Who goes from a teenage janitor to a CPA for 30 years and then starts a residential cleaning company? Well, that’s just what Jerry Hicks did. He started The Maids Home Services franchise that provides services in Fayette and Coweta counties. Hicks located the office in Peachtree City to make it easier to get to customers in both counties.

At the young age of 12, Hicks was buying bubble gum at 25 cents a pack and re-selling it for $1.50 (how’s that for a profit margin!). That lit his entrepreneurial spirit. He grew up in a U. S. Air Force family and because of that he’s lived all over the world including Tripoli and Guam. As a 15 year old in Guam, he worked all day Saturday and Sunday at minimum wages cleaning the barracks for Air Force pilots who were flying missions over Vietnam. In Abilene, Texas, while working as a janitor at the Timex plant and going to college full time (the first in his family to get a college degree), he convinced Timex to let him work on a new assembly line. In those days they only hired right handed workers and he’s a lefty, but they gave him a chance because of the good job he was doing as a janitor. He proved to them that a left handed worker was just as efficient and became the first person to make quota on the new line.

His janitorial jobs in Guam and Texas are partially what attracted him to an investment opportunity with The Maids International (“TMI”) based in Omaha, Nebraska (the privately owned company was established in 1979). Hicks researched, worked the numbers and decided to fulfill his entrepreneurial desire by purchasing the local franchise. With feedback from family and friends he was confident there was a need for The Maids Home Services in this area. This was quite a change after 30 years as a CPA, but in a way it was getting back to his teenage days in Guam.
He selected The Maids Home Services because he believes it distinguishes itself from other cleaning services with a 22-Step Healthy Touch Deep Cleaning System. The system includes washing kitchen and bathroom floors on hands and knees and vacuuming with a patented back pack vacuum with 4 HEPA filters (think ghost busters). The vacuums can capture up to 99% of dust, allergens, bacteria, pet dander, pollen and other pollutants.

Instead of using dust wands or dust mops that spread the dust around, they use cloths with The Maids Home Services environmentally preferred products to remove the dust from customer’s homes. Also, they disinfect phone receivers, wall switch plates, door knobs, and bathrooms on every clean to help get rid of germs in the home. The Healthy Touch process does more to ease suffering for those with allergy and asthma symptoms than conventional cleaning.

Hicks said his core group of customers are two income households and empty nesters who want more free time to spend together on family activities. Families today are very busy with their jobs, children’s homework and school activities as well as sports and church. Therefore, they don’t want to tie up the whole weekend to clean the house.

He says it is a good feeling knowing they are helping families have more time together. And, Jennifer Hoyt, his manager, said “the team members and I get a lot of job satisfaction making a house sparkle for our customers.”

Their customers are very comfortable with team members coming into their homes. One good reason for this comfort is that all employees have gone through an extensive background check, are professionally trained, and are bonded and insured. The team members generally have small children themselves so they love it that they only work Monday through Friday with nights and weekends off. They arrive in uniform driving The Maids Home Services’ bright yellow cars with all their own cleaning supplies and equipment. Each team member has a special function to perform in the home. This approach allows The Maids Home Services to give homes a healthy and efficient clean. With 3 or 4 person teams it also allows them to spend less time in customers’ homes so families can get back to enjoying their home quicker. It’s nice for the working mom and working dad to come home at the end of the day and have everything done. John and Pam Davis, who own one of the local Snap-on Tools franchises, and are one of their customers, said The Maids Home Services stand by their motto of “Nobody Outcleans the Maids.” For them, it is an emotionally good feeling knowing they can depend on great service with each cleaning.

What is hopefully a good sign for the economy, The Maids Home Services’ business has shown an increase in third quarter sales. This is a good sign for a pick up in sales for other small business owners. It’s a great business to own because of the satisfaction of seeing happy customers, the support from a highly ranked franchisor (TMI was ranked 48th on Entrepreneur magazine’s 2009 Franchise 500 list), and the great working hours. The franchise owners get together with TMI representatives twice a year and spend time sharing ideas, concerns and giving each other pointers on how to enhance the best house cleaning service for their customers.

Many cold and flu viruses can live on hard surfaces for up to 48 hours. Between cleans, or if someone in your home has cold or flu systems, they recommend you follow these smart precautions: Wash hands often using soap and water; make an effort not to touch your mouth, eyes or nose without first washing your hands; and disinfect regularly using a household disinfectant on any surfaces that are commonly touched, like doorknobs, appliance handles, remote controls, light switches, phones, and facial tissue box covers. Follow proper usage instructions on product labels. Use a disinfecting cleaner on toilet handles and seats, faucets, showers, tubs and sinks. Make sure to wash items like towels and bedding in hot water with detergent. If someone was sick, be sure not to share these items until they are thoroughly cleaned; if multiple toothbrushes are kept in a common container, consider purchasing new ones and separate containers. At work, regularly use antibacterial wipes on your keyboard, phone and writing utensils.

This is a perfect time for a fall cleaning with school back in session and the holidays just around the corner. October and November are generally a time when their phone starts ringing off the hook with customers calling for a cleaning. The fall is a good time to clean out and spruce up the home because it’s cool enough to open the windows to air out the home. It’s important to do this in the spring and fall because today’s homes are built airtight to help conserve energy. The same tightness that helps keep the cool air in during the summer can also be bad for your health. Air, dust and other contaminants that enter your home have a very difficult time getting out.

Therefore, it is good to have a thorough fall cleaning before closing up your home for the winter months. Allergy and asthma aggravating contaminants, as well as any flu or other sickness causing germs, should be expelled from your home before you put up those storm windows and settle down for the winter.

For more information about The Maids Home Services, call 770-487-0858 and they will be happy to talk to you or visit them at www.Maids.com.

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