Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in general services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Luis Gomez, General Manager and Owner of Proclean, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Proclean is a Vancouver-based commercial and residential cleaning company that specializes in House Cleaning Service, Carpet Cleaning, Office Cleaning, Pressure Washing, and Window Washing. We serve multiple areas within Metro Vancouver, including: Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby, and Richmond.
Tell us about yourself
I am Luis Gomez, the owner of Proclean. Before starting Proclean, I was in banking. After a while, I decided to run my own business, following in my dad's footsteps. Owning a business has been a challenging but fulfilling process. I'd like to make new friends finding them around both employees and clients.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is the Proclean team. I am honour to lead a team of hard-working people. I am also proud to say that Proclean is fully accredited by the Better Business Bureau and has been rated among the top 3 cleaning service providers in Vancouver in 2022.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
The hardest thing about being a business owner is to run solo every aspect of the company. Being a hiring manager, operating manager, bookkeeper, marketing specialist, and at the same time, some roles you do better than others; some are very natural to you, but some you need to learn from scratch.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Analyze your skills. Running a small business is based on three pillars: Operating, Management, and Marketing. As an Operator, you need to understand all ins and outs of your business to be able to do all the jobs yourself. As a Manager, you need to lead and supervise employees, navigate time, and control finances. As a Marketing manager, you need to find the best way to sell your product to your customers. Ideally, you should be good at all of them, but in order to succeed, you have to have minimal.
- Be well-capitalized. In order to survive in the beginning, you need to have backup resources to run the business and support your life before it starts producing any money, such as a line of credit, second job, or business partner.
- Be flexible with your mind. Have a plan but be adaptive to the situation as you don't know what you are good at before you start doing it.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Dedication, patience, and a bit of luck are all you need to run a successful business.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://getproclean.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/proclean.corp.1
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-gomez-191797192/
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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