Meet Maxwell Rankin.  A former owner of an advertising agency, he sold that business and started SGVsuds.com.  A prime motivator for him was his desire to homeschool his children.  Read his story and learn the secret he discovered to making and keeping happy customers.

1.  Tell us about your business and the service that you provide.

SGVsuds.com washes everything outside.  Primarily, we wash windows and cars.

2.  How did you decide to get started?

Homeschooling - plain and simple.  I was alarmed at what passed for education.  I was equally disgusted with the amount of homework my children were forced to bring home.  Homeschooling allowed me to improve the quality while reducing the stress in their education.  It gave me a nervous breakdown, of course, but it was what they needed.  Homeschooling is hard.

3.  What kind of background expertise do you have in your field?

My background is marketing and advertising.  The first business I started was an advertising agency.  I sold that business to Foote, Kohn and Belding.  My partner, Jeff Kelley, is a window washing contractor.  He brings years of direct experience from his commercial background.  Together we have developed a business that allows both of us to work close to home (no traveling) and create flexible hours (for family emergencies).

4.  What trends do you see in your current industry?

Our business has seen a rise in residential clients wanting their cars washed and a decrease in window washing.  I think this is a combination of tightening family budgets while maximizing time.  Families have changed monthly window washing to quarterly window washing.  Families have also questioned why they squander about an hour a week sitting in a car wash - and tip the car wash for the privilege.  Mothers simply cannot take a group of kids to a car wash.  Not only is it not safe, but their oroducts are toxic.

5. What things do you find to be most demanding about your job?

I find this job to be amazingly simple, but the hardest part of the job is making customers happy.  It's an age-old problem for business.  We want to make our customers happy, but sometimes we discover we didn't listen as well as we thought.  Becoming a better listener is not as easy as it sounds.  I have discovered the secret, however.  You have to care.  We have had to thin out employees who don't care.  Caring matters as much in business as it does in our personal lives.

6.  What do you find to be the most rewarding about your job and day to day routine?

Our company team.  Finally, I am with people who share my values and I actually enjoy working with them.  That alone makes me thank my children for re-arranging my career.  I did it for them, but it's paying off in silver dollars for me.  Now, I can stand at a distance and laugh at our broken corporate culture.  Now, I know why my ancestors went to work.  They loved their family.

7.  What advice would you give to someone else who is interested in starting a business like yours?

Love your family; love your customers; love your employees; love your work; love your community.  Your life, and everything in it, will be transformed.

8.  What are you most proud of as a 'parent-preneur'?

Other parents will understand when I say, "Our children cannot comprehend, or appreciate our sacrifice."  We must be content to satisfy our personal standards.  This is what makes my heart right with the world: I am a great father.  I do good work.  Each day is spent helping people.  What a contrast to the heartless, predatory world that has become so common.

9.  How have you been able to manage your time between work and family?

It doesn't always work.  There are days when my integrity and reputation requires extra hours to fix my customers' probelms.  Business owners can counter this with more effective training of their employees.  I don't fix my employees mistakes.  I help them fix their mistakes.  They remember the experience and become more effective employees.  They want to be better employees and I want to block out regular time with my family.

10. What has been the most effective way for you to promote yourself?

Nothing beats asking for the job.  Sometimes this requires knocking on doors.  Sometimes you have to introduce yourself to strangers.  Business is a growth experience that will push you out of your comfort zone.  Learn to love that too.  Growth is good.

My "Milk Money" introduced me to the real economy.  False economies are built around "fear, guilt and intimidation."  That's what they teach in advertising.  Those three motivators drive Madison Avenue.

Now, I can pay my bills and be a good man.  I don't have to ask anyone for a raise.  If I want more money, I simply go get it.  My work revolves around my children's curriculum.  In fact, I require my children to work with me to enrich their curriculum.  Whether their life is spent in corporate America or not, I want them to experience the simple pleasure of entrepreneurship.  Maybe, someday, they will appreciate my sacrifice and become a 'parent-preneur'.

Maxwell Rankin

SGVsuds.com

coop@sgvsuds.com

626-316-7290