Our 2nd Year in Review

Yay! CBT has grown in all kinds of ways!

As we begin Year 3 of leading edge news and solid, tested business discourse in our digital pages and on our website, we’ve taken some time this past month to reflect on how far we’ve come in 24 months before we look ahead at what we’ve got planned for the future!su

Top 10 Stories from April 2014 – March 2015

1. Success Stories: Kyle Walker, Real World Services

Youngest cleaning business owner launched his company at age 15 and hit his first million dollar revenue year at age. UPDATE: Since we last spoke with Kyle, he has entered the Mayoral race for Logan, OH; we believe Kyle would be the first cleaning business owner to occupy the office of Mayor while continuing to operate and grow his cleaning business.

2. Connections between Company Culture and Disruptive Innovation

Are you the company that’s throwing up brick walls in front of the people in touch with your customers – your employees? Your culture may be exposing your company to disruption and making you vulnerable.

3. Infographic: Benchmarking Your Pay Rates

Janitors and maids are the third largest occupation in the US. Are you paying enough compared to national averages?

4. Infection Control and Environmental Services Team Up in the Battle for Your Health

In order to tackle the spread of infectious disease in healthcare facilities, everyone must be on the same page. Hospitals and healthcare facilities can improve infection control when departments team up.

5. Homejoy Raises Rates, Drops out of Europe and Canada

Homejoy cites recruiting “the most dedicated, verified Cleaning Professionals in your area” and improvements in the customer experience as primary reasons for increase.

6. The Intersection of Client and Technician: Annual Software & User Experience Survey

From new mobile options to the addition of sales and marketing functions, new scheduling and user experience solutions are on the rise.

7. Success Stories: Diana Henley, Naturalcare Cleaning Service

Houston, TX-based cleaning company, founded on nature’s best cleaning and disinfecting power, branches into product development.

8. Adwords Then and Now: The Five-Year Inflation of Cost-per-Click

The number of total internet searches per year is estimated to be growing at about 10% a year. When it comes to Google AdWords, work smarter, not harder.

9. Success Stories: Lisa and Hamish Macqueen, Cleancorp

Australian cleaning company jumps from $1M to $3.75M using online sales and service automation, wins Small Business ICON 2014.

10. The “Almost Perfect” Vacuum: Top Recommended Vacuums for Residential Cleaning Services

Top recommended vacuums for residential cleaning services – report & comparison chart

Added Features

Events

Just last month, we launched our new Events page where our goal is to list as many industry events as possible:

Annual conventions
Regional meetings
Topic-focused weekend conferences
Free and Paid Webinars
Certification Classes and Programs
Executive and Management Programs

It’s a great way to find out what’s going on – all in one place!

More Product Information

Our first year, we conducted our first Field Service and Scheduling Survey and produced a report showing participants’ features side-by-side.

In our second year, we expanded our product survey reporting to deliver reports on a broader range of all-in-one and single-use software options and on vacuums recommended for professional use.

In our third year, we are asking YOU – our subscribers and the users of these products – to vote each month for the “Best of” Awards in a variety of categories:

Cleaning Products and Equipment
Business Software and Systems
Marketing Services
Personnel Services
And MORE!

Disruptive Innovation Summit

Last fall during convention season, we partnered with ARCSI to host a unique event – the Disruptive Innovation Summit – a full day of education and discussion about some of the new ways of doing business that are challenging the classic small cleaning business model.

Speakers came from all over the world to help us dig into topics like:

The role of “disruptive innovation” in sharpening your competitive edge
The generation driving the rise of tech-enabled businesses
Technologies currently being used and created by cleaning businesses
And MORE!

And for a limited time, we are again making available.

New Contributors

In the past 12 months, we’ve added 21 new contributors to our ever-growing list. We reach out every day to new experts in all aspects of both cleaning and business to ensure that you are getting the best information possible – all towards helping you run a healthy and profitable business. They’re definitely worth another read!