Cleaning Business Life
Cleaning Business Life, is a weekly podcast co-hosted by Shannon Miller, founder of Klean Freaks University, and Jamie Runco, CEO of Above All Cleaning Company, based in Northern California.
This podcast is dedicated to helping cleaning business owners at every stage, from startup to scaling to 7 figures. Whether you're a new entrepreneur or an established business owner, you'll discover proven strategies, systems, and methods that will help you streamline operations, increase profitability, and grow your business.
Each episode dives deep into essential topics such as:
- Effective business systems and structures that drive growth.
- Product recommendations and tips on using the right tools for the job.
- Expert interviews with industry leaders sharing insights and success stories.
- Q&A sessions where we answer your pressing business questions.
- The **latest trends** shaping the cleaning industry today.
Tune in weekly to level up your cleaning business and stay ahead of the competition!
For additional resources, including Kim's exclusive real estate cleaning packages, visit her website at [purevergreen.com](http://purevergreen.com).
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Cleaning Business Life
CBL Episode #97-Bed Bug Battles and Cleaning Business Success
What happens when a simple summer camp trip turns into a nightmare for a family and a cleaning business? Join us as we recount Sarah's harrowing tale of a bed bug infestation that not only disrupted her home but created a ripple effect in her professional life. This episode is packed with essential knowledge to help you recognize, manage, and prevent these persistent pests—while emphasizing critical business strategies to handle these situations effectively.
We'll explore the challenges cleaning businesses face in navigating bed bug treatment services, focusing on the importance of cross-contamination prevention and precise pricing. Learn how to implement protocols like using mattress covers, performing thorough inspections, and determining whether to clean before or after pest treatments. These steps are crucial for protecting both your clients and your reputation.
We’ll dive into practical advice for crafting airtight contracts that address cross-contamination risks and the nuances of pricing post-treatment cleanings. Discover the importance of requiring proof-of-treatment documentation, and see how this process parallels the meticulousness of crime scene cleaning. From understanding bed bug lifecycles to adhering to local regulations, this episode provides actionable insights to help you set competitive rates while ensuring top-notch service.
Whether you're a seasoned cleaning professional or expanding into new markets, you'll come away with the tools to turn bed bug-related challenges into opportunities for growth and enhanced professionalism. Don’t miss this opportunity to prepare your business for these unexpected invaders while safeguarding your operations and client trust.
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I'm Shannon Miller, your host and cleaning business coach, with over a decade of hands-on industry experience. That's 15 years for 2025. And I'm also joined by my incredible co-host, jamie Runco. Together, we bring you real-life stories from cleaning business owners and guests who have been in the trenches just like you. You'll leave with small, actionable steps that you can implement today to boost your profits and simplify your cleaning business and your life. If you're ready to turn your hustle into a thriving, sustainable business, you are in the right place. Let's dive in.
Speaker 1:Imagine this You've just finished a long day of work. You're ready to collapse into the bed and to get some much needed rest. But as you drift off into your heavenly bliss, hidden evaders emerge Tiny, relentless creatures that live in the shadows and feast on you while you sleep. Yes, we're talking about bedbugs, the uninvited guests that no one wants but everyone fears, myself included. Let me tell you about Sarah, a busy mom, small business owner, who found herself in a nightmare when her kids came back from summer camp. She noticed red, tiny bites on their arms and thought it was just mosquitoes, until she saw the movement on the seams of her mattress. Sarah didn't just have a pest problem. She had a full-blown bed bug infestation. Overwhelmed, she called a cleaning service, only to learn they weren't equipped to handle the issue. She needed a pest control individual and then a cleaning business. It cost her thousands to treat, not to mention the mental stress of worrying if they'd come back. If you're in the cleaning business or you've ever encountered bed bugs yourself, you know how serious and costly this can be.
Speaker 1:Today we're diving deep into the world of bed bugs. What are they, how do they spread and, most importantly, how you can, as a cleaning professional or homeowner, effectively deal with them. I can't hear. Recording in progress. Welcome here. Recording in progress, welcome. Hello, hello, hello, miss jamie, it's.
Speaker 2:it's good to see you a long time. No, see 2025. Let's do it. Gosh, there's been a lot of uh talk about, um, about that we've been seeing in the groups with critters right, yeah, critters that we're talking about are what? Bedbugs?
