Facebook: @weareteamcleanmn
• Twitter: @TeamCleanMN

Image Credits
City of Lakeville, MN