New or smaller companies

These companies typically include a solo operator or one with a small number of employees.

Most of the training or development will focus on the company’s technical elements. Things like becoming proficient in the actual services they provide, such as cleaning, deodorizing, and drying.

However, let’s not forget financial management. This might mean understanding the company’s checkbook is not for personal use, learning to read financial statements, studying how to sell their services to customers, researching how to hire staff, and discovering how to balance workflows with their workforce.

These are all learned skills. Incidentally, many new owners who transitioned from corporate America to entrepreneurship must learn them—often the hard way.

Midsize companies

These companies may have between half a dozen and a dozen employees. They’re beyond the launch phase. One or two people may have been given the title of manager, but they may just be relatives or loyal employees the owner wants to reward.

These owners typically have a good understanding of the technical elements of their job—at least the cleaning and restoration pieces. However, these leaders need to learn to identify and retain effective managers, as they can no longer manage the entire business themselves. This is totally different than managing front-line people.

A larger company

This size company would be one with a couple of dozen, or even dozens, of employees. This owner has an entirely different set of leadership development issues than the solo operator.

While it is important to improve an owner’s technical skills, such as understanding financials, marketing, market trends, and new technology, much of the essential work at this stage involves internal matters, particularly mental and emotional aspects.

At this point, skills, such as empathy, communication, collaboration, and gaining a greater awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as understanding how your peers or subordinates perceive you, come into play. Learning to think strategically, as well as operationally, and to coach rather than command are essential skills to have. These are the areas that need to be developed or refined in owners at this level.

Adding staff

Let’s revisit the three different size companies we discussed and examine how the needs of the people they’re hiring at each level vary.

The smaller company: Many of the first hires are friends or relatives of the owner, or they’re people who need jobs. In newer companies, you don’t usually attract employees who have grand dreams of climbing a corporate ladder or building careers in management. Most are more concerned with making enough to pay their rent, feed their families, and maybe earn enough overtime money to attend a ballgame. These days, you’ve got to work a lot of overtime to do that!

At this level, their most significant concerns are: Will I get paid this week? Will I have a job next year? And do I get along with my boss?

At this level, the owner seeks individuals who are consistent, reliable, and produce high-quality work. They usually stand out. Rather than anointing someone who fits these criteria as a manager too soon, start with smaller responsibilities. Both the owner and the employees are learning how to dance together, and there’s often a lot of collateral damage through this learning process at both this level and the next.

The owner also needs to realize that their people are not like them. They may not be as driven as they are or be motivated by the same things. So, the owner wants to learn to see things through their eyes, including the way they manage their business.

The midsize company: This is the one with approximately a dozen employees. This company is in the early stages of having a management team. Therefore, the owner must develop skills in recognizing managerial talent and learn how to work effectively with them.

Owners should work on their ability to communicate clearly and regularly, which is often more frequent than they’re comfortable with. They need to work on the ability to be “firm, fair, and consistent,” as my colleague, Scott Tackett, would say.

This means not only being firm, fair, and consistent in how they deal with their employees, but also being firm, fair, and consistent in how they enforce the company’s values. In other words, do they follow the same rules they expect their people to follow? Or do they claim executive privilege whenever it becomes inconvenient to do so? This is a basic discipline that many business owners learn the hard way.

But let’s not forget about their ability to build a team that will allow them to step away from the business. This includes having the discipline to not just settle for hiring marginal people simply because they need a warm body. But instead, looking for the right people with the correct skills and values with which to build the company.

The larger company: This is the one with a few dozen or more employees. At this stage, an owner may need to abandon some behaviors that contributed to their success in the company’s early stages but no longer serve them. Things like a “command and control” mindset or the need to be seen as the smartest guy in the room. At this stage, the owner needs to shift from being the one with all the answers to being the one with the best questions. This requires a significant amount of internal work on the part of the owner—a lot of which involves self-awareness and ego management.

Have they built trusting relationships, both professionally and personally, with the people in their organization? Have they created a work environment where people can feel safe and fail without being criticized for it or marginalized in their jobs?

