Cleaning Up: A Commercial Cleaning Podcast

About Cleaning Up: A Commercial Cleaning Podcast

A podcast about all things business, commercial cleaning, and franchising! Each episode, we bring new insights on growing and building a janitorial business. We discuss business, franchising, and all things cleaning. Hosted by Damien Boehm

Publisher

Damien Boehm

Category

business · business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Nov 2019

Latest episode

15 Feb 2026

Latest episodes

14 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   15 Feb 2026

   The Content Advantage: Glenn Watford on Winning as a Small Business

   Glenn Watford from Franchise Buyers knows a thing or two about reinvention. After years in the magazine world, he recognised early that traditional media was shifting — and he made a bold pivot into content marketing long before it became the go‑to strategy for small businesses. That early adoption gave him a front‑row seat to what works, what doesn’t, and how small businesses can use content to build trust, attract customers, and grow sustainably. In this episode, Glenn shares the lessons he...

2. 

   15 Feb 2026

   What 10+ Years at Urban Clean Taught Kirk Simpson About Winning in Franchising

   Kirk’s career has been anything but ordinary. He started out working on farms, moved into workshop roles, and later transitioned into sales. Along the way, he even played a part in the creation of the iconic strawberry sundae at the Ekka. Now, after more than ten years with Urban Clean, Kirk shares his insights on what makes a franchise system truly effective — and how franchisees can supercharge their results. This is one conversation you won’t want to miss.

3. 

   9 Feb 2026

   How Banks REALLY Decide Which Franchises Are Worth Funding

   Starting a franchise is exciting, but it’s completely normal to feel anxious about the financial side. In this interview, Urban Clean founder Damien Boehm discusses how banks typically assess franchise systems — offering insights that can help make the lending process feel more predictable and easier to understand for people stepping into business ownership for the first time.

4. 

   18 Jun 2022

   Business Coaching With Bill Stack

   In this episode of Cleaning Up, Damien Boehm interviews Bill Stack. Over the last 11 years, Bill has helped over 300 business owners improve their profitability through sales, marketing, team training systems development and strategic planning and he’s done this both in the U.S. and Australian markets, He was someone who was my coach as we started franchising Urban Clean and continues to work with me, and our executive team. Bill shares Why every business needs a business coach and What transformations happen with business coaching We chat about coaching and systems and how they relate to franchising. We also discuss what makes for a successful Urban Clean Master Franchise. Bill Stack is a coach of the ActionCOACH group, and you can reach out to him directly at billstack@actioncoach.com (mailto:billstack@actioncoach.com) and his website www.ongrowingbusiness.com (http://www.ongrowingbusiness.com). If you’re interested in learning more about starting your own commercial cleaning business or having your own master franchise business visit www.urbanclean.com (http://www.urbanclean.com)

5. 

   9 Jun 2022

   How to Employ Cleaners for Profit

   In this episode Damien Boehm covers employing cleaners in your cleaning business. This is such an important topic because you can't do all the cleaning. Once you start growing your business to a certain size you’ll need help. This episode is relevant to someone who is just starting out in their cleaning business and getting to that point where they do need to add on staff members, but also includes tips to help you with employee retention no matter how many cleaners you have. You'll learn: - How to get the right people into your cleaning business - How to keep good people If you’re interested in learning more about starting your own commercial cleaning business or having your own master franchise business visit www.urbanclean.com (http://www.urbanclean.com/)

6. 

   1 Jun 2022

   The One Thing You Must Have to Succeed in Your Business

   In this episode of Cleaning Up, Damien Boehm shares the one thing that has helped him succeed in growing a multimillion dollar cleaning business. And it’s not a strategy, sales tactic, or masterful business plan - It’s the right attitude. This week we leave sales strategies, client retention strategies and business growth tactics to focus on mindset. But this is no wishy-washy episode. You’ll learn the right way of approaching problems, overcoming obstacles, and accomplishing goals in your cleaning business. As a bonus in this episode, Damien reveals the trick he uses to turn any setback into fuel for success. If you’re interested in learning more about starting your own commercial cleaning business or having your own master franchise business visit www.urbanclean.com (http://www.urbanclean.com)

7. 

