Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Carpenter.
Hi Justin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I have always dreamed of owning my own business one day. Like many people, I thought this would have to be some unique idea or some venture-funded startup. I graduated college in 2016 and began working at a CPA firm. I quickly realized the corporate route was not for me, and I began to brainstorm a business I could start.
Some classmates had started a moving and storage business. The university’s newspaper picked it up and it started to catch fire. I thought that it was great how they were gaining traction, but I did not like the idea of always chasing new clients or having the majority of your work be seasonal. I remember thinking, “what is something that people always need”? I realized that house cleaning is always in season!
I started working on Modern Maids every night after work. I loved the hustle and energy it brought me. There’s a big difference between carrying out tasks at work and starting something from scratch, where you have a hand in every aspect of the customer experience! A couple of months later, I left my job at the CPA firm to pursue this new passion full-time. My family and friends thought it was risky, but I wanted to give it six months and see what happened.
It has been almost four years since then, and I am beyond grateful for the people I have met along the way. I would absolutely say that four years ago, I did not fully expect Modern Maids to be as big as it is today.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not always been a smooth road, and I don’t think any business has an easy path. I think the key finding success in business is by always keeping an open mind and being willing to pivot when things are not working as planned. I don’t recommend that you keep pivoting wider and wider and losing focus on your main business, but keep trying new things and something will stick. For Modern Maids that was when landed a few large property management contracts that we could supplement with the individual clients we get from the public.
The biggest struggle along the way was trying to keep the balance between how much profits to take instead of pumping them back into the business to keep it growing. I think that we did a phenomenal job with this. When we first started, we only used social media for marketing. We partnered with local influencers to run giveaways. This allowed us to keep our marketing costs low. The challenge was that since we did not do any paid advertising on Google etc., we did not have the steady flow of customers.
Eventually, we were able to build up our account and spend heavily on search engine optimization to get top-ranked in the search results for our targeted cities. This brought in even more customers and more cash flow. After we finished with SEO, we were able to start investing more on Yelp and Google AdWords to keep the traction and keep the flywheel spinning.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Modern Maids is a full-service house cleaning company. We offer one-time standard cleaning, one-time deep cleaning, move-in/move-out cleaning and recurring cleanings. Customers can select every four weeks, every two weeks, and every week. We offer discounts to customers who select the recurring cleanings. The most popular choice amongst customers is every two weeks.
I think what sets us apart the most from our competition is our super friendly and customer service-oriented office staff as well as our flat-rate online booking offering. When you visit our website, you can see the price we will charge by selecting the bedrooms and bathrooms in your home and any extras you would like such as inside oven or inside fridge. It is so simple and convenient it takes 60 seconds or less. I really believe that these two areas combined together are what makes us a top choice for home cleaning in Austin.
The thing I am most proud of in terms of our brand is our reputation for such high-quality work. In Austin, we have a 4.9 rating on Google, and all of our other locations have similar ratings. The friendly office staff and convenient online booking will only get us so far. If we don’t focus on providing quality work for each and every customer, the brand will not grow. I always tell our cleaners at Modern Maids that we need to clean each and every customer’s home with care as if it were their first clean with us and just like it is your own home. We focus on providing the perfect quality whether it is your first clean or 40th clean with Modern Maids.
Pricing:
- $115 (1 bed 1 bath one time)
- 10% Discount – Every 4 Weeks
- 15% Discount – Every 2 Weeks
- 20% Discount – Every Week
Contact Info:
- Email: info@modern-maids.com
- Website: https://www.modern-maids.com/austin-maid-service/
- Instagram: @modern.maids
