| About Pam Babcock - My Chores Are Yours & Co. |
Hello. I am Pam Babcock and I welcome you to
this site.
A "housewife" is usually a partner whose job is
to see to that a house is properly cleaned and
maintained. Being a housewife, one puts in a
huge amount of time cleaning the house along
with providing care to family members and
family pets.
Many times a housewife follows a regular cleaning schedule that includes time for cleaning chores such as: washing
the woodwork, taking light globes down and washing them, vacuuming drapes, movingfurniture to clean the
baseboards and to edge vac, taking a scrub brush to tile grout, washing chair rungs and legs, cleaning windows and
window frames, washing blinds, cleaning wall accessories, washing waste baskets, getting a ladder and clean above
cabinets and the like - Chores that are not performed on a daily schedule. A housewife often puts in more than 40
hours every week cleaning. I know I did.
I was raised with clichés such as "use plenty of elbow grease", "so clean - you can eat off the floors", "don't let
those dust bunnies get away from you" and Grandmother's white glove test." My Grandmother did wear white
gloves and however inconspicuously those gloved fingers passed over surfaces not known you were sure to see her
attempt to remove the gathered dust with a tis; although she never said a word about the dust. And we were
forever moving the sofa cushions to retrieve coins that rolled of her lap while giving nickels to the young children
for their piggy banks.
the woodwork, taking light globes down and washing them, vacuuming drapes, movingfurniture to clean the
baseboards and to edge vac, taking a scrub brush to tile grout, washing chair rungs and legs, cleaning windows and
window frames, washing blinds, cleaning wall accessories, washing waste baskets, getting a ladder and clean above
cabinets and the like - Chores that are not performed on a daily schedule. A housewife often puts in more than 40
hours every week cleaning. I know I did.
I was raised with clichés such as "use plenty of elbow grease", "so clean - you can eat off the floors", "don't let
those dust bunnies get away from you" and Grandmother's white glove test." My Grandmother did wear white
gloves and however inconspicuously those gloved fingers passed over surfaces not known you were sure to see her
attempt to remove the gathered dust with a tis; although she never said a word about the dust. And we were
forever moving the sofa cushions to retrieve coins that rolled of her lap while giving nickels to the young children
for their piggy banks.
Why and how the company was developed:
I was fortunate to have been a "housewife", for 10 years, before
needing to enter the work force and going to college. Way
back then...there was little information on developing a
business plan for the service industry and in getting my
business degree I was assigned to develop a plan for
researching and implementing a business plan for a service
industry.
At that time I was already cleaning most of my professor's
homes as an individual. Of' course Molly Maid was just
starting off their franchising (at the time I would have been the
first Molly Maid franchise serving the Lansing area), and before
I started my thesis members of SCORE (Service Corps of
Retired Executives) suggested I check out buying a Molly Maid
franchise. My first negative impression was that Molly Maid
originated from Ontario, Canada. The franchising was not
American owned. The franchise fee was about the same as it
is today, somewhere $14,000; with other costs added for
advertising, automobiles and their intensive week training;
today the start up costs are close to $100,000.
Somehow I just could not grasp running a cleaning company
with only one week training - no matter how intensive! Anyone
can buy into Molly Maid with one week's training. I know my
training certainly was much more than a week; in fact at that
time more than 1/2 of my life! And, I am still learning with the
development of newer products and materials used in the
homes of today. Another concept that was lacking if that
intensive training was that Company, employees and
customers, all 3, needed to work together as fine tuned gears -
one moving the other. I come from families of farmers. Any
sustaining farmer is a natural mechanic. The tractor doesn't
work, the fields do not get plowed, the seeds do not get
planted; although I used the analogy of gears I just knew that if
something was to work, the parts needed to fit. I needed to do
more than make money, my career needed to fit me.
The members of SCORE did respect my reluctance in
venturing into investing in a Molly Maid franchise and diligently
lead me on with my needed researching. Overall, I interviewed
over 700 people whom used some sort of cleaning service or
another and people who performed the house cleaning
services. I wrote my thesis and on the day of my oral reviews I
was asked when would I start MY COMPANY. I replied that I
did not have the monetary resources and was greatly
surprised with an offer to help me get the financing that was
needed. Private investors put up the money 30 years ago. I
paid them off within the first year of business with an usurious
return. I didn't mind, I was supporting my 2 children and
myself.
It was not until after I started my Company that I found there
was assistance for women with children; I was required to fill
out employment papers for a few of my employees. Luckily,
with a lot of work, my Company was able to care for my family's
needs and even help put my children through college without
financial aid. My son, Dr. Allen McNamara, has his Ph.D. in
Geophysics and is teaching at Arizona State and my daughter,
Teresa House, has her teaching degree and taught Science
and Math, is currently a great Mommie.
Over the last 30 years, I have learned many things about
people and their needs. I have stuck to a few of my "old
fashioned morals and employee expectations", such as, I will
not tolerate regular use of alcohol or any drug use from my
employees. They get caught in a lie and they do not fit as a
co-worker amongst our employees; trust is what we are about.
There are even a couple of expectations I have of customers;
such as, treat my employees with respect and have realistic
expectations of my employee's willingness to perform their job.
