Back To The Beginning Again

Approximately 27 months ago, give or take, I found myself taking the first steps on a path that would inevitably change my life forever. No, I am not talking about getting married, nor am I talking about graduating from the University of Illinois. I am talking about the day I cornered Rafael Ruggieri after a church meeting in early May 2008 and told him that I absolutely needed a summer job, and would be willing to do anything.

See, Rafael was (and still is, for that matter), one of the older brothers of one of my best friends, Noah. And he and his wife also happened to own Simply Spotless, Inc., a cleaning company in our community. And he happened to belong to the same church as me. So, without even pulling the friend-of-his-brother card or the we-are-fellow-Mormons card (neither of which I would ever actually do, as such behaviour irks me to no end), I was able to convince Ralph, as he is often known, to give me a job.

I started as a lowly Associate Custodian, vacuuming hallways in old apartment complexes and cleaning bathrooms in commercial business properties. Within a couple of months, though, I was promoted to the position of Crew Leader, which meant that, in addition to vacuuming hallways in old apartment complexes and cleaning bathrooms in commercial business properties, I also got to carry a bunch of keys and disarm buildings.

A few months later, the Assistant Operations Manager, Cherry, who happened to be the wife of my aforementioned best friend, left the company, and I was offered the job. I took quickly to the post, which still had me doing all the things I had been doing before, but also added the responsibility of helping with scheduling employees (a task I eventually took over completely), and occasionally checking properties and assisting in making new bids.

In early December 2008, the Operations Manager left to take a job elsewhere, and I was promoted again. There were not many changes to my job duties, however, because, by this time, I had already been doing most of the Operations Manager's work, anyway. A couple of weeks earlier, Ralph had approached me and let me know that, by the middle of 2009, he would be selling the company because he would be beginning his residency as a medical doctor and, as such, was not allowed to have any outside business ventures. He had offered the company to the Operations Manager, but she turned it down. So he asked me if Gretch and I were interested. I had already had an inkling of this happening (thanks in large part to Noah and Cherry telling me they had recommended me to Ralph). We spoke to our parents about this and took my dad's advice, which was to call him immediately and say, "Yes! We want the company!"

At this time, Gretch came on board and began learning how to manage to company books, which was the main role that Liz, as Vice President, filled. Meanwhile, Ralph worked feverishly to teach me all he knew about running the business as President, and had me take control of just about everything by the beginning of February. By March, the employees of Simply Spotless were informed that Gretch and I would be buying the company in the summer. At this point, we were doing everything except signing the checks and the contracts with new clients.

On 1 June 2009, Gretch and I officially purchased the common stock of Simply Spotless, Inc. and, as the shareholders, appointed me as the President of the Board of Directors and Gretch as the Treasurer/Secretary. As the Board of Directors, we appointed me President of Simply Spotless, Inc. while Gretch was appointed Vice President.

Over the next six months, we saw some amazing growth in the company. Even when we lost a client, we were able to acquire a new client that was always inevitably larger. Unfortunately, this boom was a bubble waiting to burst. The economic turmoil that was afflicting the nation finally came to Champaign and it hit us with a heavy blow. In December, we received notice that our single largest client, who had been providing us with seven separate accounts, was terminating their contracts and switching to in-house cleaning. We were devastated, but we were also determined to keep on moving forward. We were asked to submit bids to several new potential clients, but we lost bid after bid. Then more clients dropped us, either because they, too, were switching to in-house, or we had been underbid by companies that could afford to do so. We lowered our costs as much as possible, but the only new business we acquired were a handful of small properties.

In May 2010, we started cleaning a new property for a client we'd had since October of the previous year. We saw this as a sign that things were looking up, and maybe, just maybe, we'd be able to make it through this slump. Unfortunately, a week after signing this contract, we lost our third-largest client, and, once again, we saw negative growth. This was when Gretch and I realised we needed to do so serious investigation into what the future looked like. We met with fellow business owners, legal representatives, members of the Small Business Administration, bankers and financial advisers, and even our church leaders. Everything pointed to the same answer: we had lost too much and we were not going to be able to recover. The final driving point was the day we realised that we could not expand the company because we did not have the capital available to do so. And thus it was that we made one of the most difficult decisions of our lives: we decided it was time to close Simply Spotless, Inc.

We made the decision on 29 June 2010, and announced it to our employees the next evening. On 1 July 2010, a year and a month after we purchased the company, we sent notices to all of our clients that we were closing, effective the end of the month.

Looking back, there are many decisions that, if I could go back, I would do differently. However, I don't think any of those decisions would have ultimately changed the final outcome. The decision to close the business was based on the fall-out from being in the midst of a recession. I do not for a moment regret the decision to start working for Simply Spotless, nor do I regret for a moment the decision to purchase the company. It has been a truly life-changing experience for me. I have a better understanding of business, marketing, sales, and management. I believe I am better able to manage my own personal finances. I have discovered new ways to improve my teaching skills, my leadership skills, and my abilities to interact with other people. I have made life-long friendships with people I would never have met before if I had not gone down this path. I have memories that will stay with me forever. In short, I believe that I am a better person for having taken on this task.

And so it is that, a few months longer than two years after I started, I find myself back at the beginning again. I am in the midst of applying for teaching jobs all over the nation. I will continue to apply until there are no jobs left. Gretch and I have contingency plans in place, so, despite being currently homeless and unemployed, we know that we will never be out on the streets or living in our car. We are blessed to have family and friends who love us and care for us, and will do all they can to help us out. What the future holds, we do not know, but we do know this: it is going to continue to be quite the ride, and, as long as we are together, we will survive and we will conquer!