Speaker 1:bedbugs. There is that saying that says don't let the bedbugs bite, and it used to freak me out as a kid. They would always, you know, sleep tight, don't let the bug bugs bite. And you'd be like, well, why would you say that? Right, I don't want bed bugs. And then they always show you the up close, like magnified, image of this thing that's the size of an apple seed, and you're like, oh, my god, all right that's a good description of it, and they do look exactly like an apple seed a mature adult bed bug looks like an apple seed and it's a little bit.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit red in color um and there is.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of connotation with it. There's a little bit of shame that comes with it. There's a lot of things that happen with it, but I wanted to come today and speak with Jamie about this Because it could happen to any of us. I personally have had bed bugs. We think we got it from a babysitter and it was. It was. It's still traumatized. It's been like it was 2016, 2015. It's been almost 10 years. But if you say the word bed bug, I go into hyper overdrive and I like want to check the fringes of my mattress. I want to do all these weird, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just think I couldn't agree with you more. And you know what this, this, this is For me. This would be, you know, not for everybody, because you obviously have to have the stomach and or the proper ppe for it. Um, this is a good uh service to be able to add on to into your cleaning business as an extra source of income?
Speaker 1:um, definitely is an extra source of income, so it's something to consider. Um, like things and you don't know that's how we got them. Um, and then you start to see little red bites on your body, like on your arms, usually cause your arms hang over the edge of the mattress. They usually hang out in between the box spring and the mattress. Um, I recommend personally that you have mattress zipped, mattress covers for each mattress. In your house.
Speaker 1:We actually change ours out annually and we flip our beds at least one time a year just so that we can check things out to make sure that there are no extra surprises in there. So that can be addressed right away. There are several ways to treat bed bugs and the biggest question I guess we get asked is you know, do I clean before or after the pest control? People come and the stipulation with that is that they have to have it professionally done. There is no DIY when it comes to bed bugs. Don't chance it, because if you don't clean your equipment the right way, you could actually contaminate every single one of your clients in a short amount of time, and that's just bad for business.
Speaker 2:It really is, and I wouldn't even house the same equipment in the same atmosphere of your other equipment. Yes, you do have to probably take it and you know there's a lot of steps that you'll need to do before you even put that equipment back into your vehicle. Right, not going to, you're not going to be able to see it right away If you're, if it's, you're transferring it, right, right, so how do we check for ourselves? How do we check ourselves to see if you've been in a house, they have bed bugs. The client just told you oh, by the way, I really need this done. We have bed bugs. Right, how do we check and see? You know, a lot of people might not like that. That's kind of disrespectful. What are we looking for?
Speaker 1:You want to. Sometimes you'll get people who are just flat out honest and say look, I have bed bugs. We think we have bedbugs and I threw down some Dermescus earth. I can't remember the exact pronunciation of that word off the top of my head because I have not slept very much today. But there is no DIY when it comes to bedbugs. So they need to be honest with you. If you cleaned a whole house and they said, oh, by the way, I have bed bugs, you could actually sue them. Um, not a position you want to put yourself in.
Speaker 1:So the best way, the best course of action, is to ask them ahead of time, and I'm almost ready to add in a clause to my paperwork. It says bed, but you know it is your responsibility to notify us in advance of any bed bug infestation. So you'll find them a lot and we have a lot of transition houses for drug rehabs here. So everybody comes together and everybody comes from different backgrounds and that place that I always ask first before we go and clean them. I would love for them to be all in a contract and get regular cleaning. For some reason it never happens. I don't know why. And they really do. All of them need monthly service, but it never happens and it's frustrating. And so by the time the cleaner, the cleaning business owner, is made aware of the situation, it's in dire straits and they can't. And some of them are state run, some of them are private. So if they're state run, there's a criteria that they have to follow, with an X amount of days or they lose their license. So make sure that you are putting that in your paperwork and that you're being upfront with them. And they have to have it professionally treated. And what that means is, you know, without using names, there's the car with the mouse ears on it, or there's several other people who are in pest control that will come in and treat the bed bug situation.
Speaker 1:That's the chemical method. The other method is to heat the house. I'm not a fan of heating the house because, ironically, they actually breed more in higher temperatures. So if you keep your house at 80 degrees, the more light. If you had bed bugs they would actually breed more than if you had regular. So I don't understand the concept of heating the house to a certain temperature where they die. I guess it's the theory of throwing all your gear in the trunk and then hoping you know, throwing it in a bag, putting it in your trunk and then hoping they all die. So make sure that you are asking as a question on your intake form, you know, is there a bed bug situation? You don't have to say, I know you have bed bugs, you better tell me. It's just like. Hey, I just have to ask this as a formality, right about, because it's it's become so frequent. I've had, legitimately, I've had, eight calls this year. Normally I get one every other year but yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maybe, maybe, yeah, I haven't, I've never even had one, I haven't had one yet.
