Entrepreneur hoping to take Two Men & A Vacuum nationwide
Cody Warren combined an affinity for scrubbing, dusting, washing and, of course, vacuuming with an insatiable desire to pioneer new businesses to create cleaning company Two Men & A Vacuum.
He estimates that the original Columbus branch will generate $1.5 million in revenue this year, and the new Cleveland branch will generate $250,000.
Eventually, Warren wants to plant Two Men franchises all over the nation. The inventive ticketing system and quality-control personnel it brings to the table will help.
Q: Why did you start Two Men & A Vacuum?
A: I had done some entrepreneurial ventures and mentored under a pretty successful entrepreneur, and I wanted to do something on my own. So I started with an apparel company, and we did well and saw a lot of success, just serial entrepreneurship. I saw a need for a more wellbranded cleaning company — more innovative, somebody that took an approach that was different from others. So I came up with the model and the name and the branding, and we launched with the expectation to franchise nationwide eventually.
Q: What does the Two Men & A Vacuum ticketing system look like in practice?
A: Charles Penzone, all their grand salons, are our newest client. They love the quality that we bring, but one thing they also love is our ticketing system … because their facilities manager — they have (only) one — he’s running all over the city fixing light bulbs and whatever else, but he’s also getting calls right and left from salon managers like, ‘The cleaning company forgot to do this, forgot to do that.’ That’s a nightmare. ... Now, everyone has their own log-in. They log in and submit a ticket. A lot of our newer, more innovative companies just love it.
Q: How do you keep employees accountable?
A: Our “dirt specialists” download an app, and then they check in and we can see them via GPS. Internally, obviously it helps us for accountability and how we bill and all those things, so accounting just gets in, and they see what time (the specialist) spends at your house, and they bill you accordingly. But also on the flip side, it protects us because if a client says, ‘Well, this came up missing,’ we can tell them we weren’t even there during that time. Third, it gives the client the opportunity to know where their specialist is. They get an email saying that their specialist is arriving and ‘here is your appointment,’ and then upon completion, they get a survey that rates how (their specialist does).
Q: How do you make sure quality is maintained?
A: We have quality-control folks, and that’s all they do ... quality control. We assign them to accounts. We have somebody over residential who oversees the whole residential side ... It’s given us the ability to keep a keen eye on quality. The biggest thing in this industry is complacency.
Q: Are you focusing more on residential or commercial growth right now?
A: I just had our marketing team run numbers yesterday, and last month, we had 9,000 impressions on the residential side, so we’re getting searched more, noticed more, Google ranking and so forth. I think that it’ll balance out.
As we grow, another Penzone account tomorrow may not be ideal because it takes a lot to get one of those large accounts up and running, a lot of equipment and logistics.
Q: In the beginning, was Two Men & A Vacuum really just two men?
A: It really was. I live in German Village, and I’m an avid runner and marathoner and Iron Man. So they all see me out, and I’d say, ‘Hey, I started a cleaning company,’ so I had six or seven clients right off the bat. I just serviced those clients and then hired a partner to help, who then became a financial partner. Then we hired a third. We built the company on residential.
Q: What challenges is your business currently facing?
A: It’s going well, but as we all know, it’s very hard to find and retain good employees.
Q: Now that you have a different role, do you miss being a “dirt specialist”?
A: I do miss cleaning at times, but I just do it at home.