Tom Watson Cleans Up With Startup Guide

When it comes to starting a business, Tom Watson advises other entrepreneurs to do what he says, not necessarily follow his example.

Watson is the first to admit there was plenty he didn’t know when he and his wife Suzanne launched a cleaning business a little over ten years ago.

The business was eventually a success, going from invoicing roughly $120.00 per month to $38,000 per month in the first three years, and taught Watson and his wife many lessons along the way.

“I made too many mistakes to mention when I started my cleaning business and my goal is to help others avoid that same fate,” says Watson, who created the Website Cleaning-4-Profit.com to help other business owners trying to start their own cleaning business, or for that matter any business, by sharing some of the lessons he’s learned.

“I also enjoy the process of getting people to believe that success is not just for a chosen few, it can be for everyone who is willing to work for it,” Watson adds.

One of the main lessons Watson likes to impart is the importance of holding down costs when getting started in any business.

“The main problem folks have when getting started is spending all their startup cash before obtaining any clients,” Watson says. “Sadly, when this happens they are out of business.”

Instead, Watson advocates a bootstrapping or lean startup approach.

“My approach is to go in the totally opposite direction. Spend as little as possible in the beginning and focus on low cost methods to gain accounts,” he says. “It’s those first few accounts that will fund the rest of your expansion, keeping the overall costs to get started very low.”

(We couldn’t agree more, Tom!)

To share his knowledge, Watson has filled his Website and Facebook page with tons of useful information helpful to anyone starting up or operating a small business, with information from customer service and dealing with clients to how to network for your business; from myths and misconceptions about marketing, to how to make it easy for people to do business with you– and more.

“We have over 230 posts and 50 plus podcasts available that share information on just about every topic imaginable. All for free!” he explains. “We also offer various courses for sale that teach folks how to get started “step by step” in both the commercial and residential markets.”

“I firmly believe if someone has the will-power to see it through and a little bit of well placed knowledge they can have success in the cleaning business,” he says. “My goal is to steer people in the right direction though my experiences running my own company.”

To help him spread the word about the resources he offers, Watson has become an active member of the BizSugar community, where he describes himself as the “Cleaning Biz Guru.” 🙂 He says he finds it a great place to learn from others in the small business community.

“I stumbled across Bizsugar and was instantly hooked to all the great content that was available,” Watson says. “I’m a big fan of learning from others who are experts in their field, and Bizsugar brings them all together under one roof. I also love the sense of community Bizsugar possesses. Everyone shares their knowledge in a positive and constructive way.”

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