CONGRATULATIONS….
You probably had that voice in your head that said, WARNING, they want you to join the ENJO cult, so thanks for taking the risk and reading anyway. I promise you, this isn’t about plugging ENJO for ENJO’s sake! I’m not affiliated with ENJO and I’m not an affiliate marketer – I just love their products! They’re green, they’re clean and they ACTUALLY work.
I took the leap into self-employment in NZ and bought a Green Acres Home Cleaning Franchise. That made the move into self-employment a little less terrifying with training and systemized processes.
‘Cleaning green’ wasn’t really a thing back then, and I cringe at the number of products we would cart around from job to job. I was like the ‘Mary Poppins’ of cleaning, with a product for every single thing. A heavy bucket of this, another bucket of that, and a container in the boot for the ‘just in case.’
I moved to Australia in 2008 and after my success in NZ, having supported my 4 children as the sole income earner, I knew I wanted to start a cleaning business here in Cairns as well. I’d done this before, so I knew what I was doing. I went straight to the Commercial Cleaning retailers and bought 8 of the basics, I was going for minimal and efficient! I would grow my supplies as the business grew and off I went.
Things never go to plan do they? My first clean was a real baptism of fire. I hadn’t accounted for the difference in climate between NZ and Australia, and Cairns is about 100% humidity on the coldest day. It was the WORST clean I’d ever done. The heat, the effort it took to do simple tasks and the way the products cleaned were totally foreign. I had to get my husband to help me and I vomited in the garden…GREAT start.
My first year in business was hard for all the normal reasons; establishing yourself, marketing, networking and being seen as a ‘real’ business (that’s a WHOLE other story) but the BIGGEST hurdle was the weather. Not only was the heat and humidity taxing on our bodies (cleaning is EXTREMELY physical), it impacted my service and the way we cleaned. Every surface; glass, bench tops, stainless, wood, tiles etc. required an endless amount of products and crazy new combinations of chemicals to counteract how the humidity effected all these surfaces, not to mention the mould and mildew. It was like trying to clean underwater.
And then there was ENJO. I met Anne, https://www.facebook.com/enjo.com.au/ in 2010 and was desperate for a better solution. We’d met at a networking event right after I’d cleaned a huge home: 5 bed, 3 bath, media, dining, lounge, 2 storey house with porcelain tiles of course! I was constantly wasting my time because I’d clean section by section, vacuuming then washing and drying as I went because it always looked smeared or streaky no matter what I did.
Some of my clients used ENJO, but I’d never really bought the whole ‘just add water,’ so when I met Anne and knew she sold ENJO I asked “What’s this ENJO stuff?” I was sceptical having been in business for a while and I couldn’t believe all you needed was water and a micro fibre cloth. I mean, I considered myself to be the Queen of Clean. I loved my cleaning products, the stronger the smell and the more caustic it was, the more I loved it! I Had no problem using half a bottle of Toilet Duck to clean my loo, and bleach and exit mould were a staple in my toolkit.
The weather in Cairns and the amount of products and re-cleaning made me curious, so with a healthy amount of scepticism I signed up for some products and GUESS WHAT….I loved it! They really are that good and it’s a greener and more efficient way to clean. It’s improved the quality of our service and is perfect for the Cairns climate. Our day to day cleaning regime in Kitchens/Bathrooms/Dusting and Mopping, coupled with eco-friendly cleaning products, is healthier for me, my team and my clients.
Naturally, there are exceptions to the rule! You need the right tool for the right job and while ENJO is our go to for daily maintenance cleans and most domestic jobs, there is a need for harsher chemicals when you get those ‘special’ kind of jobs.
So from one sceptic to another – you’re never too old, or too experienced to try new things, it might even be the best decision you’ve ever made.
ENJO, https://www.facebook.com/enjo.com.au/, is getting our unsponsored tick of approval (feel free to sponsor us though ENJO, we wouldn’t mind some free supplies or a tidy cheque LOL).
If you want more real tips for the Cairns Queen of Clean, make sure you follow us here and read out monthly blog.
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