[00:00:00] Welcome to the Phoenix Business Brief Podcast. I have with me, uh, Justine DuCloux and also Brandon Sells. They are the owners of the Phoenix Property Care Pros and, uh, thank you. Thank you for joining us here on the podcast today. Thanks. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for having us. Before we talk about your business, would, would the two of you mind just taking a moment to tell just a little bit about yourselves, a little bit about your background, and then let's talk about what you do. Okay. Um, so I'm actually originally from, uh, the Twin Cities, moved to San Diego and ended up, um, starting, um, an auto detail business at the, at that time. And then that kind of pivoted when I moved to Phoenix into starting, uh, just a, a residential and commercial cleaning company that I've had now for almost five years. Um, just always an entrepreneurial spirit. Just, uh, always loved being able to kind of. Dictate my own schedule and time and, um, yeah, I mean there's just nothing [00:01:00] else that's like owning your own business. Uh, and then, um, meeting Brandon last year, uh, just kind of pivoted into, it's kind of a no brainer when you have a cleaning company to, you're in people's properties all the time, residential, commercial, to pivot into, um, an all encompassing type of a, a property care company, um, that provides a lot of services on site. Yeah. Brandon, tell us a little bit about yourself. Yeah, my name's Brandon. Um, I'm actually currently a physical therapist by trade, so I, uh, still, um, work part-time as a physical therapist. I, um, actually manage a clinic as well, way out Al and, um, I, uh. Like Justine said, started with this about a year ago. Um, I just saw the opportunity like her in the market for, you know, people inquiring from her, but also myself trying to get services and seeing the kind of fluctuation in price points that I was being offered. And, [00:02:00] um. Just, uh, wanted to kind do more or less, um, uh, what's the best word for kind of, uh, midline? I mean, there's a baseline for all these services you're being offered, and as most of us don't know what that baseline is. And, uh, sometimes we're, you know, overpaying for things like, uh, junk removal or something like that, and not even realizing it. Sometimes we're getting a heck of a deal, not even realizing it too. So, but, um, just to kind of give a, uh, a better service product and, uh, a more consistent, you know, system. This is, uh, and, uh, I guess I got into this, uh, specifically because as a physical therapist, it's a great job. I love helping people and enjoy the position, but. There's not a lot of opportunity for growth unless you're willing to go to a level of like traveling a lot and doing, doing other things. And, um, I [00:03:00] find that in this day and age, it's hard to, uh, support, support yourself and like, uh, you know, even on a good salary, you really have to, I think, um, take ownership of something and, uh, as difficult as it may be and make it successful. Well, let's talk a moment about Phoenix Property Care Pros and, and let's start with just maybe a, a quick overview of what exactly does your company provide? Of course. You wanna go ahead or? Sure. Um, yeah, I can elaborate a little bit. So, uh, Phoenix Property Care Pros we offer for both residential and commercial properties. Um, there's junk removal. Um, there is, uh, interior and exterior window cleaning, uh, pressure washing. There's trash bin, recycling bin or dumpster, uh, cleaning, pressure washing, and then also carpet and tile, cleaning, and of course, um, throwing in there. There's also the, uh, the, the cleaning as well, like janitorial services. She made that sound a lot more complicated [00:04:00] than it needed to. Um, we, uh, kinda specialize I would say, just to, uh, reader's Digest version of that and junk removal, uh, pressure washing surfaces, a variety of surfaces, uh, from epoxy garage floors to, you know, concrete spills, oil stains, those sorts of things We see a lot of. Um, we do the residential and commercial, so a lot of warehouse spaces. A lot of, uh, you know, single family homes that were, somebody spilled oil in the driveway. And, uh, we also do the window cleaning, and that's for, again, the residential and commercial. We have grain and, you know, 60 foot ladders and that, um, can really do about anything with that. Uh, same with the home. She's been in the home cleaning business for a long time and has the insight on that. And then, um, I think we do trash, we do trash bin pressure washing as well, but it's something that's more like subscription based, um, than anything else. [00:05:00] And, um, I'm trying to think what else to, oh, okay. The tile and grout cleaning and, uh, comfort cleaning would be the other. Services. You know, there, there's not much that's more exciting than becoming a property owner, whether it's a home or whether it's a business. But as, as new property owners quickly find out, it's, it's not a static proposition where you buy it and it's just. Takes care of itself forever. And, you know, you