   25 May 2022

   How to Keep Cleaning Clients for Life

   In this episode you'll learn how to keep customers for life. There is no point winning business only to lose it. If you want to make money in commercial cleaning you absolutely need to know how to retain clients. Today, I’m going to share with you the 3 steps I use to retain clients. Winning contracts is sexy and exciting but in reality the game is won or lost on customer retention. For more information go to www.urbanclean.com (http://www.urbanclean.com)

8. 

   18 May 2022

   How to Grow Your Cleaning Business With Strategic Partnerships

   In today’s episode we’ll be covering how to grow your commercial cleaning business with strategic partnerships. In this podcast, Damien Boehm shares with you how he got strategic partnerships into his business and how he made them work and how you can too. We’ll be covering Why you want them Who you want to partner with How to find them What agreements to make How to make them work and lastly The 3 Major Mistakes to avoid If you're interested in learning about what franchise opportunities are available with Urban Clean, click this link if you're interested in learning more about a Master Franchise: https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info) Click this link if you want to start a Cleaning Franchise and be hands on with the cleaning: https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info)

9. 

   12 May 2022

   Can You Add 2 Million Dollars to Your Cleaning Business in 1 Year?

   Add 2 million dollars in revenue in one year? Is this even possible? Can a single individual do this in their business? This episode is about hardcore sales. Your host Damien Boehm is going to be covering the exact steps needed to reach this sales target He’ll be covering Marketing Strategies Sales conversion rates Costs of marketing & What it actually takes to achieve these numbers This episode is not for the faint hearted, and it’s not for anyone scared of sales. As a bonus at the end of the podcast, he’ll give you his recommendations of what a more realistic strategy would look like working at full-throttle. If you're interested in learning about what franchise opportunities are available with Urban Clean, click this link if you're interested in learning more about a Master Franchise: https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info) Click this link if you want to start a Cleaning Franchise and be hands on with the cleaning: https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info) If you want to learn the door-to-door Quick Connect Process, listen to this episode https://www.buzzsprout.com/697735/10603499 (https://www.buzzsprout.com/697735/10603499)

10. 

    12 May 2022

    How to Franchise a Cleaning Business

    In this episode, Damien Boehm covers converting a standard commercial cleaning business into a franchise operation. We’ll be covering What size your business should be or should aim to be for franchising to make sense Why so many cleaning businesses struggle to pass $500K in revenue What benefits you get when you turn a cleaning business into a franchise operation The steps you need to take to franchise your business Damien Boehm shares his experience and hard won lessons creating a franchise network with over 100 franchises. If you're interested in learning about what franchise opportunities are available with Urban Clean, click this link if you're interested in learning more about a Master Franchise: https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info) Click this link if you want to start a Cleaning Franchise and be hands on with the cleaning: https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info)

11. 

    12 May 2022

    How to Win Commercial Cleaning Contracts

    How to Win Commercial Cleaning Contracts In this podcast, Damien Boehm reveals the process he’s used and taught others to use that's resulted in them winning more than half a million dollars worth of new commercial cleaning contracts in a single year without spending a dime on advertising. You’ll learn: What you need to have before you can win commercial cleaning contracts Which marketing strategies don’t work if you’re serious about growth Why a commercial cleaning service needs to be marketed differently to a residential cleaning service Why outbound marketing is so much more effective than inbound marketing How to approach businesses that don’t know you, the right way What scripts to use and what scripts to avoid If you're interested in learning about what franchise opportunities are available with Urban Clean, click this link if you're interested in learning more about a Master Franchise: https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info) Click this link if you want to start a Cleaning Franchise and be hands on with the cleaning: https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info)

12. 

    11 May 2022

    Franchise or Independent?

    When does it make sense to buy a commercial cleaning franchise? Is it better to stay independent? This podcast covers the pros and cons of investing into a franchise, when it make sense and who should never buy a franchise. In this episode you'll learn the pros and cons of buying a franchise how to decide if franchising is right or wrong for you how to compare different commercial cleaning franchises what franchises to avoid and when buying a franchising is a bad idea If you're interested in learning about what franchise opportunities are available with Urban Clean, click this link if you're interested in learning more about a Master Franchise: https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/master-franchise-info) Click this link if you want to start a Cleaning Franchise and be hands on with the cleaning: https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info (https://urbanclean.com.au/unit-franchise-info)

13. 