I do not mind taking time to train any employee, I have had
employees work with supervisors for up to six weeks and have
turned out to be supervisors themselves. All of my supervisors
have the authority to fire with no questions asked if they get any
type of feeling that a certain employee is not trustworthy. I have
stuck to this policy from the beginning. I was raised in the
country where we did not lock even our automobiles and if a
person said something it was so. And, I know I like to sleep
well at night and believe that my customers do to.
Many procedures written into my business plan is still in
operation today. Even though my Company has done my
family and me well, I have not became the millionaire that was
predicted in the projections. Oh, well, I believe my Company is
a blessing because it partakes so much of who I am and I am
comfortable and pleased with the Company's employees and
customers.
needing to enter the work force and going to college. Way
back then...there was little information on developing a
business plan for the service industry and in getting my
business degree I was assigned to develop a plan for
researching and implementing a business plan for a service
industry.
At that time I was already cleaning most of my professor's
homes as an individual. Of' course Molly Maid was just
starting off their franchising (at the time I would have been the
first Molly Maid franchise serving the Lansing area), and before
I started my thesis members of SCORE (Service Corps of
Retired Executives) suggested I check out buying a Molly Maid
franchise. My first negative impression was that Molly Maid
originated from Ontario, Canada. The franchising was not
American owned. The franchise fee was about the same as it
is today, somewhere $14,000; with other costs added for
advertising, automobiles and their intensive week training;
today the start up costs are close to $100,000.
Somehow I just could not grasp running a cleaning company
with only one week training - no matter how intensive! Anyone
can buy into Molly Maid with one week's training. I know my
training certainly was much more than a week; in fact at that
time more than 1/2 of my life! And, I am still learning with the
development of newer products and materials used in the
homes of today. Another concept that was lacking if that
intensive training was that Company, employees and
customers, all 3, needed to work together as fine tuned gears -
one moving the other. I come from families of farmers. Any
sustaining farmer is a natural mechanic. The tractor doesn't
work, the fields do not get plowed, the seeds do not get
planted; although I used the analogy of gears I just knew that if
something was to work, the parts needed to fit. I needed to do
more than make money, my career needed to fit me.
The members of SCORE did respect my reluctance in
venturing into investing in a Molly Maid franchise and diligently
lead me on with my needed researching. Overall, I interviewed
over 700 people whom used some sort of cleaning service or
another and people who performed the house cleaning
services. I wrote my thesis and on the day of my oral reviews I
was asked when would I start MY COMPANY. I replied that I
did not have the monetary resources and was greatly
surprised with an offer to help me get the financing that was
needed. Private investors put up the money 30 years ago. I
paid them off within the first year of business with an usurious
return. I didn't mind, I was supporting my 2 children and
myself.
It was not until after I started my Company that I found there
was assistance for women with children; I was required to fill
out employment papers for a few of my employees. Luckily,
with a lot of work, my Company was able to care for my family's
needs and even help put my children through college without
financial aid. My son, Dr. Allen McNamara, has his Ph.D. in
Geophysics and is teaching at Arizona State and my daughter,
Teresa House, has her teaching degree and taught Science
and Math, is currently a great Mommie.
Over the last 30 years, I have learned many things about
people and their needs. I have stuck to a few of my "old
fashioned morals and employee expectations", such as, I will
not tolerate regular use of alcohol or any drug use from my
employees. They get caught in a lie and they do not fit as a
co-worker amongst our employees; trust is what we are about.
There are even a couple of expectations I have of customers;
such as, treat my employees with respect and have realistic
expectations of my employee's willingness to perform their job.
I do not mind taking time to train any employee, I have had
employees work with supervisors for up to six weeks and have
turned out to be supervisors themselves. All of my supervisors
have the authority to fire with no questions asked if they get any
type of feeling that a certain employee is not trustworthy. I have
stuck to this policy from the beginning. I was raised in the
country where we did not lock even our automobiles and if a
person said something it was so. And, I know I like to sleep
well at night and believe that my customers do to.
Many procedures written into my business plan is still in
operation today. Even though my Company has done my
family and me well, I have not became the millionaire that was
predicted in the projections. Oh, well, I believe my Company is
a blessing because it partakes so much of who I am and I am
comfortable and pleased with the Company's employees and
customers.
About our employees:
Our employees are mostly women who want to work not quite full
time; choosing to have some time either in the morning or
afternoon to perform other responsibilities. Employee ages
range between 23 and 38. Although the company certainly does
not mind hiring and training younger people. We do hire men, if
they are suited for the work. Usually the men do not stay long.
As you can see through the pictures within this web site, our
employees care about their work and are not afraid to bend,
stretch, scrub and look at the results from the efforts they put into
cleaning chores.
Most employees work for me on the average of 10 year. This last
2 years we have had 7 long time (12-25 years) employees retire.
time; choosing to have some time either in the morning or
afternoon to perform other responsibilities. Employee ages
range between 23 and 38. Although the company certainly does
not mind hiring and training younger people. We do hire men, if
they are suited for the work. Usually the men do not stay long.
As you can see through the pictures within this web site, our
employees care about their work and are not afraid to bend,
stretch, scrub and look at the results from the efforts they put into
cleaning chores.
Most employees work for me on the average of 10 year. This last
2 years we have had 7 long time (12-25 years) employees retire.
| Call us today and, let us clean your house for you. |
| 517-374-0004 Email: pambabcock@rocketmail.com |
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| Yes, our incorporated name really is: Pam Babcock - My Chores Are Yours & Co. |
Your House Cleaning Company