Owners at this level need to observe the caliber of questions they receive from their team members. If they’re still getting elementary-level questions, it’s usually not because their people aren’t intelligent. It’s because the owner hasn’t given their team room to ask better questions.

They need to learn to listen between the lines and embrace the diversity of thought and opinions to continue succeeding at this level.

It’s through these kinds of things that owners build loyalty with their people, allowing them to lead a business rather than have it run them.

Financials and numbers

An expression I’ve found myself using lately is that business is really just a bundle of human behaviors wrapped up in numbers. I’m not even sure what that means, but it often feels that way.

For new or smaller companies, this frequently means outsourcing this work to an experienced bookkeeping or accounting firm. But a word of caution: You’ll want to bring that in-house as soon as you can afford it.

As the size of your company increases, the experience and talent level of the person doing your books should increase as well. Money speeds up as your business grows. You want someone handling the money who is familiar with and comfortable with that increased speed.

In larger organizations, you’re looking for someone with an accounting or finance background, or a ton of experience with companies of your size. Their job is to provide you with timely and accurate financial information and to advise you on it. Your job is to review the reports and to listen to their counsel.

One of the biggest fails I see regarding numbers in any small business is the business owner who tries to do their own books. I even have a running joke with a couple of owners who are still doing their own books and struggling mightily with it. So, I ask them, “Are you still doing your own books?”

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“Is it getting any better?”

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So, my first quick fix would be to find a qualified person to handle your books. This will free you up to do what you should be doing—running your business.

You’ll notice I said “qualified.” This doesn’t mean just convenient or cheap. This means someone who is trained, has experience appropriate for your size company, and is strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with you on financial discipline.

That’s how successful companies are built. That’s a change worth making in 2026!

BONUS VIDEO CONTENT

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Though landscapers and surgeon generals aren’t usually in the same business, in this case, they’re aligned. Murthy’s message applies to the crew in my yard and to nearly everyone in the trades and service industries: The work you see is only part of the job.

Fixing is just the start

We initiated the project to prevent water from leaking into our lower level. Poor drainage caused rainwater to accumulate near the foundation, rather than being directed away from it, and the house suffered the consequences.

We fixed the problem by installing a new downspout that can handle heavy rainfall and by regrading the area to shed water from the house. The healing that followed caught my attention even more.

The target area included an unpaved, gravel walkway I had neglected for years. Runoff from a nearby embankment slowly accumulated and nudged the grade toward the house, ultimately leading to the leak.

Each time I walked that path, I told myself to deal with it, then pushed it to the back of the list. The neglect bothered me. It chipped away at my pride in our home and dulled the beauty of that space.

Don’t forget the healing

In the trades and service industries, the physical result matters, but it isn’t the whole story. Healing often sits beneath the surface. Because most of us never received training to address emotional fallout, we usually overlook or undervalue it.

That’s why soft skills—communication, empathy, adaptability, listening, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence—belong in every toolkit. These skills ease the anxiety, pain, guilt, blame, isolation, and other hurts that travel with the problems clients hire us to fix.

In our case, healing started as soon as the fixing began. I stopped wincing at the walkway and started taking photos to share with friends. My mood lifts when I step into the refreshed space. Even the flowers we planted along that path seem a little brighter.

Our services provide us with front-row opportunities to deliver that kind of healing to customers, both internally and externally. If we notice the need and make space for it, we provide more than a repair. We provide relief.

The post The Hidden Work of the Trades appeared first on Cleanfax.

Now, landscapers and surgeon generals aren’t typically thought of together, but in this instance, they shared more similarities than one might expect. Dr. Murthy’s message applied to the crew in my yard and to nearly everyone in the trades and service industries. The visible work is only aspect of the job.

The original reason for the project was straightforward: We needed to prevent water from leaking into the lower level of our home. Years of inadequate drainage had caused rainwater to collect and flow toward the foundation. The solution was straightforward: Install a larger downspout to handle heavy runoff and regrade the slope so water would drain away from the house.

What truly captured my attention was the healing that followed.

The area being landscaped included a gravel walkway I had neglected for years. Over time, runoff from a nearby embankment slowly accumulated, causing the ground to slope toward the house, which ultimately led to the leak. Each time I walked that path, I reminded myself that I needed to address the issue, but it continually fell down the priority list.

