There's a version of this story where I'd been planning this for years. There's another where I bought a clipboard and a vacuum and figured it out from there. The truth is closer to the second.
In late 2024 I took the risk, and started Advanced Commercial Cleaning. I told myself I'd give it twelve months and see.
What I started with
A vacuum, a handful of chemicals and supplies. A list of potential leads I'd built up through previous employment. A basic no-brand trades polo. And one client, in Warragul who'd asked quietly, if I'd be willing to take them on if I ever started my own thing. (I was. They're still with us today.)
Everything else came from the standards I'd decided I'd never compromise on. Same crew per site. Quotes that go out the same day. Flag things before they become a problem, not after. None of those are revolutionary. They're just the things that I'd noticed only being done half-right at the most.
The first six months
The hardest part wasn't the cleaning. It was building trust with clients who had no reason yet to trust me.
Every quote I gave, every walkthrough, I did myself and with 100% passion. Every clean in those early days I was on site for. The early clients were patient with me figuring things out. They referred me to the next ones. That's the only reason ACC exists today.
One office manager from a Warragul business, one of the first three clients, told me six months in: "the thing I like is you actually want to know if something's wrong." That's stuck with me. It became the rule for everyone we hire now.
Working with our clients
A few of the names on our books, F45 Warragul, Select Office Choice, Warragul Sporting & Social Club, Elders Real Estate, came through that early referral chain. A couple found us cold. They're all still with us.
The thing I didn't expect about commercial cleaning is how many of the conversations have nothing to do with cleaning. You're around someone's business at the end of their day, every week, for years. You hear about staff changes. New buildings. Renovations. Slow months. You become part of the rhythm of how the business runs.
I take that seriously. We're not a contractor showing up to tick a box. We're part of the place.
What's next
The plan for the next twelve months is small, at least on paper. Hire and properly train two more cleaners so we can take on a few more sites without dropping the standard on the existing ones. Bring on a regular schedule for medical and childcare clients (different compliance, different chemistry, different rhythm, worth getting right). Get our processes tight enough that I can step away for a week and trust everything ticks over.
The bigger plan, the one I don't usually say out loud, is to be the cleaner West Gippsland businesses don't have to think about. The boring one. The one that's just there, doing the job properly, year after year.
That's the only target.
Ash