We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ana Lopez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ana below.

Ana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In my opinion, what it takes to be successful is failure and hard work. If you don’t fail and work hard to overcome those failures, then you do not learn on how to be successful. There were many times that I wanted to give up on my business and was disillusioned. When I first started, some employees quit, or received many client complaints so I had to let go of housekeepers that were not doing good work. During those times, my business lost clients and it made it difficult to continue to grow. I had to learn to push forward and change my process. I added additional employee benefits and incentives as well as restructured our training processes. This allowed the housekeepers to be less stressed, build better relationships with our clients and do high quality work. Overall, it benefited the housekeepers and our clients. It’s important to accept our failures to push us forward and become successful.

Ana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was raised by a single mother and saw how hard she worked for my sister and I. She taught me about the cleaning industry and how important it is to work hard for your goals. After college and years of working in the corporate world, I wanted to work for myself and started by own cleaning business. I originally was looking to obtain additional income as my husband and I were working towards becoming foster parents. We realized that flexibility was also needed and that is what finally pushed me to start my business. After I started my business, my husband and I received the opportunity to adopt our son. Having the extra income from my business gave us the flexibility we needed to afford the adoption.

Oz Cleaning is a small housekeeping business that is young but growing. We like to focus on the relationship the housekeepers have with our clients. Building trust between the housekeepers and clients is what will continue to help us grow. That is the reason why we make every effort to send the same team for each appointment. That way the housekeepers can learn the client’s home/office and know where things go without having to ask the client. At the same time, our clients will trust that the housekeepers will do a good job and are comfortable in having them in their home or office. We offer surface cleanings, deep cleanings, move out/ move in cleanings and organization services. Organization plus deep cleaning appointments are our favorite bookings. It gives us a chance to declutter our client’s home/office and deep clean. This is a fast way of leaning our clients’ preferences and where things should go.

Like any new business owner, there were some challenges and self-doubt that I had to overcome. Those challenges are lessons that have helped me grow and prepare for the future. What I am most proud of and excited about are my employees. They are the core value of my business. The biggest compliment I have received from our clients are about the housekeepers I work with. I give all the credit to them as they work hard to keep our clients happy. Here are a couple of the reviews we have received:

“This was my first-time using Oz Cleaning. I had them do a deep clean before our open house. They did a great job! They did everything that was promised, and I felt the price was just right. It was very helpful having a company come do this for us and I’m very satisfied. I will contact them again if I need another clean in the future!!”

“Amazing!!! We have had 2 surface cleanings and are now on a biweekly schedule. Everything is so clean, smells so good and things are put back so nicely. Definitely recommend!!! So excited we found y’all!”

“I would recommend Oz Cleaning. The ladies did a wonderful job cleaning. We will be using Oz Cleaning every 2 weeks.”

“Oz cleaning has been the most professional and reliable team to clean our home. They consistently do a great job, in a timely manner, and their communication prior to, during & after service is unmatched. I highly recommend!”

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

The most effective way of growing our clientele is by word of mouth and reviews we received. We are very grateful to all our clients that have referred us to their family, friends and coworkers. It has helped us grow our business and create our reputation. Clients that promote us on social media have helped us in obtaining more leads.

Any advice for managing a team?

Advice I would give on managing a team and maintaining high morale is to always be available and be patient. I always preach to be a politician and learn your audience. That way you will know how to talk to each employee differently. I can be direct and straight to the point with one employee but not with another. Having patience and making time to hear them out is very important. Each employee is pivotal to a business, and they need to know that they are heard and important.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: facebook.com/OzCleaningLLC
• Other: TikTok: @OzCleaning

Image Credits
Whitney Hope Photography