What really troubled me was how much it bothered me. It wasn’t just the leak, but how the walkway looked. It chipped away at my pride in our home and diminished the beauty of a space that should have brought me joy.

In the trades and service industries, the physical work we perform—the visible outcome—is just one aspect of what we provide. Healing often occurs beneath the surface. However, since most of us haven’t been trained to address the emotional impact, we tend to overlook it. At times, we may not even recognize it as part of our job.

Soft skills, such as communication, empathy, adaptability, listening, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence, matter so much. They are not just buzzwords; they are the tools that enable us to connect with the anxiety, guilt, frustration, or even shame that clients might be experiencing alongside the solutions we’ve been hired to perform.

The services we provide often grant us a front-row seat to moments when a simple solution leads to something deeper. At times, we need to pay attention and create space for healing. Additionally, even a rough, gravel path can teach us valuable lessons about the unseen work we all undertake.

The post Tap Into Soft Skills to Grow Your Business appeared first on Cleanfax.

I’ve heard this advice offered in dozens of different ways, but this one has stayed with me for some reason. Great advice in 10 short words—and it applies to business, too.

Here are three complaints we may have, along with suggestions on how to address them.

I’m bored

Many of us business owners in the cleaning and restoration industries can be world-class complainers, although there’s not much time to complain in the early stages of a company. A lot of work needs to be done and a lot of calluses to be earned.

Often, it’s when the company has left the launchpad and things are going reasonably well that the complaining takes on a different, yet mildly annoying, tone. It begins with “I’m bored.” Being bored means you’ve lost sight of your mission or vision. So, as a starting point, this might be a good time to get to work on revisiting them.

Are your personal and business missions and visions big enough and strong enough to carry you through the inevitable periods of low energy that we all experience from time to time? If not, maybe it’s time to get to work reviewing or resetting them.

At the same time, being bored isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As a society, we are so distracted by a never-ending barrage of chatter that we no longer have the quiet periods in our lives that used to provide us with time to think and decompress. Take advantage of them when you can.

I’m tired

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 15.3% of women and 10.1% of men in the U.S.  regularly experience exhaustion. You’re not alone.

The cleaning and restoration business can indeed be demanding. It often involves physical labor, like deep cleaning, lifting or moving equipment, and addressing damage caused by disasters such as floods, fires, or mold infestations. Beyond the physical effort, an emotional component exists, too. Although helping clients recover from stressful or traumatic situations can be rewarding, it can emotionally wear us out at times.

Add in the around-the-clock bombarding of negativity by the news, internet, and social media, and it’s enough to wear anybody down—even the most optimistic among us. However, aside from resting when needed, the best way to combat tiredness and negativity is to get to work and remain active.

I’m lost

Getting lost is not always a bad thing. Obviously, if you’re truly lost, you probably need help finding your way back. At the same time, when we’re lost, we might discover things we otherwise would have overlooked, such as new perspectives, fresh solutions to recurring problems, and new opportunities to explore.

Getting lost can also mean that on the path we’re traveling, no ruts were caused by our old habits, outdated beliefs, or ineffective patterns. So, the next time someone tells you to “get lost,” rather than being insulted by their comment, try thanking them.

During a remodeling project at our house, my wife and I found ourselves complaining about everything we had to do to prepare for it. My wife mentioned that we could cancel the project if I didn’t want to go through with it. I told her, “No way, I want to do this!” Her response was full of sage advice: “Then stop complaining and help me move this couch.”

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Mark owns several national plumbing franchise locations, but early in his career, he seemed to practice getting fired by his customers. When asked about this in an interview once, he responded, “That’s what I do. I’m very good at it. I’ve made a career of it.” He claims he never wanted to be an entrepreneur; he just kept getting fired.

As with many entrepreneurs, Mark has quit, gotten fired, or failed his way into growing one of the largest franchises in the network. Not bad for a guy who started parking cars at a football stadium for $2 an hour when he was 13 years old.

