Filthy Rich Cleaners: The Cleaning Business Podcast

Independent contractors are one of the hottest — and most confusing — topics in the cleaning industry. Are they legal? What are the risks? And why do so many owners run into trouble when they think they’re doing everything right? We've talked about this before in Episode 62, and today, we're doing a deep dive.In this episode, Stephanie brings Chris Schwab, remote cleaning business owner and founder of Local Business MBA, back on the podcast to talk more about the reality of running a cleaning business with independent contractors. Chris has operated a fully remote cleaning company for 10+ years and has coached hundreds of owners through this same challenge. They talk about the risks, benefits, and most important things to know about choosing ICs vs. employees. What You’ll Learn:— The IRS’s “Big 3 Tests” that define employees vs. independent contractors— Red flags that will get you misclassified (uniforms, checklists, scheduling)— Why quality control is the biggest roadblock to scaling with contractors— Insurance and liability protections you need in place if you run ICs— The gray area of hybrid models (and why most fail)— How to safely transition from contractors to employees if you need to— Creative ways to find independent contractors in smaller service areasResources Mentioned:— Chris Schwab’s Local Business MBA: https://localbusinessmba.com— Subscribe to Chris’s Newsletter (Cleaning Industry Insights): https://localbusinessmba.beehiiv.com/subscribe— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com— Maid Summit (Free Training Event): https://www.maidsummit.com— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (Free): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/deep-dive-into-scaling-with-independent-contractors/

Even the best cleaning companies lose clients — it's part of the business, whether we like it or not. But when clients choose to drop often follows a predictable pattern. Things like your client's favorite cleaner quitting or you needing to increase the prices of your services can all contribute to what we call client "danger zones," and there are critical moments in your business where client relationships are the most fragile.In this episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners, Stephanie breaks down the top danger zones where cleaning clients are most likely to leave, as well as how you can prevent them. She shares real stories from Serene Clean, including practical communication strategies and retention tactics that you can apply immediately! What You’ll Learn:— The #1 danger zone where most clients drop (and how to fix it)— How to successfully transition clients to new cleaners without losing their business— The right way to roll out price increases to avoid mass cancellations— Why first cleanings can make or break a long-term client relationship— How to handle client complaints so they don’t happen twice— The hidden risks of long-term clients and how to re-engage them— Why communication, notes, and standardized checklists are your best retention safety netResources Mentioned:— Maid Summit (Free Training Event): https://www.maidsummit.com— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com/— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (free to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: Get.ZenMaid.com Book a Consulting call with Stephanie:https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/ Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/when-and-why-youre-most-likely-to-lose-customers/

Amanda Stovall was fired from a restaurant job for refusing to wear makeup, and used that experience as a spark for her entrepreneurship. Today, Amanda runs Stovall’s Cleaning Services in Missouri and hit her first $10K month! She's built strong systems and laid the foundation for long-term growth.In this episode, Stephanie and Amanda dive into Amanda’s journey from being a dispatcher and server to a cleaning business owner, including the tough lessons she’s learned about hiring, pricing, and trusting herself. They talk about team walkouts, the sales psychology that changed Amanda's close rates, and more! Amanda’s story is equal parts raw, inspiring, and practical. What You’ll Learn — Why “experimenter mindset” can save your business when things go wrong — The hard truth about hiring friends and family (and what Amanda learned the hard way) — How Amanda used ZenMaid to double her revenue in 60 days — The tiered pricing shift that made clients book her top package every time — Why staying in your lane and ignoring competitors can keep you sane — How Amanda is preparing her team and systems for explosive growth in 2025Resources Mentioned: — What Should We Do? by Joe Crisara: https://www.amazon.com/What-Should-We-Do-Clients/dp/B0CSK2V9FZ — Maid Summit (Free Training Event): https://www.maidsummit.com — ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (free): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermindTry ZenMaid free for 14 days: Get.ZenMaid.com  Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/ Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/fired-over-makeup-to-10k-months-amanda-stovalls-journey/

Any small business owner (regardless of the industry they're in) will attest that this job is one of the hardest but most rewarding out there. You pour your heart and soul into your business and learn so much about yourself along the way.
 
In this fiery solo episode, Stephanie talks about the three traits that have allowed her to build Serene Clean into the 7-figure business it is today: grit, vision, and leadership. She shares the story of (cluelessly 😅) walking into her first commercial walkthrough at 23, leading a million-dollar government contract, navigating betrayals and setbacks, and figuring things out as she went. Stephanie discusses the mindset and habits that helped her push forward when she thought that quitting would have been easier.
 
