A Deeper Look Into the Life of Someone who Means to Clean
May 6, 2011
Going through a divorce with no degree to fall back on can lead to stressful circumstances and a lot of “what ifs,” especially when you then become a single mother to three daughters.
This is a good time to really look into what you enjoy doing, and try to turn this into something that could potentially make money.
Judy Baron Steigauf was offered a job from a friend to clean houses. She has been cleaning ever since, and has even started her own cleaning business called JS Cleaning, which has been in operation for eight years now.
Not only does Steigauf clean houses but she also cleans offices and does new construction cleaning. She explains that she really has no typical day. She could work up to 7 days a week, with hours ranging from 6 a.m. until midnight.
Steigauf currently has three two offices that she cleans, one every other weekend, and one she cleans three times a week. She services a total of eight homes throughout the month, either weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
Steigauf explains that when she gets really busy, she hires people to help her, such as her sister, brother-in-law, and even her daughters.
One of Steigauf’s favorite parts of owning her own cleaning business is that she has a good amount of flexibility. She said that having a great customer base who understand if she needs to reschedule is also another reason she loves what she does. “Judy is a very dedicate worker when she cleans house my house she works so hard, its sparky when it’s done,” said Doris, one of Steigauf’s clients.
“This has been a blessing throughout the years, being a single parent and raising three daughters, if something came up I was able to be there for them, that was the most important thing for me,” explains Steigauf.
According to Steigauf, along with having great customers and flexibility, cleaning houses, offices and new construction projects have the potential to make a great deal of money, more than she could ever make working a regular 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. job at only a little more than minimum wage
Steigauf charges:
- $20/hour for house cleaning
- $35/hour for new construction cleaning
- $25/hour for office cleaning
Although Steigauf loves her job a great deal, and has worked hard enough to land her own successful business, there are of course some downfalls. Judy stated that, naturally, the bathrooms are the dirtiest place to clean. She also said that she often asks herself, when she’s cleaning offices, whether they would keep their home the way they do their office, but since she does clean homes-she knows the answer is yes!
When asked what her worst experience while on the job has been, Steigauf explained that when she first started working, her friend was rearranging things in a cleaning bucket and accidentally dropped a bathroom cleaner with bleach in it onto the carpet. Needless to say, the bluish carpet turned white almost instantly. After the initial shock, they were enlightened when they realized they Steigauf’s friend had insurance that would cover the costs.
Entry Filed under: cleaning services. Posted in cleaning services Tags: bathroom cleaner, bleach, daughters, divorce, employment, money, Services, work.