Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Cross.
Hi Andrew, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
In 2018, I was going to college at Georgia State for Civil Engineering. I was transitioning from the field to an office job, and I thought working in the office would be the dream. When I started the drafting job, it took me about a month to realize I hated it. I had no motivation and it seemed like my seat was getting hotter and hotter by the minute. I remember asking one of my bosses to transition over to estimator instead of drafting, he basically laughed in my face. So, I started thinking I needed to start some type of business. I’ve always wanted to build an empire, but I didn’t know what to do. At first, I was thinking of fire alarm installations or other random construction trades.
Then I started thinking about my grandpa who had a rather large post-construction cleaning company in the 90s. My grandpa and I were really close growing up. I never had a father, and he was the best replacement ever. In the 90s he ran a company called R&R Cleaning Services. They cleaned all of the schools that were being built during the lottery boom. He had to give the business up in the early 2000s due to poor money management and diabetes causing him to go blind. He came from poverty and basically struck gold for a bit. I could remember the smell of the new carpet on the job sites and the floor machines.
I had a close friend named Brett. We both hated our jobs and wanted to start a business so we thought it would be easier if we partnered up. We started researching how to start a cleaning company. I took notes on top of notes for months behind my cubicle at work while I was supposed to be drafting lol. Brett and I started the company in January 2019. We started big by getting insured etc and we paid for all of this using a one year no interest credit card. I coached a kid in travel basketball and his dad became a friend of ours. He was a superintendent on a huge jobsite and got us the gig of cleaning around 100 new construction houses in two subdivisions. Brett and I racked up an $18,000 bill on them. After a few months, things got weird when we still hadn’t received payment. We stopped working on the site until they would pay.
Around May I got fired from my job because I came in 2 hours late after Brett and I cleaned a new construction home for a buddy of mine. We would just team up on these houses and work 16 hours straight sometimes. When I got fired, I decided to go all in. Brett had a hereditary heart issue and had recently had a heart attack (the same year we started the business) and didn’t want to leave his job because of insurance. We had finally gotten paid after we filed a lien, and I called the President of the company and had a meltdown after realizing I was broke and borrowing money, while he owed me 18 grand. I think all the trials and tribulations sucked the life out of Brett. So we agreed to take the startup credit card debt and split the 18k we earned in exchange of us parting ways. We are still friends to this day and everything was mutual. It had just gotten to the point to where I was running around doing all the work while he was stuck at work.
I took my profits and bought a small electric pressure washer, a shop vac, and some other random cleaning equipment. I rode around every day I didn’t have a job and passed out business cards. My goal was to make $100 a day at the time and I had a part-time job delivering pizzas at Pizza Hut to survive. I told my mom I was quitting college and that I wasn’t going to apply for any more jobs to challenge myself to grow the business. She thought I was crazy. I put B&D Cleaning flyers on all of the pizza boxes when I delivered and posted about my company on social media constantly. I used the Kia and would put the pressure washer in the back seat. I also rented a commercial carpet cleaner for $40 a day at Chastain Janitorial and would put it in the back of the Kia. We still laugh about it because the seats would always get soaked. I made my money off the electric washer and traded it in before the 30-day period. I bought a residential washer with my profits and refunds from Home Depot. I met a guy at a Chamber of Commerce event who then sold me a brand-new commercial washer for $400 SUPER CHEAP so I traded the old washer back in before its refund period ended and bought the bigger washer. Now I had the washer I had needed. I knew what I needed thanks for a friend I met on Instagram who owns a pressure washing company in North Carolina. When I got fired from my job, I asked him how he pressure washed because I saw all his videos. He facetimed me and showed me everything. We still talk to this day and I am forever thankful. I ended up getting a deal on a carpet maching for $350.
Now I had gotten my mom to quit her job and go full-time with me. I had gotten us in with a company that flipped houses and we were driving down to Kennesaw and Douglasville to clean. They were rigorously checked, and we had to nearly clean them perfectly for an average amount of money. Mom would clean the kitchens and start on the bathrooms while I would clean everything else. We used the shop vac I bought and Simple Green on everything. We would do these and whenever I would get large construction jobs I would get the high school kids I had coached, friends of mine, and my younger brother to help. We did a four-story hotel my first year and it nearly drove us crazy just to break even. I did the next hotel and profited, I cleaned five stories of windows on a lift and learned how to drive it on YouTube. I was so scared the first day I tried to drive it, I just went home instead.
Year two, I had gotten my first full-time employee that wasn’t related to me. Freddy is still a good friend of mine though he no longer works with us. Freddy and mom put in a lot of work with me in year 2. By this time the reviews had added up and I was developing a good reputation. We were starting to get recurring offices and all other types of work. I decided to push all aspects of cleaning (carpets, pressure washing, maid services) so I would always have some type of work to do. After year two we won Best of Hall 2021. Winning that changed everything. I built a website and had over 100 5-star reviews on google. January 2020, I had bought my first van at a 15% interest rate. I had agreed to a $700 a month payment in addition to owning the Kia. I gave my mom the Kia for work and used the van for work and personal. It was so convenient being able to carry ladders etc.
Year 3 went smooth once I had hired four new people. But they weren’t really all that consistent. This was the first year I really saw that I could be wealthy, and I stopped worrying so much about the bills as they were always getting paid on time. I was working myself into the ground with multiple people calling out of work every day (except Freddie and mom). But I understood pricing at this time and business was booming. After year 3 we won Best of Hall 2022.
Year 4 I finally got to trade the van in for a nice truck. I have eight employees now and they are pretty consistent. I found the person who will be the future President of my company and I am pushing for growth. I am trying to buy another van soon but am waiting for prices to hopefully drop. I can see the top of the mountain I just have to push to get there. My 5-year goal is to sell half a million. I sold 250k in jobs in year 3.
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?
No. Chasing payment from contractors was probably the sketchiest part because you know if you don’t get paid, your bills don’t get paid. I had a friend of mine work with me, and he let me owe him around two grand for months. When I finally got paid, we were both relieved. Good friends really helped me a lot. I used to get anxious when I wouldn’t have work for days too.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a full-service cleaning company meaning we cover all aspects of cleaning interior and exterior. We offer window cleaning, carpet cleaning, interior cleaning, pressure washing, tile and grout cleaning, and gutter cleaning for both residential and commercial clients. We have a good mix of recurring and one-time customers. We offer bundle deals so if you were getting pressure washing, I could give a discount on carpet cleaning or window cleaning, etc. I am most proud of the reputation my brand has built. We love leaving a smile on customers’ faces and we don’t leave the job or collect a check until the customer is satisfied. We have a 100% satisfaction guarantee and I have never taken money from someone who wasn’t happy. I love the variety of work that we are able to take on.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
FIve years from now I want a Director of Operations running 3-5 crews. Ten years from now I want to be able to franchise my brand out. If we shift anywhere, it would be from residential to commercial, but I want to try to keep both going strong.
Pricing:
- Pressure washing minimum $225
- Carpet cleaning 3 rooms for $150
- Tile and Grout cleaning starting at $250
- Deep cleans starting at $325
- Post construction cleaning 0.35 cents per square foot
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bndcleaningllc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bndcleaning/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/banddcleaningservices/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bndcleaning93
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/b-and-d-cleaning-services-oakwood-2