This episode is 50% motivational speech and 50% practical breakdown of the traits any cleaning business owner can develop in their journey.
 
📌 What You’ll Learn:
— Why grit and resilience matter more than knowing everything from the beginning
— The “ready, fire, aim” approach to action, and why it works for entrepreneurs and small business owners
— How having a vision and maintaining and standard of excellence create a company's culture
— How the values you instill in your business will attract like-minded employees
— Leadership habits that make employees feel respected, connected, valued, and proud
— How to frame failures as experiments instead of setbacks
— Why raising your prices and buying back your time is so important for growth
 
Resources Mentioned:
— Maid Summit (Free Training Event): https://www.maidsummit.com
— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com/
— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (free to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind
 
Try ZenMaid free for 14 days! https://get.zenmaid.com
 
📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
 
📖 Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/the-3-traits-that-built-my-cleaning-business/

Would you rather send out a 20% off coupon twice in one day, or go viral for a typo that says “we’ll clean your crack”? 
In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Ryan Williams, ZenMaid's Head of Marketing, to share real marketing mishaps (including $30k ad spend mistakes and sending emails with the wrong dates twice) and talk through how cleaners can stop overthinking marketing. They cover marketing via email vs. text messaging, whether discounts cheapen your brand, how to spot shady marketing agencies, and why focusing on what already works is smarter than chasing every shiny object.
 What You’ll Learn:— Why progress beats perfection when running ads, and why “trashy" Canva ads often win— How to offer discounts without making your brand look cheap— The truth about email vs. SMS marketing, and why both still work in 2025— Red flags (and green flags) when hiring a marketing agency— Why attribution is overrated and what you should track instead— How to avoid shiny object syndrome and scale what already works— Why your website and personal story are still your strongest marketing tools
Resources Mentioned:— Maid Summit (Free Training Event): https://www.maidsummit.com— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com/— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (free to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind
Try ZenMaid free for 14 days! → Get.ZenMaid.com
 Book a Consulting call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/real-talk-on-marketing-experimentation-and-growing-smart/

What KPIs actually matter when you're running a cleaning business? There are a million different numbers you can track, so it's important that you spend your precious time on the ones that actually matter. Are you really short on leads, or do you just need to close better? Are clients dropping off because of price, quality, or something totally outside your control? Without tracking, you’ll never know.
In this solo episode, Stephanie shares how she tracks sales, marketing, and client KPIs at Serene Clean, as well as the exact numbers that keep her business growing past $1M in annual revenue. She talks about software she uses (from simple spreadsheets to automated dashboards in ClickUp) and breaks down what’s non-negotiable, what’s “nice to have,” and what tracking is 100% necessary to help you make smarter decisions. What You’ll Learn:— The 3 baseline KPIs every cleaning business must track (no excuses!)— Why “more leads” isn’t always the answer and what to measure instead— How to find out which marketing sources really bring in paying clients— The easiest way to calculate things like close rates, churn, client retention, and more— What tracking recurring clients gained vs. lost will tell you about your business's health— How Serene Clean tags, tracks, and analyzes clients for long-term growth (and why it's worked)Resources Mentioned:— Maid Summit (Free Training Event): https://www.maidsummit.com— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com/— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (free to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermindTry ZenMaid free for 14 days! Get.ZenMaid.com Book a Consulting call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/ Read the full transcript: [Link]

In this very special (and chaotic) episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners, we bring you poolside in Barcelona, Spain at our annual ZenMaid company retreat! 🇪🇸
 
Filthy Rich Cleaners host Stephanie Pipkin sits down with Amar Ghose, Founder and CEO of ZenMaid, and Maria Dorian, Founder of TaskAway VA and Co-Founder of Quality Driven Software, to play a fun game of Would You Rather, talk about their crazy cleaning business experiences, and more. From meth head cleaners to clients who like to micromanage you to hiring reliable, trustworthy staff, this episode covers it all! 🫣
 
📌 What We Talk About:
— If it's better to have consistent, drama-prone employees vs. drama-free, unreliable ones, and what trade-offs matter most
— Whether we'd prefer to lose a great cleaner with no notice than keep a mediocre one long-term
— The unexpected challenges of clients who micromanage our cleaners
— Why some high-performing employees might be red flags in disguise 🚩
— What to do when your team relies on personality over quality
— How to think about former employees starting their own cleaning companies (and when not to worry about it)
— Lessons from running a business without systems (and how to avoid learning them the hard way)
— What to prioritize when you’re short-staffed, burnt out, or stuck in chaos
— And so much more!
 
