I'm from Michoacan, Mexico, but I've been living in Seattle, WA since 2004.
Since I arrived to The United States I held many different jobs: I've been a landscaper, a dishwasher, a cook, a chef, a construction worker, & even a car salesman. You name it, I've probably done it. But in 2015, I decided to take a chance on something completely new - starting a cleaning business with my wife, Sandra....
How I went from working as a car salesman, to restaurant owner, to bankruptcy, to running a 7 figure cleaning business.
Wanna hear a story that has its ups & downs, but ultimately leads to massive success? Then buckle up & listen closely. This is the tale of how I went from being in a total financial disaster, to filing for bankruptcy, & then to generating $6 million in total sales in just a few short years.
It all started back in 2015 when I was working as a car salesman at the local Ford dealer. My wife, who was working for another cleaning company at the time, called me one day to tell me just how much money they were making. She suggested we start our own cleaning business, & at first, I didn't take her seriously. However, deep down, I had always dreamt of financial freedom & providing a better life for my family.
When I got home from the car dealer that night...The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea of starting our own cleaning company… And so we did & called it Queen Bee Cleaning Service
I have to tell you...starting a cleaning business was not easy at all because of the way we did it. Lots of bad things happened to my wife & I. We had no experience in the industry, no blueprint, no idea where this was going to go & to make matters worse, I had no clue what I was doing!
After a year of operating the cleaning business, just when we thought we were getting the hang of things, I received a piece of mail from the office of Labor & Industries stating that I owed them $12,800 because I had misclassified the employees as subcontractors. I was devastated, & my dreams of running a successful cleaning business were about to go up in smoke. Luckily, my brother Fernando came to my rescue & lent me the money I needed to pay...
But I wasn't about to give up that easily, determined to turn things around, I started educating myself regarding the labor laws, I learned how to pay the employees correctly, how to pay payroll taxes, & workers compensation, with this newfound knowledge, my cleaning business started taking off.
In August of 2016, the cleaning business was doing well, & I decided to invest in a Mexican restaurant & a grocery store thinking it would triple our income. It seemed like a great idea at first, but boy was I wrong. We ended up losing all our savings, maxing out our credit cards, & working seven days a week, stress was through the roof, & the money just wasn't coming in... After a year and a half of struggling, I had to close the restaurant & the store, got sued for illegally streaming a boxing fight in the restaurant, got behind on payroll taxes & got the IRS involved, & lawsuits from creditors & landlords started pouring in, It was a nightmare & I had no other option but to file for bankruptcy.
The only good thing is that I was able to keep my cleaning business because there were no assets the bank could take. However I still had a $80K IRS in payroll taxes debt I couldn't take it to bankruptcy…
But even in the midst of all that chaos, I refused to give up & at that very instant I drew a line in the sand & decided to change my life forever. I knew that in order to get different results I had to do something different. I scoured the Internet for answers, took many online courses, looked for mentors who could help me turn things around.
I hired a CPA to help get out of the IRS mess. I started learning my numbers, using budgets for myself & my company, I began delegating, I hired my first Virtual Assistant to help answering the phone, I started systematizing my business: created steps for everything, so that my Virtual Assistants could operate the business without me, we also developed a training system for the cleaners.
Thanks to the cleaning business, I bounced back in just under a year, I was able to pay back the IRS. I now work only 4 hours per week on the business, I have control over my time, I have quality time with my wife & kids, get to travel whenever I want, knowing that my business keeps running without me.
Remember, despite my success today, I'm really no different than you.
The moral of the story? Anybody can start a successful cleaning business if you’re ambitious & willing to put in the work And it doesn’t matter what your background is, where you are coming from, or your education level. All you need to do is invest in yourself! Look for experts, people who are already where you want to be, it will be the best investment you can make.
So that, my friends, is how I was able to start a cleaning company, a restaurant, a grocery store, to file for bankruptcy & pay back the IRS $80K & come back & make $6 Millions in sales with my cleaning business.
If you are that person who is struggling in a 9-6 job & feel stuck, I want you to know that if I can do it, you can do it too! Take full responsibility, no 50% or 80%, but 100% & you will succeed. Only then.. You will be ready to get the results you desire & live the life you want.
What started out as a simple idea to create a cleaning company, evolved into a multitude of different opportunities.
The Inception of the idea to produce online training videos for cleaners was just the tip of the iceberg.
People started approaching me for a personal coaching program, & sought our guidance to execute our business model in their cleaning business.
After numerous requests, we decided to take the plunge. Thus, the 7Figure Cleaners coaching program was born.
I never envisioned extending my knowledge & offer one-on-one coaching, but my sincere objective has always been to assist entrepreneurs in reaching their potential & attaining the perks of being a business owner.
I actively search for methods to optimize my cleaning business & also learning new business management skills.
In my opinion, "Self development & discipline triumphs every time," & it is a philosophy that I live & work by.
Thanks for reading my story, your support through our online courses, coaching program, and software subscriptions help us to continue to innovate & bring better training & better content to the industry.
As a last tip, always remember this: In the current age of information, ignorance is a choice.
That's all for now - I'll catch you on the next one!
Cristobal Mondragon