Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jordan Waterman, Owner and Founder of OCD Home, located in Orange, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
OCD Home is a professional residential and commercial cleaning company specializing in carpet, rug, tile & grout, stone, hardwood, & upholstery care. I have also started a Restoration branch focusing on water, fire, & wind damage as well as mold remediation.
We are a family-owned and operated business with highly trained, uniformed, IICRC certified experts utilizing a unique signature cleaning process using green-seal products, the most advanced equipment on the market, and specialized techniques to create the most healthy and thoroughly clean in the industry.
We service every city in Orange County, CA, and are a standout leader in our area. Our clients range from homeowners & renters to property managers & realtors, to commercial property owners, and anyone in between—we clean homes and properties large or small with high to low incomes.
Tell us about yourself
I've been in the Cleaning & Restoration industry for seven years and started OCD Home in 2016. I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit and started a handful of different business ventures throughout my late teens and 20s. I began in this industry specifically by working for a couple of other companies and enjoyed the work but also saw the possibilities in the services, so after a short time, I jumped on the opportunity and decided to open my own company.
Our goal is to enrich lives by creating cleaner, healthier homes while providing an unparalleled and innovative level of service to our customers, both in the customer interaction and the work itself. I'm highly motivated to grow the business into the largest cleaning and restoration business in Orange County that operates at the highest level in every aspect, from our customer service experience to scheduling & communication, to results that are second to none and a brand that is trusted and recognized as the leader.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I, and we as a company, have had numerous milestones along the way, but the first big step was transitioning from an owner-operator to hiring technicians, which allowed me to work on the business instead of in it.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
There's a lot of stress in general that comes with business ownership, from finances to operations. I've personally found one of the hardest parts, at least starting out is marketing and understanding how to maintain a consistent influx of work. If there's no work coming in, it doesn't matter how great the rest of your company is set up; it will fail.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Create a business plan. It seems like you can skip this step, but it's so vital to understand the structure you plan for your business, your budgeting, your target client base, marketing efforts, etc. Have it all laid out, so you know exactly what you're getting into and how you're going to attack each section. Setup procedures. Do it for every part of the business. Write manuals and guides, make videos, try to automate anything that can be, and do whatever you can to give your customers a seamless experience no matter who you hire or what step of the process they are at.
- Business ownership is not a 9 to 5. You don't get to clock out and forget about work. You have to eat, sleep, and breathe your business. Everything is reliant on you at the end of the day. Finances, client issues, employee livelihoods, equipment failures, and repairs, the list goes on endlessly. You have to be mentally prepared for all scenarios. Also, if you want to retire, you have to plan for it—no 401k or pensions.
- Reiterating my hardest part of the business... MARKETING! I can't express enough how important it is to have a mapped-out marketing plan and always try new avenues. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket because if that basket ever fails, so do you.
- Just don't give up. Every mistake and failure is the biggest opportunity for growth and learning and will eventually help you in the long run.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
My wife and I are extremely grateful and blessed to have been able to build a business with endless opportunities, and we thank God for every step of the way, through the hard and the good times.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://carpetcleanerorangecounty.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OCDHOMEINC/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ocdhomeinc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ocdhomeinc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ocdhomeinc/
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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