Ron Holt is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of TWO MAIDS & A MOP™ – a residential house cleaning services company regarded as one of the industry’s fastest growing companies. TWO MAIDS & A MOP™ has grown from just three part-time Team Members to more than 250 hard-working Team Members today. The company serves customers through 24 franchised locations throughout eight states one US district; including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. In 2013, the company was recognized as the fastest growing cleaning company in America by Inc. Magazine.
Interesting Takeaways from this interview with Ron Holt, CEO of Two Maids & A Mop:
- Customer feedback controls 100% of employees’ compensation levels
- Every C-level executive inside their Home Office is required to provide at least one educational webinar per month
- Two Maids & A Mop started in a 250 square foot office space and now has more than 250 employees
Here’s the full interview with Ron Holt:
Give me an example of when you inspired people with a vision.
Two years ago, we sold the rights to our first franchise territory in Tampa, FL. We were growing very fast back then by opening corporate stores but had never partnered with a franchise candidate to develop a market. It’s not easy today to convince someone to invest in our business model but it was very difficult two years ago because we had no proven track record of franchisor success. It came together in Tampa and the results have been phenomenal. The office consistently ranks in our highest performance categories and is on pace to break even more records this year.
How do you build “culture” within your organization?
Culture is vital for every business, no doubt. But culture is even more important within the residential cleaning industry since so much work is conducted outside of the office. To counter our industry’s potential weaknesses, we work hard to build a culture of accountability that relies on personal responsibility. At Two Maids & A Mop, every single employee understands that customer feedback is the most important metric within our business. In fact, we back this up by allowing customer feedback to control 100% of our employees’ compensation level. Customers rate their level of satisfaction on a scale from 1-10 and that one, simple number directly determines an employees’ paycheck. This Pay for Performance Plan works to create an ownership mentality within each employee and represents the most important building block for a positive culture.
How would you describe your leadership philosophy?
I lead by example; every day. My car isn’t parked in the most glamorous parking spot. I provide my cell phone number to every employee and franchise partner. I don’t take two hour executive lunch breaks and everyone in our organization knows that this business is like a third child for me. My hard work, constant pursuit of perfection and humble personality provides the company with the right kind of leadership. Leading by example is a principle that I’ve lived by for the past twelve years and it’s 100% authentic. My primary job is to lead others and I take the role very seriously. Leading is a lifestyle and not a job.
What’s the greatest compliment you’ve ever been given in your time as a leader?
The Two Maids & A Mop franchise system is comprised of 20+ office locations and employs more than 250 employees. I’ve heard so many amazing things from our people over the years but the most rewarding compliment came from a long time employee. We had just celebrated our ten year anniversary and this particular employee stood up in front of everyone and recounted her history. It was an amazing story because it validated everything that I had been preaching for the past decade. My vision for the company has been the same since day one and this amazing speech by an equally amazing employee provided the perfect illustration for vision meeting reality.
Tell me about how you’ve scaled your organization. What was a defining moment or decision you made that put you on that path?
Our story started more than twelve years ago inside a 250 square foot office space. As the founder, I can still remember those early days in Pensacola, FL. It took eighteen months to make a profit and more than two years to receive my first paycheck. Like I said, it was a struggle but my vision for growth and success kept me grounded towards the future. My vision for the Two Maids & A Mop brand has always been the same, even back those early days. My goal is to become the fastest growing, most innovative residential cleaning company in the country. The nonstop pursuit of this goal has allowed me to soak in the success and suck up the failures. I make decisions every day that could have serious long term consequences for the business and brand. Those decisions are not made lightly but the most important factor in very decision is how the decision could affect the company’s overall vision. Scaling the business from a single store in Pensacola, FL into the more than twenty locations across eight states doesn’t happen overnight. Along the way, decisions have to be made and honoring our company’s vision is weighed every single time. Two Maids & A Mop would be rudderless without a uniform vision.
Share with me one of your greatest accomplishments while being incredibly resource disadvantaged.
Our Home Office is an important piece of the puzzle. It provides marketing, sales, operational and administrative support. But our goal has always been for the bulk of the money to stay in the field. As a result, our home office has historically been understaffed and under resourced. Believe it or not, I didn’t hire our first Home Office employee until we opened our sixth office location. At that time, we were employing just over 100 employees, cleaning more than 100 homes per day and generating more than $1M in annual revenues with only one Home Office employee. That employee was me, of course. Times are different today because franchise support is very people dependent but our early growth was handled primarily by one lone ranger.
How do you invest in yourself to increase your impact?
My greatest successes have been copy and pasted from someone else’s life. I’m an avid reader of nonfiction books; specifically biographies. These books provide great entertainment value but also educate me on what has worked for others in business and life. Warren Buffett taught me that great leaders don’t have to live in mansions. Sam Walton taught me that a clear vision is more important than anything else inside your business. And Seth Godin taught me that every successful business is identified by one tangible difference maker. I’ve never met any of those people but their lives have fueled my own personal success. Never stop educating yourself…..never.
How does consistent learning and curiosity show up in your organization?
We offer a continuing educational program that works to teach franchise partners and their employees how to become better business people and leaders. We teach everything from basic accounting to sales development training. Owning a Two Maids & A Mop requires you to know a lot of things about a lot of things so we don’t just focus on dirty nightstands or hardwood floors. Every C-level executive inside our Home Office is required to provide at least one educational webinar per month. In addition, we partner with an educational platform to offer 20-30 minute tutorials on a wide variety of subjects related to business and life.
What’s one piece of advice you have for entrepreneurs who are just starting to hire C-Level talent?
I have two rules of thumbs regarding C-level partners. First, an executive at Two Maids & A Mop must also be an equity partner. They must own a piece of the pie; which means they must stroke a check for their investment. My executive partners need to make decisions from an ownership perspective or the entire organization may have issues. Second, an executive must look and act a bit different than me. Opinions are important for the success of a business so it’s important for differing opinions to be shared by different personalities.
How do you attract the best and brightest?
The Two Maids & A Mop brand should be your best friend when it’s time to attract talent for your business. We’re successful, fast growing and have a very bright future. This over-the-top message is validated by the overall brand awareness of Two Maids & A Mop. We clean dirty homes and pretty nasty toilets but there’s a different level of excitement for our brand and people get it. We’re not just another cleaning company and our branding has allowed for this phenomenon to occur. Without positive branding, it’s very difficult to attract top-tier talent.
If you could go back to when you were just starting out at your organization and give yourself one piece of advice, what would you tell yourself?
Franchising is an exciting mechanism of growth for our company. For the first ten years, we opened 1-2 new corporate stores every year. The growth was fun but; honestly, we should have entered the world of franchising many years ago. Franchise growth allows us to partner with like-minded individuals that have the same desire as we do in the Home Office. Plus, the opportunity to scale quickly is much more prevalent with franchising.
TruPath is an executive search firm that finds mid to senior level executives in mission critical roles at your organization. This interview is part of our executive interview series, where we ask CEO’s a series of questions about their leadership philosophies and practices. Contact us if you’d like to recommend a CEO to interview, or if you’re looking for a leader to join your team.