Mark’s penchant for getting fired made me wonder how often business owners inadvertently restrict their company’s growth because they fear failing at the job they’ve created and have been paying themselves to perform! While none will say it aloud, our behaviors often give this away.

Behavior No. 1: Getting too comfortable

We get comfortable doing what we’ve always done. Many of us have experienced having a long-term employee who was perfect for their job when hired, but as time passed and the company grew, they seemed to stagnate.

What about business owners? Many owners’ professional growth seems to stagnate as their company grows.

I’ve written about a term I call “leadership debt.” This is when a business owner or leadership team members stop developing their leadership or business skills. When we stop learning as business professionals, our brains shift into neutral, and we end up without new ideas.

Behavior No. 2: Fear of change

Sometimes, our fear of being fired shows itself as a fear of change. Little doubt arises that getting fired brings the pretty jarring realization that your world has just changed—and usually not just a little. To avoid being fired, we sometimes go to great lengths to do just enough to prevent it but not enough to drive our business or career forward.

I asked Mark to share the secrets to his success. His response was curious: “I see my failures more than my successes. The failures were all critical.” Any failure can be challenging. It can impact us financially and physically and occasionally leave a mark on our egos if we let it.

Failures can also be sources of inspiration and excellent learning experiences. Our successes reinforce the one thing we did that led to that success. Our failures open our world to many new possibilities.

When we have been conditioned throughout our lives to succeed in whatever endeavor we undertake, it’s only natural that we do our best to avoid failing. But when we let our fear of failing stand in the way of doing our best, then by default, we are handicapping ourselves.

While I would not advise anyone to try to get themselves fired intentionally, my friend Mark might suggest they not worry too much about it.

The post Finding Success in Failure appeared first on Cleanfax.

The presentation describes the changes a small business experiences as it grows, likening those changes to the shifting responsibilities of a captain and their crew, depending on the size of the vessel being commanded.

A sailboat needs a vertical appendage—a centerboard or keel—on the lower part of its hull to avoid being blown sideways or capsizing whenever the wind comes from the side. Except for when a boat is sailing directly downwind, the wind always hits one side of the boat or the other.

If not for the centerboard, the boat wouldn’t be able to sail as straightforwardly as possible and would be victimized by the slightest wind hitting its sails. It could take on water as it rocks back and forth, and in extreme cases, it could even capsize.

The purpose of the centerboard is to provide stability for the sailboat while offering minimal protection from the elements that buffet it.

The centerboard on a sailboat serves as an excellent metaphor for a company’s mission statement. Just as the centerboard is vital to the integrity and performance of a boat, so is the mission statement of a company.

Despite all the talk we hear about the importance of mission statements, it’s easy to be confused about their purpose and to misunderstand just what they’re capable of achieving for an organization. The mission statement is not the sail of the company, whose purpose is to catch the wind and propel the company forward. Nor is it the rudder whose purpose it is to steer the direction of the company.

The purpose of a mission statement is to provide stability to a company as it navigates its path toward its destination—its vision. At the same time, the mission only provides minimal protection from the forces that will impact a company on its journey. Factors such as competition, employee turnover, and challenges to the company culture are just a few of the forces that will buffet a company as it grows.

As Manuel Elizalde, Jr. states in The Soul of Money: “Give people a center, and they stand fast.” A company’s mission is that center.

With sailboats, it’s not uncommon over time for the centerboard to become dented or nicked as it encounters objects under the water. For a small pleasure craft, this might not be a significant issue, but for a boat intended for racing, it’s a major concern, as it can have a dramatic impact on the boat’s speed. Therefore, it’s a good idea to examine the centerboard periodically to ensure it hasn’t been permanently damaged and is still serving its purpose.

It’s no different from a company’s mission. Just as a boat’s centerboard needs to be examined regularly to ensure it continues to serve its purpose of providing stability, a company’s mission must be regularly reviewed to ensure it remains effective in providing the stability a company needs as it continues to grow.

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The article applied to all businesses, no matter what product or service they offered and no matter how big or small. I think it still does.

The heart of the article went like this:

A colleague had an acquaintance who was looking for funding for his business. My colleague introduced him to a potential investor over lunch. The next day, the investor called my colleague and told him that although the person was nice, he would never invest in his business. My colleague asked why.

