We recently connected with Jake Lucero and have shared our conversation below.

Jake , appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I ask myself this question everyday. Not if I am happier, but did I make the right decision to become a business owner. For my wife and I, we really poured everything we had into starting this business. We emptied our retirements, sold our current small, part time business, and moved to a city where we knew no one. I couldn’t be happier with my current work, I love building a team and a culture where our employees feel valued. However, it is a stressor everyday waking up and being responsible for the work of your employees and the success of your business. If I do not find us jobs, then we have no work. It does become draining and can be a real weight I feel. There are many a days where I wish I could just wake up, go to work, and come home and not have this weight on me.
However, when I remind myself the goal of building something that can reach a place where I can have the option to step out of the business and give time back to my family and myself. This challenge of building something for myself has been worth it. To see something grow because you put in the work and effort is so fulfilling and keeps me going on those hard days.

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?

We are a window cleaning company focused on; doing what we say we are going to do, show up on time, and leave the home better than we found it. Pink’s believes in taking care of the customer in all the things we do.
For myself, I had no experience in window cleaning, but when we saw the franchise we fell in love with the brand and what they stood for. I loved the idea of providing people with an amazing experience that can better their day and for us it just happened to be through window cleaning.

We believe Pink’s is set apart by the way we serve our customer. Technicians are given the freedom and encouragement to look for ways to blow the customers mind. Whether that being giving them a hat or dog toy after the job is done or spending an extra 10 minutes to take care of the cobwebs by the front door even if it wasn’t something in the job for them to do.

We also have the joy of providing maintenance plans for clients, meaning we get to see them multiple times a year. This helps us create strong and fun relationships with our clients. We do our best to learn about them and make it feel like they are connecting with an old friend when we return to serve them!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The first 3 months were hard. I moved to LA to start this business and other than my wife’s parents, I did not know a single soul. I started with 2 employees doing the cleaning and had to do everything I could to find them work. I would spend mornings hanging door hangers on neighborhoods we wanted to be in. I would spend the afternoons and evenings door knocking to find them work. I attended every networking event I could just to meet people in the area and learn what their needs were. It was the hardest times of my life. We are still growing and there are still days where I wonder if I will be able to find the work for the team, but we have been blessed to keep finding work and providing work for my team.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Our team is the true secret to our success! Without them, we would not be seeing the success we have been. I wanted to show my appreciation to them in multiple ways. I pay a higher than the market for their salary, I have a commission structure built in so the team can earn additional income, and I work with them to hear their goals for their future careers and work them to develop the skills they are wanting to learn. We also do weekly meetings, where I buy them lunch and we reflect on the week and chat about the upcoming week.
I think the most important thing an owner can do is just simply show up for the team. You do not have to be with them everyday or be cleaning with them, but just showing up and checking in on about the work and their own life I think carries so much weight. There is a definite balance to find between being their boss and friend, but simply asking questions about their lives and encouraging them goes such a long way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pinkswindows.com/beverly-hills-burbank
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j__lucero/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-lucero-16668994/