Done Right the First Time - Sound Cleaning Resources

Team Subkit -

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Matt Madeoy, Founder and CEO of Sound Cleaning Resources, located in Bellevue, WA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Sound Cleaning Resources Inc. provides commercial and residential cleaning services, bringing a high level of professionalism, courtesy, and attention to detail to every job, every time. We work with building owners, property managers, businesses of all sizes, multi-family homeowners’ associations, residential customers, and more.

Sound Cleaning is proud to be independently owned and operated, started from scratch in the Northwest, providing services to the Greater Seattle Area, Western Washington, the Greater Portland Area, and Northwestern Oregon. We partner with the best cleaners that are screened, vetted, and constantly rated based on reviews. Our service offerings are quite extensive, including:

• Air duct cleaning
• Building cleaning
• Carpet steam cleaning
• Cleaning services
• Concrete floor cleaning, polishing, and sealing
• Deep cleaning
• Dryer duct cleaning
• Final construction cleaning
• Floor care
• Floor maintenance
• Floor stripping and waxing
• Gutter and downspout cleaning
• High dusting
• Hood cleaning
• Janitorial
• Moss inhibitor application
• Pressure washing
• Roof blowing
• Roof cleaning
• Tight line jetting
• Tile and grout cleaning and sealing
• Trash chute cleaning
• Ultra-sonic blind cleaning
• Window cleaning
• Wood floor cleaning, polishing, and sealing

Tell us about yourself

Starting out in the financial industry, I learned firsthand the need for high-touch, personal service provided by professionals that stand behind their work. Looking at the service industry, I saw a gap between what customers were promised and what they received. Seeing a niche in the commercial cleaning services industry and a lack of high-quality providers, I started Sound Cleaning Resources in 2005.

We began providing nightly janitorial services and office cleaning and quickly began getting requests for all kinds of other cleaning-related services because of our attention to detail. We began to partner with Cleaning Technicians that shared this philosophy of customer first, no matter what. Once we discovered that happy customers would give us 5-star reviews online to spread the good news about our business, we became even more determined to wow customers and maintain a high reputation. We strive to get it right the first time, but if we don't, our customers keep coming back because they know we will always correct any issues. This may sound like a small thing, but it is very rare in the service industry.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

We love to hire people of high integrity and good work ethic who have shown amazing intelligence in their life so far, no matter where they come from. We can take those individuals that may have limited or no experience doing what we do, and we can teach and train them to become extremely effective in a short time. This results in a business that continually grows without sacrificing quality. In doing so, we have been able to expand well into Washington State to Oregon, and we have plans to expand to other areas as well.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The buck stops here when it comes to being a business owner. There is no one else, so I can't say, "that's not my job" it all falls on me at the end of the day. This provides our customers, employees, and partners with a level of accountability that many businesses do not have. While this is not always easy, it is something I am proud of.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Make a plan but keep things simple.
  2. Be passionate about what you do and stick with it even when times are tough.
  3. Make yourself dispensable, meaning set up the business so it can run without you.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Often, individuals get into business for themselves because they know they can do a better job than those they are working for. This is a great attribute and what drives one to be in business for themselves in the first place. This can also be a limiting factor if the business owner must micro-manage every process.

I am guilty of this in the early days of running Sound Cleaning. The best thing I did was partner with smart and talented individuals, stepped aside, and let them do their job. Sure, there were some things they did not do as well as I would, but there were many more in which they did better. Furthermore, the sum of many individuals working together as a cohesive team is much greater than I could have ever done on my own.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.soundclean.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soundcleaningresources/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soundcleaning/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Soundcleaning
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sound-cleaning-resources/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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