The investor said that he had “Mercedes-Benz syndrome.”

The investor explained that during lunch, he found out through casual conversation that this person was funding a $2,200 (Adjusting for inflation, today’s equivalent would be $4,300.) Porsche lease through his business. He appeared interested in having the company pay for his lifestyle. Investment that was supposed to go toward the business’s needs was going toward the owner’s wants instead.

The article said, “These are the contractors who don’t understand that cash does not mean profits and that having cash does not mean that you have to spend it.”

Can I hear an amen?!

Not all business owners are looking for investors or even a line of credit from their bank. However, the definition of investor is expanded to include all the people with a vested interest in their company (such as employees, suppliers, and customers). In that case, many eyes are watching where the company’s money goes.

To check whether purchases are being influenced by “Mercedes-Benz syndrome,” an aviation principle can be used.

In aviation, an airfoil on an airplane moving through the air creates lift, which causes the plane to climb. At the same time, a force called gravity is working against lift. This force holds down the plane and restricts how fast it climbs. It’s the same in a business, where cash is substituted for air.

Investing a company’s money in needed equipment, employee training, and items that increase productivity acts like air passing over an airfoil—it causes the company to soar. Spending the company’s money on non-essential items is the gravity that holds down its cash flow and restricts its growth.

Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that business owners need to run every purchase they make past their people for approval or that they shouldn’t enjoy the fruits of their hard work. But if they run their business purchases past the scrutiny of this aviation principle, they might be able to avoid “Mercedes-Benz syndrome” and achieve their goals much sooner.

The post The Mercedes-Benz Syndrome appeared first on Cleanfax.

While Top Gun is just a movie, this scene illustrates an important point voiced years ago by Stephen Covey: we sometimes can get so caught up in processes and in making sure we’re doing things right that we overlook the bigger picture or fail to ask ourselves if we’re doing the right things. In business, this plays itself out on a couple of different levels.

On a procedural level we can all agree that having well-documented procedures for how to produce superior products and services consistently is a great idea. After all, famed business author Michael Gerber built a career flogging this concept. At the same time, it’s easy to get so caught up in HOW we do things that we forget WHY we’re doing them in the first place. And while this might work for solo operators, as more people are added to an organization the importance of WHY we do what we do increases. WHY we do things brings more meaning to HOW we do them. It also helps keep us from being blindsided by changes that take place in our industry.

On a strategic level it’s not uncommon for businesses to get so caught up in relying on the things that made them successful in the past that they fail to recognize changes in customer preferences or technology that will help them maintain relevance in the future. The story of Swiss watchmakers in the 1970s is a classic example. 

In 1968 Swiss watchmakers commanded 50% of the worldwide market. 50%! Imagine commanding half of the market for the goods and services your company provides in your market area. However, by 1978—just 10 short years later—their once dominant position had fallen to only 10% of the worldwide watch market. What could possibly have caused this? Over-focusing on the past certainly played a role.

At a worldwide watch convention held in Basil, Switzerland, a new technology had been introduced: Quartz technology, which Swiss engineers helped to invent. While Swiss watchmakers focused their attention and money on improving main springs and balance wheels to improve older technology, the rest of the world embraced the technology of the future. As they say, the rest is history.

The lesson learned is that while continuous improvement of our products and services is always important, we don’t want to be so consumed that we overlook the direction in which our markets, technology, and customer preferences are headed. A critical component of strategic planning isn’t just trying to identify new avenues the company needs to pursue but which things it needs to stop doing.

When business owners can keep a soft hand on the throttle of their company, rather than holding on too tight, they’re better able to maintain their edge, make more informed decisions, and fly their company into successful tomorrows.

The post Holding on Too Tight appeared first on Cleanfax.

Business love frequently starts early in a career when many of us are inexperienced both in business and in hiring and managing people. There can be such a learning curve that the employees we surround ourselves with have a way of looking like all-stars, causing us to become enamored with their talents for a variety of reasons.

