With the huge success of the ever growing ‘share-economy’, for customers it means they can get a professional service on-demand at a time that suits, while providers get to be their own boss, have a self-managed work-life balance, are better off financially and in many cases, have a steady income or extra disposable spending money.
At Helpling, the service providers can range from independent cleaning businesses, working Mums, semi-retired individuals or University students all with plenty of previous cleaning experience. The mediated cleaning partners come in many wonderful forms but all share the same high-quality cleaning expertise, which we carefully cross-check. We’re finding more and more cleaners signing up to earn a side income that works with their busy lives. Let’s be honest, we all clean to some extent – some of us even clean before the cleaner comes! Find out what being a self-employed cleaner is really like, what it takes to make the cut and why it became so popular, as we share with you our interview with Helpling extraordinaire, Felipe Damsceno.
What made you decide to become a self-employed cleaner at Helpling?
I love the flexibility of the work – I can easily arrange my university classes and social activities with my cleaning bookings. It works perfectly. The best part is receiving positive feedback from the customers! I love to read good reviews, that’s the most satisfying thing about the work.
How do you make sure the customer is happy?
Asking the customer at the end of the booking if they are happy or if there is anything else they would like me to do. You can usually tell by the customer facial expressions if they are happy.
What do you think are the most important cleaning products that you take with you?
Vacuum cleaner, Window cleaner, Ajax multi-purpose, disinfectant spray, clothes, and bleach.
Do you have any time-saving tips to share with us?
I like to start as soon as possible so that I’m using all the time allocated and also clean each area well so that I don’t have to come back and re-clean afterward. Also, I leave vacuuming towards the end so that I don’t have to re-vacuum after I have wiped and dusted those areas. I make sure to arrive on time and always respect the customer’s home as if it was my own!
What was your most challenging cleaner booking?
I had a 2.5 hour booking one night. The customer came home after 1.5 hours and was tired and wanted to rest so asked me to finish everything and leave quickly. I had to try and get everything done very quickly but try to keep a high standard of cleaning. I managed though!
How often do you clean your own home and what areas do you clean the most?
Once a week! I have a rotating schedule with my house-mate. One week I will clean the bathroom and then the next week I will be on kitchen duty.
How do you prioritise your cleaning work?
I spend more time cleaning the bathroom…customers often don’t like to clean this themselves! I always start in the kitchen but make sure I spend the most time in the bathroom. Once those are done I move onto the other living areas of the house.
Do you have any tips for building rapport with customers?
At the end of the booking I like to leave a couple of chocolates or a treat for the customers with a little note as well (leaving it where the customer can easily see it).
Do you have tips on how you prefer to clean? Or any pet hates you make sure you leave to your cleaner? We’d love to hear your comments below!
Or if you think you are interested to become a self-employed cleaner through Helpling, you want to be your own boss and have the required level of cleaning experience, we’d love to hear from you. Simply register your details on our cleaning jobs page.