    20 Nov 2019

    How Franchising Should Work in the Commercial Cleaning Industry

    In this episode, I get Urban Clean’s General Manager Kirk Simpson to join the show. Some harsh things get said about the commercial cleaning industry and franchising in the sector. There is a solution, but it’s unique and unconventional. We discuss what is typical for a cleaning business and franchising in the industry, why the industry is broken and how up until now the typical commercial cleaning franchising model hasn’t served clients, or franchisees. Many clients have resigned themselves to getting the bare minimum from their cleaners. Companies typically get burned from cleaning companies and can be nervous to start with a new company. Sub-contracting out cleaning services is exceptionally normal, and it can even be several layers deep. Sometimes, there is no way to communicate with people who are actually doing the work. It’s impossible to do a great job when you have never met your client; there will be a massive break in communication. Franchising has its own unique set of issues in the industry. In many commercial cleaning franchise systems, franchisees aren’t operating a true business. In many systems, they operate as a pseudo employee dressed up as a franchisee, and they’re prevented even from making contact with their customers. Many of these franchisees do not have access to information to grow a successful business or build relationships. Later, Kirk explains where the complexity comes regarding the business of cleaning – sales, communications, training, recruiting, and managing staff. Quality can go down quickly if they subcontract the work out. True contracting means you cannot tell the person how to do the job correctly. Only employees need to follow a step-by-step system.

14. 

    13 Nov 2019

    Making Money with Toilet Paper

    Host: Damien Boehm, Guests: Terry Maguire and Casey De Vene In this episode we cover How a cleaning company can maximise its partnership with a cleaning supply business How a cleaning supply business can help a cleaning company How to monitor and control product and paper supplies We’ll also reveal The gaps most cleaning businesses have Some secrets to winning cleaning accounts Terry Maguire and Casey De Vene from Compliant Cleaning Supplies join the show today. Terry got into the cleaning supply business through waste management. His business offered waste services make their way into companies and eventually provide other services. He worked for a large corporation in the UK and started looking for ways to increase their cash flow. Pressure cleaning and carpet cleaning were the way to go. He fell into the cleaning supply business because he had a lot of contacts and was able to get out of the physical cleaning side and join the supply side. Casey was in transport for eight years and started looking for a sales director role. He met Terry in his newfound role and learned how exciting cleaning was. An opportunity presented itself to join Compliant Cleaning Supplies. He plans on staying in the industry for a very long time. The right supplier needs three main things: 1.      Knowledge. Product, chemical and machinery expertise. 2.      Services. Ordering, delivery and field support. 3.      Time Margin. Reducing the time to order products and management of supplies. Terry says that upselling cleaning supplies is an easy sell when you wrap it up into several services. Tell the client you can save them time by ordering the supplies for them. The client will see that the cleaning company is being proactive by keeping stock themselves. Service, convenience, and saving time are big selling points for Terry and Casey. The most significant gaps with cleaning companies are underutilizing business partners. Chemicals are designed in a certain way for a reason, so the companies need to understand how to utilize the chemicals and teach their labor. Plus, trust needs to be well-established; it is hard for business owners to trust the suppliers. However, the supplier quickly makes the business owner's life so much smoother. Terry and Casey give three business secrets: 1.      Capitalize on existing clients and referrals. When you have a referral, their decision-making process isn’t based on money at all. Find someone who can help you make money on referrals like other business owners. Winning business from a referral network needs a lot of trust from you and the business owners. 2.      Know your competition. Very rarely will you come across a site that does not have competition. Know that if you are coming across a company and they have a specific clause, then you will have to fight to have them removed. Learn the competition because if you do not know what they are doing, they will hold on to their clients. 3.      Sharp as a tack, enthusiastic as hell, and an expert in your field. These are essential for any sales role (from Jordan Belfort – The Wolf of Wall Street). Stay tuned to hear Terry and Casey discuss why a cleaning business will benefit from sophisticated reporting and budgeting. Compliant Cleaning Supplies: https://www.compliantcs.com.au (https://www.compliantcs.com.au) Call: 1300 314 491 If you’re serious about starting and growing a 6 figure or 7 figure commercial cleaning business, get in touch with us at https://urbanclean.com.au/cleaning-franchises/ (https://urbanclean.com.au/cleaning-franchises/) Call: 1300 787 745

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

Contact Cleaning Up: A Commercial Cleaning Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.