We recently connected with Alex Vazquez and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

How did we come up with the idea for Urban Simple? Hmmm, that’s a great question! OK, in 2013, we (my brother Demian and I) decided to take a look at the commercial cleaning space. We were looking for an incredibly practical industry to get into. One that was super unsexy but that every business could either use or needed.

After some due diligence, we discovered that some of the largest franchises in the world were commercial cleaning companies, with some having as many as 11000 franchises worldwide; wow! This was simultaneously mind-blowing and exciting and helped us make our decision.

We could have taken the easier route and franchised from a large, established cleaning company, but we wanted to create something new. Something smaller that would make it easier to innovate. Something better. We started Urban Simple to focus on some of the most challenging aspects of cleaning services – commercial kitchens. There wasn’t another company doing this, which gave us substantial traction early on.

We have since broadened our services to include comprehensive office cleaning. We were already performing the most laborious aspects of commercial cleaning and wanted to ensure our clients had the convenience of working with a single cleaning company. We specialize in the most challenging elements of commercial cleaning, so everything else is… simple. ;)

Alex, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and moved to the states with my mother, Char, and brothers Demian & Aurelio when I was two. We grew up in Santa Fe, NM, and when I was 19, I moved to Austin, TX. This was in 1992, when Austin was still “weird!” I started my career as a computer programmer, working for a start-up called living.com. We grew that company from 8 to 350 employees, and when the dot com bubble burst, you know how that story ends. After spending several years in the tech space, I started a couple of online jewelry design, wholesale and retail companies with my brother, Demian.

After a career in computer programming and online retail, I made the obvious and frictionless pivot to commercial cleaning. Sarcasm aside, the move into a practical industry was a conscious decision. Was it easy? God no. Has it been rewarding? Absolutely, in a lot of ways. Is it still challenging? Yes, incredibly.

We founded Urban Simple in 2014 with just the two of us (Demian and I). We had no idea what we were doing and suffered through a rough two to three years of “figuring stuff out” and almost zero sleep. Thankfully, we figured that “stuff” out and now have approximately 50 employees and a healthy roster of recurring clients we love. We’ve also been ranked in the top 250 fastest-growing, privately owned businesses in texas by the Inc5000 two years in a row. We’re both sleeping much better these days.

What am I most proud of? Our culture, which we continue to develop, the people that help make Urban Simple possible, and the businesses that trust us with their establishments. You can drop by our HQ on West 6th st, in Clarksville (downtown Austin) anytime; just look for the lime-green building!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve learned so many lessons while building Urban Simple. Probably too many to count. One of the most important lessons I’ve had to unlearn is the theory that you must grow as fast as possible. I’m sure this strategy works for some businesses, but I can attest that it doesn’t work for all, especially a services-based company like ours.

There was a time when we were taking on more clients than we had employees to service. We were excited about our booming little business. We assumed this was a great problem to have, but this got us into trouble. With our team spread thin, the quality of our services suffered, and we lost several new clients and associates. This was a wake-up call to focus on steady growth while nurturing new clients and our employees. Build your infrastructure first – then, you can speed up your growth.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I met my cofounder the day I was born. My brother, Demian, and I have been very close since day 1 (he’s a year and a half older). We’re one of those rare cases of siblings that can work together while remaining close. We have an excellent working dynamic, with Demian working as COO while I focus on the business side and brand development. We both do our share to make our business the best it can be and share a vision of a multi-market Urban Simple. Texas first, then the rest of the US.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://urbansimple.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexvazquezatx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urbansimple
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/urbansimple/