Who Said Cleaning Couldn't Be a Dream Business?

By Tam Goldsmith

Neel Parekh built MaidThis from one cleaner in Los Angeles into a franchise business while travelling to more than 50 countries.

Neel Parekh had a good job in private equity in Los Angeles, but he couldn't imagine spending the rest of his working life in an office. He wanted to travel, spend more time with his family and find a way to earn a living that didn't depend on being in the same place every day.

He wasn't particularly interested in cleaning houses. In fact, he had no experience in the cleaning industry at all. He simply wanted to find a business he could start while keeping his job, with the hope that it might eventually give him enough freedom to leave.

He tried an online shop and even started a blog about vacuum cleaners for pet hair. Neither amounted to much. Then he came across a Reddit post written by someone who had started a cleaning company, and the idea caught his attention.

In 2013, he launched MaidThis in Los Angeles with one cleaner. The business was bringing in around $400 a week, and Neel was still going to work every morning. He had no idea whether it would grow into anything substantial, but he was determined to give it a proper chance.

Running a Cleaning Business From the Office

The early days were exhausting. Neel spent his lunch breaks answering calls, arranging appointments and dealing with customers. When he finished work, there were more messages waiting for him, along with the usual problems that come with running a small business.

He gradually found ways to make things easier. Customers could book appointments online, payments were handled electronically, and he began using remote administrative support to help with scheduling and enquiries.

The cleaners still went to customers' homes in Los Angeles, but Neel no longer needed to be there to organise every appointment. He could see what was happening, speak to customers and deal with problems without travelling to each property.

After about two years, he decided he was ready to leave his job. He booked a one-way ticket to South America, intending to travel for a year while continuing to run MaidThis.

He enjoyed the experience so much that he kept going. What was supposed to be a year away eventually became five, and he has since spoken about visiting more than 50 countries.

There were still difficult days. Cleaners called in sick, customers complained and appointments sometimes needed rearranging at short notice. Neel dealt with those problems from wherever he happened to be staying, which wasn't always convenient, but he had achieved what he originally set out to do.

A New Opportunity in Holiday Homes

MaidThis started out cleaning ordinary homes. Some customers booked regular visits, while others wanted someone to come in occasionally for a thorough clean.

As the business developed, Neel began receiving enquiries from people who owned holiday rentals. They wanted cleaners who could come in after one group of guests had left and prepare the property for the next visitors.

He wasn't immediately enthusiastic. Residential cleaning was familiar, and he had already spent years getting that part of the business organised. Holiday rentals brought different demands, particularly when guests were arriving on the same day that others checked out.

But the enquiries kept coming, and Neel eventually decided to offer the service.

It turned out to be an important addition to the business. A family home might need cleaning once a fortnight, while a busy holiday apartment could require several visits in a single week.

The timing was particularly important. If guests checked out at 10 in the morning and the next booking arrived that afternoon, there was only a short window to clean the bathrooms, change the bedding and make sure everything was ready.

MaidThis developed systems to coordinate appointments with rental booking calendars and keep property owners informed when the work had been completed. Holiday rental cleaning became a significant part of the company's offering alongside its residential services.

Other People Wanted to Run the Same Business

By 2020, Neel had spent several years developing a business that could be managed without him being physically present in Los Angeles. He decided to offer the same arrangement to other entrepreneurs through franchising.

MaidThis franchisees operate cleaning businesses in their own territories, using the company's booking technology, procedures and administrative systems. They arrange for local cleaners to visit customers while managing much of the business from a computer or phone.

The company advertises an initial franchise fee of $42,500 and an estimated total investment of approximately $51,000 to $71,000. It also reports having more than 30 locations.

One attraction is that franchisees don't need to rent a shop or maintain premises where customers visit. The cleaning takes place in people's homes and holiday properties, and much of the administration can be done remotely.

That doesn't mean owners can disappear for weeks and expect everything to look after itself. Cleaners still need to be recruited, appointments have to be organised and customers expect somebody to answer the phone when something goes wrong.

Neel has spoken about how difficult it can be to find dependable cleaners. It's a problem that matters even more when the business owner isn't nearby to step in if someone fails to arrive.

For franchisees, much of the work involves making sure the right people are available at the right time and that customers are happy with the results.

The Business That Changed His Life

When Neel started MaidThis, he wasn't dreaming of building a cleaning empire. He wanted to leave his office job and spend some time seeing the world, and he was prepared to try several ideas until he found one that worked.

The cleaning business took longer to establish than he expected. He spent two years managing it alongside his regular job before he felt comfortable enough to resign, and there were plenty of problems to deal with once he began travelling.

But he did eventually get on that plane to South America. He went on to spend five years travelling, visiting countries he might otherwise never have seen, while the company continued arranging cleaning appointments back in Los Angeles.

Today, MaidThis has developed into a franchise business, and Neel is helping other people establish cleaning operations of their own.

It's a rather unexpected career for someone who began by looking for a way to escape office life. His idea came from a Reddit post, his first business had just one cleaner, and the work itself was something he had never done professionally.

More than a decade later, he's still in the cleaning business, although his working life looks very different from the one he was trying to leave behind.

What We Can Learn From This

Neel's experience shows that running a service business remotely is possible, although it takes time to establish reliable systems and people. MaidThis depends on cleaners turning up for appointments, customers being kept informed and problems being dealt with quickly. Anyone considering the franchise should look carefully at the cost of finding customers and recruiting dependable cleaners, as well as the amount of daily management involved. Neel eventually achieved the freedom he wanted, but only after spending several years building a business that could operate while he was away.