don't have to worry about, you know, things beyond, you know, paying the bills or maybe sweep up or pulling occasional weed. Talk to me about some of the common challenges. Um, we can start with either residential or commercial. What are some of the, the type of, uh, cleaning situations that come up and, and how do you help property owners stay on top of their property? In fact, we could talk about why it's important to stay on top of that as well. Sure. Um, so I guess the, the importance of staying on top of properties, especially when you live in Arizona, um, there's the, I mean, a constant influx of dust is, uh, I [00:06:00] mean, I've been in homes where people have inches, uh, this thick of, uh, of dust sitting on ceiling fans, air beds. Um, so you just, you honestly, you're breathing all of that in. You're breathing all of those dust particles in, um, and, uh. So it's just very important to stay up to date with that more, the more so than you would in any other market because of the, the, the dust, um, that is there. Uh, the upkeep overall, I think, uh, sometimes, especially in the cleaning space, um, there is just an influx, again, using that word of, uh. Whether it's pet hair, dander, uh, food particles, things that sit on baseboards, um, you have things that sit in the tile and the grout and you're just tracking all of that up. When you're in people's homes that have kiddos, pets, they're walking on all of these surfaces and pro and uh, um, yeah, on all of the surfaces and putting things in their mouth. And it's just like a, for just sanitation and, and health overall is just important. [00:07:00] Um. What about like the curb, curb value or the curb appeal? Yeah, curb. Yeah. I mean just, uh, from an outdoor perspective, a lot with pressure washing, I would say more so than anything. Mm-hmm. Unless, uh, you have a lot of junk in your front yard, it have to some help with that. But the pressure washing know, just goes to, uh, curb appeal, like she was saying on the home. It increases value and uh, it's something that you're getting a lot of bang for your buck. I'd say when you're looking at a driveway that's, you know, been. I've been there since the eighties or even early two thousands even. I mean, I forget how far into the future we're getting. But yeah, just to, um, increase the value of the home and that sort of thing. Now I have to, I have to make this observation about pressure washing just because, um, you know, as I'm scrolling through social media, occasionally I come across videos where someone is pressure washing a deck or a sidewalk or something. I don't know what it is, but that is the most captivating thing in the world to watch. It's does it feel [00:08:00] really satisfying after you've, you've done a good pressure washing and it's like, okay, here's the before and here's the after. I, I always compare it to cutting grass. I never minded cutting grass back. Now this is more Midwest, so, um, never minded cutting grass because it was something that you saw kind of the instant reward of your work. And I always found that to be rewarding. It was, uh, the instant gratification almost, if you will, of, uh, getting a job done and seeing what you've completed. I imagine much like a lot of our builders and things feel, you know. I, um, once it's completed, I, I built that. That's pretty, that's pretty cool. Does it? That was like the, uh, the warehouse job we did, right? Kind of where you see that? Yeah. Oh yeah. The, the before and the after of like, yeah. We had gone into a warehouse recently that hadn't been cleaned in years and, uh. We, uh, it, you know, uh, didn't really have to do anything out of the way special for maybe some extra treatment or something, but it was just amazing to [00:09:00] see the before and after. It looked like a brand new warehouse, but just doing the floors and, uh, I know the, uh, customer was very happy with the service and everything, so I think that, um, it was just, uh, a good feeling to see the. Value we were able to read still in their, in their place. I imagine sometimes it probably doesn't even feel like work as you're seeing that that new, uh, the newer better version emerge. Especially when you get towards the end, that's, uh, but, but, uh, at the beginning it seemed a little daunting and things like that, but we always try to have enough people on our crew, so it's not, it's not too bad, you know, you're there for a reasonable amount of time. And, um, if we need, you know, two shifts of people, we'd rather do that than burn somebody out over a day's time just to get the job done. Uh, we wanna get the job done in time of the request, so we. Uh, we just value, um, you're not gonna be doing a good as good of a [00:10:00] job typically at 12, 13 hours as you would at six or six to eight. So, uh, just having staffing on that can be there to do that sort of thing. And, and talk to me a little bit about, uh, time. I'm, I'm guessing that most of your clients, um. You know, the reason they hire you is because you can take care of something for them that would, would otherwise, um, take their time in, in