ZenMaid founder advice newsletter

Hi friend, Be careful of anyone who tells you what your business needs before asking a single question about it. Remember, good advice always starts with curiosity. I say this because, and this might sound a little strange coming from a software company, ZenMaid is not the right fit for every cleaning business. We’ve said this since day one, and we still mean it. Every cleaning company runs a little differently, and we've never claimed to be the one-size-fits-all answer for everyone. Plenty of cleaning business owners use other software and love it. That’s completely fine with us, because honestly, I’d rather you use a tool that fits your business than stay stuck with us when we’re not the right match. I’m bringing this up because I’ve noticed something changing in our industry over the last year or so, and I think it’s worth talking about openly. More and more people on social media are recommending tools they haven’t actually used. These things are a normal part of business (just think about all the ads you get on Instagram, for example. I get a million of them). None of this is automatically bad. But there’s a big difference between “I’ve run my business on this for a year” and “I’m just getting set up on this, but you should switch to it now." Like anything for your business, how you run it is a big decision. Switching systems is a lot of work for you and your team, so it’s worth doing some extra digging before you make a move based on a reel or a Facebook post. Here’s what I’d recommend before you choose (or switch) any tool, and note that this what we tell everyone, even if they end up choosing a different vendor: Write down your must-haves first. Before you watch a single demo, list the essentials your business can’t run without, like recurring scheduling or an online booking form. Judge every tool you evaluate against YOUR list, not someone else’s. Ask how long they’ve used it. If someone is recommending a tool, it’s completely fair to ask, “How long have you been running your business on this?” Someone with six months or a year of hands-on use can tell you the specifics. Someone who just started can only tell you how the setup felt. Talk to owners whose business looks like yours. Ask in industry groups for people with a similar team size and service mix. Read reviews on sites like Capterra or G2, and pay close attention to the 3-star ones, since that’s usually where people are the most honest. Test it with your actual workflow. Use the free trial to your advantage! Put in your real data and numbers, however you feel comfortable, to see if it's a true fit. For example, if your biggest headache is cleaners not knowing where they need to be each morning, a tool with beautiful invoicing won’t fix that, no matter how many people are posting about it. Across the board in your business, we want you to pick what works. We're always here to offer our recommendations and give resources, but always make sure the decision is yours. ZenMaid exists exclusively for cleaning businesses, full stop ✋ One of the greatest prides we have in ZenMaid is that we only exist for the cleaning industry. A lot of software tools have good intentions by serving cleaning, but they also sell to pest control, lawn care, pressure washing, HVAC, carpet cleaning, you name it. When software serves 10 different industries, your cleaning business gets about one-tenth of the attention. That means your feature requests wait in line behind everyone else’s, and the templates are written to fit everybody. If it tries to fit everyone, it probably doesn't fit any one of them very well... ZenMaid serves exactly one industry. Every feature, template, checklist, and report is made for cleaning businesses, and over 10,000 cleaners use it every day: When we decide what to build next, the only question is what will help cleaning businesses run better. If that sounds like what your business needs, you can try ZenMaid free, and our team will migrate