Naivete

An old saying reminds us of our naivete: “We don’t know what we don’t know.” As novice business owners, many of us learn business lessons on the fly. Hiring mistakes can be one of the more painful lessons, especially for owners who didn’t go to business school or have a job in a larger company where we could learn them.

We think our new employee is the most beautiful and competent in the world—especially when they show up, do their job, and don’t complain. What’s not to love about that? But early admiration can cause us to be blind to otherwise glaring talent deficiencies or character flaws because we’re just thrilled to have someone hired.

Desperation

We seem to be most vulnerable to falling in love when we’ve been looking for someone for a long time, when we’re exhausted, or when we’ve had an unpleasant experience with a former employee.

Performance standards and high expectations that were once non-negotiable are quickly tossed aside in the interest of hiring somebody, anybody, to lighten our load. We become enamored because the new hire is like a salve to our immediate pain and looks fantastic compared to our previous poor experience.

Divine intervention

You know this one. Maybe you’ve even been a victim of it. We convince ourselves that divine intervention played a role in finding this perfect match. It goes like this: We need a specific position filled. Our spouse or someone we know happened to run into an old friend whose brother knows a guy who’s out of work … and bingo! A match made in heaven! How could it be any more perfect?

Before giving your next hire the keys to the shop or sharing all your passwords, here are a couple of suggestions to help avoid unnecessary disappointment and heartache.

View the recruiting and interviewing process like the courting phase of a romantic relationship. Really take the time to get to know the candidate.

During the courting phase, realize that everyone is usually on their best behavior. Only once we spend time with someone, getting to know and understand them, can we decide if they’re someone we want to commit to. In business, this might mean hiring or promoting them.

I’ve learned that whenever I’m head over heels in love with a candidate, that’s usually a signal that I’m overlooking something and need to take the time to look deeper. This doesn’t mean they’re wrong for the job. It just means I might need to be more realistic about their capabilities and potential. There will be plenty of time later to fall in love.

The post Falling in Love appeared first on Cleanfax.

That’s the level of intensity Patrick Coakley brought to his job as head groundskeeper of a minor league baseball stadium. Of course, that’s not surprising when you consider he won the Best Sports Turf Manager of the Year award three times in eleven years.

I know Coakley personally, and it was during a conversation with him one time that I realized a lot of business lessons could be learned from his philosophy on maintaining a baseball field.

To start with, Pat’s field would get mowed every day, whether the team was playing at home or on the road. I asked him, “Why go to the trouble and expense of mowing the field every day? It can’t possibly grow that fast.” As he sharpened the blades on one of the mowers, he responded, “Mowing it every day is a lot of work. But when it’s mowed every day, the grass grows better. It grows stronger and greener.”

The same holds true in business. How strong is the temptation to stop doing the details when things are going well in your business? Sales are up, so maybe you don’t need to market as strongly. Cash flow is good, so you don’t need to pursue receivables aggressively. Production is getting done, so you don’t need to maintain high standards of appearance or discipline within the ranks.

But if you want your business to be healthy and strong, grooming it every day is a must. Even the stuff you don’t enjoy.

Pat believed his job was to deliver a perfect playing surface, not just to impress company executives who came around every now and then or for the fans who attended an occasional game. It was for the players who worked on the field day in and day out.

It’s the same in business. The reason you keep your vehicles clean and maintained, the reason you keep your shop and offices clean and organized, and the reason you keep your financial information and customer data accurate and up-to-date isn’t because you’re expecting visitors. It’s because your people perform better in that kind of environment. Morale seems to be higher when you pay attention to those details.

Perhaps the most telling characteristic about Coakley is the intensity of his focus. Pat is a competitor in everything he does, and his focus is always on winning. (I learned this about Pat first-hand on a golf course years ago.) So, even though the tasks he engaged in daily (mowing, seeding, fertilizing, watering, etc.) were intended to build a faster and safer playing field, the underlying reason he did those things was to help his team win more ball games.

Where’s your focus? Is it on the tasks you perform simply for the sake of being the best at those tasks? Or do you strive to be the best at your tasks so you can win at the game of business?

At first blush, it may not seem like business and baseball fields have much in common. But after closer examination, they sure do.

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