ways that, uh, to them it's worth it to, to have you come and do it. You have the tools, you have the know-how you can get it done quickly, you can get it done efficiently. Um, whereas if, if they were to, you know, go and tackle it to, they'd be looking at something that actually would take more of their time than, than they have to invest at that moment. Is that, is that Oh yeah. Roughly accurate. That resonates usually I've, uh, had to. You know, uh, grew up pressure washing and cleaning and taking care of, uh, my grandparents and my parents' yard and stuff. Not really by free volition at that time, but, um, and [00:11:00] I realized, uh, I guess how difficult some of these things can be and how challenging. And then to, you know, just learn how to scale that to different scales, to different pressures. Because every surface, I mean, you, it's, it's, uh, requires a lot of knowledge, a lot of insight and things like that, that you wouldn't really, you know, scratch the surface Now. Yeah. I, I would also, um, say that, uh, the hiring, even if you're paying a premium, hiring an expert to handle, especially when you're looking at like the, it's PSI has to do with like pressure washing and like the pressure of the nozzles. Pressure per square inch. Yeah. Pressure per square inch. Yes. Um, so. Being knowledgeable and hiring an expert for that. Because if any regular person were to just buy a run of the mill pressure washer at a store and do it themselves, they may not do an, uh, like an accurate job or they may damage a surface. Same thing with carpet cleaning, grout cleaning. There's so much damage that can happen if [00:12:00] you're not hiring a knowledgeable person. Yeah, and like I think, uh, a good, um. Example that would be with the carpet cleaning, for instance, if they're, you know, so they'll do carpet a lot, but a lot of times we have requests for carpet and upholstery and if they're not utilizing different temperature of water or if they don't, you know, if they're not insightful and they've done the job a lot, they're gonna likely mess some job. And I guess that's something we've just seen firsthand, uh, and just heard a lot of experiences of negative experiences of. And also with the pressure washing back to your kind of your original question, I think that it's very helpful, like a job that would take, I mean US hours, if not days, um, with the right equipment could be done very quickly. Um, you know, some of our trucks, they have the two big barrels on 'em, so they require no outside water source. Um, they. Uh, you know, so you can pull 'em into places you [00:13:00] might not be able to otherwise, to clean stuff and get a, get the truck closer to the building and, uh, that sort of thing. And, um, just different, you know, uh, we possess, uh, a lot of unique pools, uh, you know, things, different things that allow us to kind of make sure things are being done right. Expand upon 'em. Uh, even normal services, like with the crane operating, uh. Uh, uh, license view and everything like that and just, uh, having access to all these things I think kind of applies to it all. Talk to me about window cleaning, and the reason I'm asking you about this is because, um, I, I feel like I get used to looking out through the windows and, you know, they are what they are, but when they are cleaned, it's like my whole worldview brightens because I can see through it. I mean, I, I was, I just didn't realize how used to dirty windows. I got because I was looking through 'em every day. Do do you encounter that from time to time? [00:14:00] I say that I'm looking at our window right now. There's a bunch of dog all over. Right. And so, so like, uh, we need to work a little bit harder on your windows. But, um, and, um, yeah, I think there's, uh. It's something that with a lot of these businesses in Arizona, for whatever reason, I'm not quite sure, but have glass windows, you know, um, a lot of the, um, shopping center places, a lot of, uh, being a physical therapist, a lot of the physical therapist offices, you know, their windows all the way around the building, and you constantly have people leaning against 'em and touching on both workers and patients for whatever reason. And, uh, they just require a fair amount of, you know, that would be very time consuming for an employee to do. You almost have to have, you know, you know, a pretty steady part-time employee that would be be there often. Um, and so we just try to. Like [00:15:00] you had said, it's, it's, it's a time thing. I think a lot of, with a lot of these jobs, these guys can usually, uh, we get in there and get it done a lot quicker than you'd be able to just because the equipment and, uh, the knowhow, their experience. How often do you have to, to pressure wash, you know, a, a property, let's say for instance, you know, someone has a, a sidewalk, a driveway or a deck or something like that. Um, what's, what's a reasonable amount of time, you know, to, to go between cleanings? Um, shoot, that's, uh, I guess it varies on how well you kind of do the small time maintenance on those things, but, you