Speaker 1:So if you're, if you're like dumpster diving or you're picking up stuff that you absolutely love, you need to make sure that, whatever it is you're doing, you leave it outside in the sun for a while and hopefully the elements won't get to it so that it can whatever's in there can die. I would not take in, like anytime you go to an apartment building, a good indication that they have bed bugs is that they have 27 mattresses all out by the trash. Can they have a bed bug problem? Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:If you have kids going off to college.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's how you tell if that apartment. Because you know my son, he went down to Phoenix to go to college and we drove around back I, he went down to Phoenix to go to college and we drove around back. I'm like you can't live here and he's like why? I'm like they have bedbugs. So you're traumatized from your experience. Yeah, and then when he came back home, I'm like you have to put it all in a bag and leave it out in the sun. I don't, don't bring it in the house. So it can happen. It can happen. I've seen bedbugs travel in the movie theater, where there was a whole episode here where someone had bedbugs and they didn't know and then they sat on the chair and the next person sat down and they got bedbugs that way, which is really rare. It's not normal, um, but usually it's from dumpster diving.
Speaker 2:We're buying, yeah well, we call it we used to call it dumpster diving, but it's also people that leave their stuff to the thrift stores. You'll see whatever is out there on the thrift store Woo, I'm going to go and get that. And you just picked up a bed bug. It can happen. Yeah, a bed bug, um, yeah, uh. Steam, a steam cleaner that heats up. I I I've seen that being offered in some of the some of these cleaning business owners. They have, um, which is an extra charge, by the way, to use a steamer. Um, if I'm busting out my steamer, my price goes up just to bust it out 125 bucks. But I've seen people using you can do steam cleaning your mattress.
Speaker 1:They have the vacuum attachments as well. I would not. If you're not fluent in the life cycle of a bed bug and you don't know what you're looking for and you haven't actually seen them or understand what's going on, it's not your opportunity to test out the theory in someone's house. I would get some experience. First. Educate yourself, don't there it's. It's an infestation of a parasite that you.
Speaker 2:It's unpleasant to have to deal with and it can be expensive, so um yeah, you can use, just take the whole house and throw, you know, catch it on fire. Just about we almost did. I was just like it's insane. I've seen people I now I personally have not had them, but I've seen friends. This is whenever I lived in Denver. I I seen the. There was a. It was almost an epidemic. You would drive by and the row after row of streets with their uh mattresses out right and just big, huge piles with uh and they were wrapped double, double wrapped in a garbage bag.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all their stuff just thrown out right and it has to sit out in the sun because it has to reach a certain temperature so that they will die. Um, so typically the protocol is you. You ask it on your intake form and if they say yay, then you say okay, how you had it professionally treated. And if they say, well, I did it myself, that's mistake number one. I we don't go in anyone's home, I don't care what they say I don't care what sob story they tell me, it has to be professionally treated.
Speaker 1:And how you make sure that happens is they show you the receipt from the bug guy, a certificate, right, it has it professionally treated. And there's a life cycle, because, according to the paperwork I pulled off the Internet, these guys can live four to six months.
Speaker 2:Adults and they're very. I mean, it's just, it's not.
Speaker 1:They can reproduce 200 to 500 eggs in their lifetime. That's a lot of bed bugs. So they thrive in temperatures of 70 to 90 degrees. Cooler temperatures can slow their growth and reproduction. So make sure that you know what you're doing so that you're not getting yourself in a whole can of worms. So what happens if you send someone to a house and they said oh, thanks for cleaning, we were so glad to get rid of those bed bugs and your cleaning tech goes?
Speaker 1:For those of you who are not watching my face just did the whole eyebrow that's when you have to do damage control and that cleaning tech would have to, depending on your operation systems and how you do your thing, have to. Depending on your, your operation systems and how you do your thing, that clean tech cannot go into another house until their gear is sanitized and disinfected. So that means that they have to bag everything up at first, and you know, for those of you down in Phoenix, you just have to wait for one summer day for this to happen, because it's freaking hot down there. But you would. You would bag everything up and you would let it sit out in the sun for 24, 48 hours and then you would take everything out. Everything has to be, all of the nooks and crannies, it all has to be sanitized. I'm talking your vacuum as well, another cleaning kit and hopefully it's not contaminated the car, so they might have to actually park the car in the heat and get a different car.
Speaker 1:I mean, when you really start to think about the cross-contamination potential, it's huge. So that's when you get the customer on the phone and you already have the clause in your paperwork and when they didn't disclose it, you're going to ding them and it's going to be a big inconvenience because that person, the cleaning tech, couldn't get the second house. Now they're without gear for three days or two days. You had to rearrange the second house for the cleaning tech so they're upset right. So there's this whole dynamic of safety and protocol for bedbugs. So you have to have that clause in your paperwork. You have to follow the protocol. Don't skip that step because you could contaminate the second cows and then, like it doesn't take them very long to hatch I believe it's like after they hatch, it's what? Three days, two days.
