How I Started a Cleaning Company From Zero While Working Full Time

September 2025. I decided I was done waiting for a better life to arrive on its own.

I was working at a Walmart distribution center — steady income, zero flexibility, and a ceiling I could see clearly. I had four kids at home and a wife who believed in me even when I wasn't sure I believed in myself.

I started UnityMark Solutions with one idea and zero clients. A cleaning and junk removal company serving Indianapolis. No employees. No equipment budget. Just a phone, a website I built myself, and the belief that people would pay for reliable professional service.

Here's exactly how the first months went — and what I learned that nobody tells you when you start.

Month 1 — Building With No Clients

The first month was humbling. I built the website. Set up the Facebook page. Created the pricing. Printed nothing because there was no money for flyers yet.

I posted in local Facebook groups. I texted people I knew. I told everyone at work what I was doing.

Zero clients in month one. But I learned something important — the business was real even before the first booking. The infrastructure was there. The brand existed. I just needed to keep showing up until someone said yes.

The First Booking

A referral from someone I knew. One bedroom apartment. Standard clean. I sent a subcontractor. From day one I knew I couldn't trade one 9 to 5 for another — if I was the one doing the cleaning myself that's exactly what it would have been. A different job. Not a business. So I built it as a company from the start and put someone else in the home while I managed from the outside.

I made $130. Spent $40 on supplies. Net $90.

That $90 was worth more than any paycheck I'd ever received. Not because of the amount. Because I built that. Nobody gave it to me. No manager approved it. I created value and someone paid me directly for it.

That feeling changed everything.

What Building a Cleaning Company While Working Full Time Taught Me

• You don't need everything figured out to start. I figured it out as I went. The pricing, the process, the subcontractors — all of it came after I started, not before.
• Your phone is your office. I booked jobs, answered leads, and coordinated subcontractors from my lunch break and my car.
• The business grows when you do. Every mistake made me better. Every difficult client made me sharper.
• Done is better than perfect. My first website was not perfect. My first pricing was not perfect. I fixed both as I learned. Waiting for perfect means starting never.

Where UnityMark Solutions Is Now

Active. Growing. Running Meta ads. Getting leads every week. Training subcontractors so the business doesn't depend on me being present for every clean.

The goal was never to be a cleaner. The goal was to build a company that provides cleaning services. That distinction matters more than most people realize.

I'm also working on a new book — How to Start Any Company as a Beginner — because everything I've learned the hard way about starting from zero deserves to be written down so the next person doesn't have to figure it all out alone.

If you're thinking about starting a service business while working full time — the best day to start was last year. The second best day is today.

Also check out: Win the First 5 Hours of Your Day — $27