know, in a perfect world, I think like a detailed pressure washing, you could probably go a couple, couple years even with that at a home. Um, now, depending also where your home's at in the valley, is it kind of, you know. Uh, a little bit more protected from dust and such than the house. That's a little bit new build. Maybe you have a lot of fresh land moving around. Um, you're [00:16:00] probably gonna need a little bit more frequently in that case, you know, but it's, uh, something that dust such deep cleaning and it's pulling, pulling things from the cos of the concrete, um, that. Anything else is gonna be superficial for a while. So you could probably take care of yourself pretty, you know, a lot easier than you would be if you had out the power washing. Yeah, I, I would say that it also depends on the, the type of property, so like commercial buildings that have sidewalks out front or that have a lot of foot traffic, or gonna be more frequent. Just again, you're trying to make your business presentable to the public. Um, we do a lot of Airbnbs as well, so you're gonna, the frequency's going to be. You know, I, it's gonna be more frequent, um, just because of the foot traffic. You want it to like look presentable again to guests checking in as well. So it just, it depends on the, the clientele is, I mean, I, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I, I was, I worked at a place that was, uh. [00:17:00] Federally funded. So they had a lot of money to, to spend, and I would see somebody pressure washing. There's, and now there was tons of foot traffic there at their facilities too. But, uh, once a week I would see someone pressure washing the sidewalks, um, just due to the amount of foot traffic and, you know, sidewalks would be pretty dingy in a week's time. So, and, and do you guys provide, you know, free quotes for, for your customers? Uh, we do, we actually have a pretty detailed, and that's kind of what I was hinting at about earlier with, uh, you know, giving people what is the normal prices, what are the normal prices, if you have a specialized, you know, uh, we do some medical equipment cleaning, which requires a lot of special license and that sort of thing. And, uh, we've actually have a price list on every service we offer that's very detailed. Uh, you know, even for our lar larger clients, like one, you know, uh, apartment versus five apartments move out type of things. [00:18:00] So, uh, detailed price list for every service. Yes. Very nice. And, and talk to me about the cleaning products that you use. I know that, you know, people pay attention to it. Well now what exactly are you using to help me put my best foot forward? Um, of course. What are some of the things you consider when it comes to your cleaning products? Um, I know we always aim for eco-friendly as possible, especially with anything inside the house. Um, and well actually pretty particular about inside the house and do use only eco-friendly materials. Um, now with some of these outside jobs, it's gonna, especially with the pressure washing they have, you know, we have some chemicals mixed in for specifically oil stains or that sort of thing. Um, but they're nothing that's. You know, you're gonna be breathing in nothing like that. It's, uh, may be good to, you know, not be standing right over trying to breathe very late that day, but it's gonna dissipate quickly. It's, uh, it's as soon as it dries, really. And, um, I'm trying to think of [00:19:00] any other kind of negative chemicals we use much of, um, yeah, I mean, with the junk removal, it's, it's pretty straightforward and, uh. The carpet cleaning the, a lot, a lot of the other services like the windows, um, even the outside are gonna be getting the same window product and it's gonna be, you know, uh, uh, eco-friendly, you know, um, as honestly, for lack of better words, organic as possible with as a little chemicals as possible. Um, her cleaning company that she was speaking about early specializes, it's called Green Pro Services and they specialize in, uh, only eco-friendly, um, cleaning and trying to, you know, use only, uh, only those types of products. Yeah. Okay. And how do people find you? What's the best way? You have a website, how can they reach out and, and get ahold of you? Yes. Uh, so our phone number, uh, they can give us [00:20:00] a call or text, uh, at (480) 920-8475. Um, we do have a website, which is, uh, phoenix property care pros.com. Um, they can also email us for, uh, quotes or inquiries at, um, Phoenix Property Care pros@gmail.com. Social. Yeah. And there's also so social media with the exact same names. Um, I think the Instagram accounts just getting started, but it's at Phoenix Property Care Pros. Mm-hmm. And the Facebook page is Phoenix Property Care Pros. So it's all for you. Get the name down once you're good. Again, we're talking with, uh, Justine Dele and also, uh, Brandon Sells. Um, they are the owners of Phoenix Property Care Pros, and thank you again for joining us on the Phoenix Business Brief Podcast. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you everyone.