Speaker 2:I see that it is I have over here. So bites are small red itchy welts on the skin and lines or clusters, fecal spots, dark spots on the sheets, mattresses, walls, bed bug droppings.
Speaker 1:Right, and it says they hatch in six to 10 days. Right, and it says they hatch in six to 10 days. So you actually wouldn't know if you contaminated the second client for six to 10 days after. But you would know that if they were treating for bed bugs, because they would tell you by the way, we treat you for bed bugs. So they have to show you the paperwork to provide proof and there's a whole cycle. That happens because they hatch every six to 10 days. So the bug person is going to want to come back roughly every 10 days to retreat the areas to prevent the larvae hatching. So that's how that works. When we had bud bugs we had to sign up for a year of service because I was obsessive and traumatized from the whole time. I like tell my husband, like you're going to pay for it, it's just, we go no, we're not going to get the small package, we're getting the deluxe. It is laughed. I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no. So and it's still traumatizing.
Speaker 2:No, yes, it is.
Speaker 1:That's something that you have to do.
Speaker 1:So, after they do that, so that what will happen is they'll come in and treat, they'll kill the bugs, and then they'll want a cleaning company to come in every 10 days roughly to clean afterwards Do not do the follow-up cleaning until they can provide you proof each and every time that they've had treatment.
Speaker 1:And then you have to take your spare kits over there to clean and then you're going to bag up everything, you're going to let it sit in the sun and then you're going to pull everything out and you're going to clean and sanitize it, and you're going to take your clothes off in your backyard and hope your neighbor doesn't see you and you're going to let those clothes sit out in the sun for a day and then you're going to either, depending on how your mind works, you're either going to take that down to your washer and wash it on hot and sanitize, or you're going to go to the laundromat and sanitize that and then you're going to like have them spray out your car, because there's this whole like obsessiveness that happens and it gets that.
Speaker 2:It gets pricey. So you got to be diligent and you really have to be on it. It's this tops having lice right lice is traumatizing too this because it's so hard to get, so much harder to get rid of, uh you can't comb them out of your hair.
Speaker 2:That's for sure it's, and yeah, yes, you have to. You know, wash everything with lice and everything and it just. But this is uh, like I said, uh gosh. Back in the early 2000 they even did a news article. This was in denver, colorado. Whenever I lived there. They were taking news cameras downtown Denver and showing row after row after house after house of people that were just infested. Oh my gosh, it just like a domino. So it was uh, it was yeah, I can only imagine. Yeah, it was a, it was a news article. I'll have to try, and I would have to try and find that um and bad bugs don't just hit messy houses or super clean houses.
Speaker 2:They hit any house, they don't care they're not selective on where they four to six weeks, right, they double population, double under favorable conditions, which is, you know, they double in size every 16 days. According to my. This is crazy, according to my chat. Gpt, gpt.
Speaker 1:So that's how you would address the whole bed bug situation. Now let's talk about price. You guys know I'm passionate about you guys making bank for every job you do. You know I'm passionate about you leaving money on the table. A job like this when they say that they've had a bed bug infestation is $0.75 to $1.25 per square foot. It's almost as labor intensive as a nicotine cleaning and there's a lot of exposure you're giving yourself. Potentially, there's a lot of exposure you're giving your other clients, your other cleaning techs, your family. You got to make it worth your time and then, when they choke about the dollar 25 per square foot price, there's a lot. When you start to think about all the little steps and all the obsessiveness that you have to have to treat this so that you don't bring home bed bugs is over the top. So it's not for the faint of heart.
Speaker 1:I've seen people do steam. I've seen the roller vacuum attachments. I've not had any. I actually I believe I have one somewhere. The kids were playing with it, cause it's it's like a cylinder and it has holes in it and you're supposed to run it. It rolls across. I've never seen it pick up anything, ever, right.
Speaker 1:So I'm not sure what that dynamic is. Sorry, my dog is having a hack. I need to give him some heart medicine. What that dynamic is? Sorry, my dog is having a hack, I need to give him some heart medicine. But just be really careful. If you decide that you are going to take this on, it's not for the faint of heart. It's another add on service. It's not regular cleaning. So make sure that you are very clear and that you know oh, I just need a regular cleaning. It's just like I want you to come in and clean, but I want you to do all the deep cleaning items. Well, need a regular cleaning. It's just like I want you to come in and clean, but I want you to do all the deep cleaning items.
