We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brian And Jen Boyle a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Brian and Jen, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
For the sake of this discussion, we will define success for a business as the ability to be cashflow positive, sustainable, and to be able to eventually be sold for a profit to a new owner. And within that scope, success is having a business that allows us the opportunity to have time freedom while financially supporting our blended family with 8 children. This definition has evolved over the years as we have aged and gained more experience.
We learned that time is the most valuable resource we have. We can always make more money, but we can’t make more time and we can’t turn the clocks back. In years past, success would have been some sort of industry accolade or an arbitrary amount of money made each year. We have family and friends who worked hard their entire lives, who sacrificed time away from family all the while letting their health suffer, who gained loads of money and notoriety and yet were left empty inside and unhappy. And it was because they were chasing the wrong things. We know a better way and are enjoying working every day focusing on our idea of success and the peace of mind brought on by knowing we are achieving our goals.
Brian and Jen, 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?
Brian and Jen Boyle bought their first MaidThis Cleaning franchise in Salt Lake City in 2022 and their second franchise location in Provo in 2024. MaidThis Cleaning aims to give our clients back their time. With the time they save by not having to clean their home, their business, or their short-term rental property, they can be enjoying or taking care of other things in their life.
And while we are a cleaning company by name, we are much more than that. We consider ourselves real estate detailers. Paying attention to the “little” details of a property and ensuring those areas are cleaned can change the entire feeling when you enter that property. We like to use the analogy of our cleanings like the difference between getting a steak at Texas Roadhouse and getting a steak at Ruth’s Chris. Yes, technically you are having steak for a meal at both places. And there is nothing wrong with either place. However, at Ruth’s Chris, every part of the experience of you getting that steak is paid attention to and is all about the details. From the initial reservation and asking questions like is this an anniversary or special occasion, to the greeting when you arrive, to the presentation of the meal, everything is done with a purpose and is designed to elicit a feeling and make you want to go back.
We strive to be Ruth’s Chris in our industry. We want to find out about our clients, what their needs are, how we can best meet those needs through our cleanings, and what we can do to keep them calling us back week after week or month after month. For instance, we take care of a home for a family with two small children. The mom tells us she feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders when she walks into her house after we have been there. She has told us time and time again that when she walks in, sees the toys have been picked up, the house is “put back together” and cleaned and she knows that she didn’t have to come home after a long day at work and take care of those things, she has an overwhelming feeling of peace and is a much better wife and mother. And we know all of this because we cared enough to ask. One time we sent a new cleaner over to her house and while the house was technically cleaned, it wasn’t the same because the cleaner didn’t take the time to do the seemingly little things the owner had come to like and appreciate and it didn’t give her the same feeling of peace when she walked in the door. And the owner let us know. And since we guarantee every cleaning we do, we went back and cleaned again and made things right at no cost to the owner. And because we went back and made things right, we re-established the trust she had in us and brought back that feeling she had desired. It wasn’t the cleaning she was after, but the feeling she gets after we clean. Anyone can “clean,” but paying attention to the little things and what matters most is what sets a detailed clean apart from a normal clean.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for growing our clientele has been genuinely caring. And caring about a multitude of things. Whether it is caring about our clients themselves, their home or business and how it looks and feels, and/or caring about the detailed work we do and being proud of the quality of that work.
People can tell when you are genuine and when you truly care about what matters to them or are putting forth your best effort. We know we are guests in our client’s home or business and that we have to be invited in and continue to be invited in each time we are there. And each interaction is an opportunity to continue to build that trust and show how much we care. Too many in our industry are only concerned about the here and now. They want to make a quick buck today and have no concern for the future or if they are invited back. And it is easy to tell they just don’t care.
We tell all of our new cleaners that to be successful with us, they just need to show they care. Anyone can technically “clean” but when we care, we become more than “cleaners.” And we keep clients coming back because they know they are getting not only quality service, but that we want to be there and taking care of them. And they can feel they and their property are being looked after and cared for. So if people don’t leave and we don’t have high customer churn, we don’t need to add as many new clients each month. And this has led to our continued year-over-year growth.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Brian has a Doctorate Degree in Physical Therapy and has been a licensed and practicing physical therapist for 26 years. Brian and a business partner owned four physical therapy practices for 8 years before having a fallout and closing their doors. Jen and her ex-husband own six Papa Murphy’s take-and-bake pizza locations and have successfully been in business for 22 years.
When Brian and Jen met 4 years ago and before we got married we knew we wanted to own a business together and have something we could do to be together while working. Brian was burned out as a healthcare practitioner and tired of dealing with insurance companies and low reimbursement rates and Jen had already been involved in franchising her entire career but didn’t want to get into another food service business. So it made sense that we would change things up and look for a franchise to purchase, but not just any franchise. It had to be something that had a product or service (not food) that was already in high demand and that was consumable or would allow for recurring revenue to be generated. We landed on a home service because it met the criteria we were looking for and because we did not need a “brick and mortar” location and could operate the business from anywhere in the world as long as we had a WiFi connection. It also aligned with our desire to have time freedom and allow us to support our family.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://maidthis.com/saltlakecity/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maidthis_saltlakecity/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maidthissaltlakecity/
- Other: Articles we have been featured in:
https://www.southernliving.com/how-to-clean-grill-8648750
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2024/04/18/spring-cleaning-advice/73169077007/
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/cleaning-tips/a62448713/the-most-contaminated-spot-in-your-house-for-allergens/
https://www.nbcnews.com/select/shopping/best-disinfectants-spray-wipes-ncna1299266
Image Credits
Jennifer Boyle