SPECIALIZED CLEANING. Super Homes' Michael and Amar take their cleaning chores seriously, an attitude that is shared with others interested in setting up their own specialized cleaning services. INQUIRER.net photo.
MANILA, Philippines – Since Michael T. Puyat was 16 years old, barely out of high school, he had been selling vacuum cleaners for his father, Victor Puyat, who had an exclusive distributorship of the US-based Rainbow Cleaning System in the Philippines.
When he saw that sales of vacuum cleaners was reaching a plateau, Michael decided it was time to put a new spin to his source of income.
Rainbow hydro machines, the heart of the US firm’s business, are no ordinary vacuum cleaners. First of all, they are priced at a premium. Second, they are marketed not just as cleaning equipment, but also as health tools using a water-based filtration system to capture hard-to-catch dust primarily in homes.
The appeal of Rainbow for those who could afford the price tag was the promise of an allergy-free home caused by dust, mites, pollen and other respiratory allergens that usually embed themselves in carpets, mattresses, sofas and pillows. Michael’s wife Amar, who had allergy attacks before, attests to this.
“Michael wanted to set up a cleaning company using the Rainbow cleaning system,” his father said. In fact, Michael had already started doing his hands-on homework: he was cleaning the homes of friends and family for free, in the process learning the fine points of home cleaning that would give him the confidence to set up his own agency.
But before Michael could lay out his business basics, a friend jumped the gun on his plans, seeking his help and advice to set up a cleaning company. This gave Michael the idea to set up a consultancy and training business that would encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to set up a cleaning service.
“We have customers who wanted to buy the Rainbow cleaning system, but found the cost a bit steep,” Michael said. “We offered them the opportunity to make money from the equipment by helping them set up their cleaning service.”
As the cleaning business that his best friend had set up grew and branched out, Michael and Amar decided to start their own cleaning service too. It was a perfect complement to the training and consultancy, which was also starting to gain new clients.
NO SMILE, NO PAY
Michael and Amar’s Super Home Specialists Corp., now five years old, continues to provide advice to start-up cleaning services willing to be coached and mentored according to their high cleaning standards. “We observe a ‘No smile, no pay’ policy,” Michael said.
“We would want those we provide advice to strictly follow what we teach,” Michael said. “But if they want to deviate from what we tell them to do, we respect their decision.” He is proud though of a number of companies that he helped set up who have remained faithful to Super Homes’ cleaning standards.
Cleaning has become such a serious business for Michael that he has developed a fastidious view to even the smallest details when cleaning homes, and lately, offices and commercial establishments.
The basic cleaning consultancy package spans 30 days including lectures and on-the-job training, and consists of drills in specialized and general cleaning techniques and procedures, pest extermination, post-construction and post-renovation cleaning, even job documentation.
Amar, who graduated with a degree in Business Management, helps provide solid advice on the financial side of the business, including making job quotations, choosing pricing options, and the set up and management of a database.
“I am now the trouble-shooter in the business,” Michael said, having to focus these days on responding to new cleaning challenges not previously encountered by his staff. Wife Amar, on the other hand, is left to overseeing the day-to-day operations, of scheduling jobs and dispatching the cleaning teams to their different assignments.
They have likewise embraced a “green” policy in the use of pest extermination agents. “We have adopted the latest technology from Japan,” said Michael, to eliminate cockroaches, ants, ticks, fleas and other crawling insets without harming health and environment.
The husband-and-wife team look forward to seeing a more robust specialized cleaning industry. “I am happy to have been instrumental in creating this industry from scratch,” Michael said.
When they started the business, the bulk of customers were largely residences -- mostly owned by the social elite of Metro Manila. Now, they are seeing more companies willing to pay that extra peso for premium cleaning service.
(Michael T. Puyat is managing director of Super Home Specialists Corp. The company’s 24-hour hotline is 0917-6951855. They can be reached also at +632 8216060 or superhome@mydestiny.net.)
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