Speaker 1:Well then, that's a deep clean. This is a bed bug infestation and it has to be handled accordingly.
Speaker 2:I would almost go to the well look, you know, because I'm living in California, everything has to be certified, I you know. So I would, I would almost say, check with your state laws and make sure that you are allowed to touch that, Because some states you know, just to be a terminator, yeah, a terminator.
Speaker 1:It might be that you have to have a commercial license, yeah, or something along those lines. I would definitely check with your area because you don't want to get dinged later by the state. So make sure that you understand what the dynamics are, and we've all. What was the name of that movie? It wasn't Little Miss Sunshine, it was the movie about the two girls who became maids and they started to do crime scene cleanup and they didn't dispose of the things the right way and they, like you know they, you know they just did it for quick cash.
Speaker 1:It was cleaner, yeah there's a movie I have the movie somewhere in my repertoire with like 3000 DVDs, and there is a movie and it was two girls who started a cleaning company and they started to do crime scene cleanup. After you know, people would pass away and they didn't know what to do with the stuff so they started throwing it out. Right? So minor detail for like super cheap money. It was like three or four hundred bucks and they're like this is the best money we ever made. So don't be one of those. Make sure that you're charging your worth, because there are a lot of steps and a lot of nuances to bed bugs and making sure that you understand what you're getting yourself into.
Speaker 1:It's just like with crime scene cleaning. It takes a special type of person to be able to do that. It takes a special type of person to be able to successfully do a move out cleaning. It takes practice and perseverance. Crime scene cleaning probably will be something that I never do. I don't have the stomach for it. You'll see me over there on the side in the back right. I'm weird.
Speaker 2:I'm so weird, I and I love that stuff I love it. I, I love, uh, the money, that's what I. I love the money that it generates, not just for me but for, um, my cleaning techs and their families too. But again, you have to have a.
Speaker 2:You know that's for another topic down the road, but you, you, you have to have the proper employees for such not everybody can handle that, yeah exactly I have one that she's a great lead, but she told me never to call her if I were to start doing that, which I I done, but I have to be certified again in California.
Speaker 1:Make sure that you have to. You know whatever permits and licensing you have to have.
Speaker 2:You have to make sure and look at it. Yeah, make sure you're.
Speaker 1:But that's, that's the gist of the the bed bugs. So you, you know, don't let the bug bugs bite. Um, make sure that's professionally treated. No diy there. And I know people will try to do it and they'll try to make you feel embarrassed because you're not accepting whatever they're trying to throw your way. Just, you know danger, don't go forward. And then obviously you know I'm a big fan and% deposit on day of booking to secure your spot on the schedule. Make sure that they're signing a contract. Do I have a bed bug contract? No, I do not With AI. I'm sure you could go to chat GPT and figure that all out and get there.
Speaker 2:I would imagine. Yeah, no, I think I'm going to. No, I'm going to incorporate that.
Speaker 1:Yep, right, you might not even need it because you're pretty rural, but I've had like eight. I'm like, oh, that's a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, you're starting to grow a little bit down there, aren't you yeah?
Speaker 1:Right, they haven't come out and given us the official because there's a big battle over water. Right, it used to be a law and everyone's kind of shirked the law that you had to have so many acres of water per person that lived in the area for a whole 12 month span. They've thrown that out the window and have amended it. So now, like legitimately, in my neighborhood, which was built in the 90s, there is the subdivision called Granville Well, there's five stages. We're building number five on the next street up, which is going to increase the traffic, but it's all of the landscaping, I mean all of this water. Everyone's like how can we? We've had so many people and I'm not shirking the idea of growth, I love it, but on the same level, it needs to be responsible growth and we've had since 2020, they said that like 15,000 people have moved into my area. That's a lot that is a lot.
Speaker 1:That's a that's for yeah, they built this whole other subdivision. It's just crazy.
Speaker 2:You almost can't say well, I, you was from a small town, you were a small town girl.
Speaker 1:I am no longer from a small town. Yeah, it's a it's. It's an interesting dynamic for sure on all of that stuff. Yeah, so we just wanted to give you some insight on bed bugs and hopefully some guidance. If you have any questions, reach out.
Speaker 2:And if you guys have any questions in regards to that like, like or or anything always can reach out to either shannon and I. Um, good to answer them. Yeah, we look forward to talking to you guys, definitely.
Speaker 1:And before I forget the algorithms love, love, love. When you give us reviews and downloader episodes, it actually puts us higher in the ranking, especially if you're on Apple, it says, hey, this podcast is meaningful, so if you guys could leave us a review, we would love that. Yes, great Talk to you soon. Bye.
