Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Childs, Alejandra Childs.
Christian Childs, Alejandra Childs, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My wife and I met through a group called couch surfing in Austin Texas 8 years ago. I asked her to marry me and we moved from dripping springs to Temple/Belton/Killeen to manage some properties for our furnished housing company.
I started to grow my furnished housing business and she was commuting back and forth to north austin and was tired of the commute so she left her job 2 years ago in July working as a nanny.
I found mimi cleaners for sale on facebook market place and the owner was selling it cheap. When I asked her why, she told me she already agreed to buy another business and she just needed enough money to pay for the new sign.
I walked the store with her, asked her to show me her finances, and then made a decision on the spot to buy the business.
We structured a 3 week buy out, assigned the lease, signed papers at a local real estate title office in front of a notary, and the rest is history.
Now we’re the top rated business in bell county for dry cleaning and alterations. We often get soldiers coming from dallas and austin to our shop to get their uniforms altered and dry cleaned, and we’ve built a reputation for being the best quality, best service, at the best possible price.
We’re planning to open 3 more locations in bell county in the next 2 years and with my wife at the helm running the show, and me scrubbing the deck (working on the back end software and marketing) we’re confident we can continue to offer the same great service, quality and do it for more soldiers and family in the bell county area.
We’ve got our eye on opening a med spa in the north Austin/round rock/georgetown area as well since beauty is another area that my wife loves.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Arguments, disagreements, and generally building resiliency (mostly for alejandra).
In the beginning when we had only 14 reviews and 4 of them were 1 stars, she was very worried about each and every interaction.
But slowly, overtime she learned how to deal with challenging customers. When to stand her ground, and when to offer the clients a concession or to fix it.
It took months of coaching and meeting in traction meetings (1x weekly meetings where we go over the financials, day to day, and issues and solve them).
But overtime she became a great leader and manager, and now has the ability to distinguish when someone is trying to angle for a discount, and when they have a valid concern.
We had to iterate and create processes that allowed us to solve problems permanently, such as our happiness guarantee. It’s “check your items before you leave the store, and if for any reason you’re unsatisfied we’ll fix it”.
After clients leave the store, occasionally they would try to bring back different uniforms and get alterations for free… We learned pretty quick what that was about and nipped it in the bud.
Then just asking for reviews helped us grow a ton.
We had to fix the look of the store, clean it up, deep clean the windows, paint walls, changed floor tiles out, changed the front of the store, and re-arranged the layout to give a better flow.
We also added more merchandising, and we worked on our vendor relations.
We ended up having to fire a vendor and find a new one due to quality issues. Something that i’m familiar with and helped with sourcing the new one.
Along the way we were offered to buy one of our competitors, but that didn’t end up being something that person was serious about.
That’s what got us thinking about the additional stores.
it’s been a roller coaster but each week we just take it one step at a time and show up, do great work, and thank our customers for their support.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Mimi cleaners is one of the businesses that we own.
We are building a portfolio of rentals and businesses that do one thing. Enrich our clients lives by making their lives easier, simpler, and less stressful.
We do this through our work.
Mimi cleaners happens to be a dry cleaning and alterations shop.
I have done web marketing and lead generation for businesses in the past.
We also own/manage 16 short term rentals, a salon, and 7 by the room units.
Our goal is to build a great business that’s worth about $50,000,000 and generates $5,000,000 annually in profit and does so by serving our clients needs and makes their lives better. Our timeline is <10 years.
The numbers aren’t the important thing, but the guiding star is the “serve”.
Whether we’re building websites for small businesses to help them launch and get to their “retirement” number, or we’re teaching high school kids to sew and fix clothing instead of throwing it away, it’s all the same.
I am a teacher at heart, my medium happens to be business, and my wife loves fashion. So it just made sense to buy this little business and grow it to be a staple in the community and a strong performer in our portfolio of businesses.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I created a montra that I listened to for years.
It went something like this:
“my business serves thousands of people each and every year,
I attract the right people into my life, who serve me,
I release the people who do not”
And then when I meet folks, I simply let them know what I do.
Along the way you form relationships and partnerships that don’t serve you.
Learning to release these relationships “back into the wild” is the muscle that i’ve developed.
The key thing that I’ve found to forming good business relationships and “success” is knowing when the right relationships come along, and when the “wrong” relationships” come along.
You never know who is going to be your next business partner or $1,000,000 business.
But the key is to not pre-judge. Instead ask yourself “does this person make my life better, or worse?”
If they are the latter, then you need to let them go.
I’ve met 1,000+ a year, and I hold onto maybe 10-20 new relationships because they are key to my success.
I have investors, that have invested $100,000 into business start ups, key vendors that service us each day, and personal friendships that don’t pay me anything but fill me up with joy.
I have also let go of more “friendships” than I can count because they don’t serve us.
They’re a drain to maintain, on time, on energy, and on sanity.
And if you find yourself complaining about a person more than praising them, maybe it’s time to give them an opportunity to grow somewhere else?
I can also say that in the beginning it’s tough because you may not have a lot of money, time or experience… So when you’re taking risks, take risks that are managable.
For me, I started my first successful (key is first successful) business with $8,000 on a credit card and my wife and dad partnering with me.
It took 6 months and 2 other bad business partnerships but we finally started making a profit. Within 1 year we had broken even and were doing about $3,500 a month consistently. Within 2 years we grew to $15,000 a month and 16 clients. Then things broke, and we had to fix it by re-assessing.
It’s never perfect, but if you can’t afford the risk, or it’s going to bankrupt you I suggest that folks don’t take the chance unless they’re ok with hitting the reset button and starting over again.
If that’s the case, then take big risks, because big risks = sometimes big rewards.
But personally, I prefer small risk = big reward.
Or
Teeny tiny risk > MASSIVE payoff.
Pricing:
- Soldiers needing new Pinks and Greens – check out our website, we offer $1,200+ uniforms after all services and fees for $829 right now
- Dry cleaning – prices start at as little as $4.99 a shirt
Contact Info:
- Website: https://militaryuniformcleaningalterations.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mimicleaners/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mimi-cleaners-a27815367
- Twitter: https://x.com/MimiCleaners
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx3lbYzdGiMLYKehYQuul7A
Image Credits
we took all the photos