Resources Mentioned:
— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com/
— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (free): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind
 
💡 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: Get.ZenMaid.com
 
📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie:
https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
 
📖 Read the full transcript: [Link]

Learning how to manage inventory is one of the hardest parts of opening a cleaning business. It's difficult to forecast how much of each item you'll need, when you should anticipate running out, where to store your items, whether the client should supply certain things, and more — it can feel like a logistical nightmare. We've been there, and that's why this episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners focuses on effectively managing inventory and supplies. In this solo episode, Stephanie shares how Serene Clean handles inventory and supply management, and what has and hasn't worked for her team in the past. She gives advice to cleaning business owners at every stage, like those who are just starting out, and walks through her systems for restocking, laundry, expectations around supplies, and more!What You’ll Learn:— Why you should use a simple inventory checklist to avoid running out of cleaning supplies— The unexpected challenges of managing supplies when you're operating without an office— How Stephanie keeps multiple Serene Clean locations stocked using Google Sheets (and her team's help)— The importance of providing your cleaning techs with everything they need to succeed, while keeping budget in mind— Tips for managing the laundry headache and why having washer/dryer hookups could change your life— The one item you should always ask clients to supplyResources Mentioned:— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com/— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (free to join): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermindTry ZenMaid free for 14 days! Get.ZenMaid.com Read the full transcript: [Link]

Can you wear your heart on your sleeve and run a business at the same time? The answer is no, but that doesn't mean you can't still lead with compassion and care for your employees and clients 
In this episode of Filthy Rich Cleaners, Stephanie chats with Kimberley Crockett, the owner of Clean Keepers in Athens, Georgia. Kimberley shares how she started her cleaning business at the beginning of COVID — Spring 2020 — when the restaurant she bartended at full-time shut down. She had previously cleaned as a small side hustle and needed a new plan, and, amazingly, it took off!
Five years into her business, Kimberley joins the podcast to talk about the emotional side of cleaning business ownership, including how she balances compassion with leadership and how this business is all about the pursuit of helping others. They talk about Kimberley's experiences of leading with heart while also making the tough calls that come with managing employees and clients.
 What You’ll Learn:— How to lead with empathy while setting clear boundaries as a business owner— The role of compassion in client retention and employee satisfaction— Why being emotionally connected with your team leads to better service and a stronger company culture, but also when to draw a line between friend and boss— Why having the courage to help others, even when it’s not required, creates a memorable, positive impact
Resources Mentioned:— Maid Summit (Free Training Event): https://www.maidsummit.com— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com/— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (free): /zenmaidmastermind
 
Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: Get.ZenMaid.com
 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-s...
 
 Read the full transcript: [LINK]

Do you know any cleaning business owners who skip the mop completely and don't actually clean anything themselves? Many times, people start out as cleaners and work their way up, or open their own business entirely, but there are some people who start out with the intention of never personally doing any cleaning. This is when they turn to independent contractors (ICs) instead of full-time employees. On paper, it sounds great — flexible staffing, no payroll taxes, and no scrubbing toilets yourself. But what’s the reality of running your business this way, and can you actually do this for the long haul?
 
In this solo episode, Stephanie talks about the real challenges (and, more importantly, risks) of starting and growing a cleaning business without cleaning yourself and relying on ICs. She shares the three operational areas where IC-run companies often struggle most — training, quality control, and communication — and offers practical, logical, and legal (!) tips to keep your business running smoothly.
 
📌 What You’ll Learn:
— The biggest legal and operational challenges of running your cleaning business with independent contractors
— Why ICs can be great (speed and availability) but risky (insurance, liabilities, etc.)
— How to ensure training and quality control when you can’t “train” ICs yourself
— Ways to build in fill-in coverage for last-minute cancellations
— How to stay reliable so clients see the value in your company's pricing
— Communication systems that work when you can’t be on-call 24/7
 
Resources Mentioned:
— Maid Summit (Free Training Event): https://www.maidsummit.com
— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com/
— ZenMaid Mastermind Facebook Group (free): https://www.facebook.com/groups/zenmaidmastermind
 
💡 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days: Get.ZenMaid.com
 
📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/
🎙 Listen to the Podcast:
🎧 Spotify: [Link]
🎧 Apple Podcasts: [Link]
📖 Read the full transcript: [Link]