Entrepreneur Friday: The Green Maid, Inc.
WHO: Angela Vanegas
WHAT: The Green Maid, Inc.
WHERE: Chicago, IL
WHEN: 2007
HOW: Like many women today, Angela Vanegas found herself struggling to manage the business world and motherhood. A seasoned corporate professional, wife, and mother of two, Vanegas was nothing short of busy, but she and her husband rarely had the time – or the energy – to clean their Chicago home. “We decided to hire a well-known, local cleaning service to help out,” Vanegas says, “but we were sorely disappointed by both the quality of cleaning and the customer service.” Aside from her quality concerns, however, Vanegas was also concerned with the fumes from all of the cleaning products being sprayed around her children.
This concern, as well as her hectic schedule, led Vanegas and her husband to launch The Green Maid, Inc. – a cleaning service that uses only EPA certified, environmentally-friendly products, uses high-quality cloths and equipment for a detailed clean, and gets to know the needs of each and every customer. After quitting her corporate job, the pair invested $35,000 of their savings to launch the business. Vanegas was confident, however, that her corporate experiences would benefit her in the new venture – “I had experience managing corporate budgets, handling vendors, and working with senior level executives,” says Vanegas. “I distinctly recall thinking, ‘I could be doing this for myself, and growing my own enterprise.’”
The business has also allowed Vanegas a more flexible schedule, which allows her to spend more time with her children – something she missed when she was commuting each day. Their family-oriented attitude also inspired their customer service philosophy – something Vanegas attributes to their success since the company’s launch. “We just knew, instinctively, that using the right products, we could not only fill a niche to provide a green alternative to the house cleaning industry, but that we could surpass our competitors purely in the quality of service delivery — green or otherwise.”
Since their launch in the fall of 2007, the business has managed to grow from three employees to 20, and 12 clients to over 1,000. The Green Maid, Inc. brought in over $300,000 in 2009 – and has done it all “the old fashioned way, through good hard work, excellent product, and steady, referral-based growth,” says Vanegas. In the coming year, they hope to provide a new, more personalized service to their higher-end clientele, and expand both their residential and corporate services.
HER ADVICE: “Stay agile,” Vanegas says. “By preparing and staying positive, you can turn on a dime as necessary, and give the customer what they see as valuable.”
