Skyler Sullivan has built Nebraska Elite Cleaning to $60k/month in less than two years — all while keeping his day job.
He helps homeowners get the help they need, while helping professional cleaners get more work — and makes a margin in the middle.
Tune in to Episode 645 of the Side Hustle Show to learn:
- How Skyler landed his first customers and cleaners
- How to market a remote cleaning business in today’s world
- Exact tools and strategies he uses to scale a service business
He credits another Side Hustle Show guest, Johnny Robinson, with helping him get started. Johnny and his partner Sergio created Home Services Academy to help people launch their own remote cleaning companies.
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The Not-So-Glamorous First Booking
Skylar’s pretty honest about how rough his remote cleaning side hustle started. His first booking through Angi Leads was, in his words, “a complete train wreck.”
He bid $35 for a lead, sent a cleaner to vacuum a basement, and… disaster. The cleaner freaked out over roaches and mice, ran out mid-clean, and left Skyler to deal with an angry customer. Refunds, complaints—it was a mess.
Second customer had severe sanitation issues and parrot poop everywhere. Also not a glamorous second attempt.
Most people would’ve noped out right there.
Even when his fiancée told him, “You can quit. You don’t have to do this.”
His response was pure determination: “I’m not quitting, heck no.”
His passionate spirit was honed as a Division 1 college basketball coach. It ran deep. He wanted something he could win at.
The Business Model: Playing Both Sides of the Market
The remote cleaning business is really a matchmaking game. You’ve got two problems to solve:
- Finding reliable cleaners
- Finding customers who need cleaning
You can’t have customers without workers, and you can’t hire workers without customers. It’s a chicken and egg problem.
For cleaners, using Indeed and Facebook for recruitment, Skyler’s pitch was something along the lines of “Join an elite cleaning company. We’re looking for pros. You handle the cleaning, we’ll handle everything else—scheduling, payments, customer service.”
“Everybody’s cleaned,” he said. He just needed someone who’s “diligent and reliable.”
At around $25/hour plus tips, it’s an attractive deal for pros who want to focus on their craft without dealing with the business headaches.
On the customer side, he positioned his company as a premium service. Not the cheapest in town, but the one that actually shows up and gets the job done right.
Pricing and Profit
Skyler admits he had no clue how to price jobs in the beginning. His first quotes were all over the place—too high, too low, you name it. Over time, he dialed in a system:
- Flat-rate pricing for residential jobs based on square footage.
- Hourly deals for customers on a budget (though he tries to avoid these).
His cleaners make at least $70 per visit, with 40-60% of the revenue going to them. And while margins started thin, they’ve improved as the business built its reputation.
Landing A Commercial Client
In the early days, Skyler experimented with various customer acquisition methods, from Google Ads to Thumbtack and Yelp.
One lucky break came from his local Catholic parish, which hired his company for a $10,000/month cleaning contract.
That deal gave Skyler the momentum to invest in longer-term strategies like SEO and networking. He also joined a BNI chapter, where local business owners refer clients to each other.
The Marketing Playbook
Skyler’s not doing anything fancy, but he’s executing like crazy on the basics.
- Google Local Service Ads for consistent lead flow
- BNI networking group for business referrals
- Partnerships with realtors
- Facebook mom groups for targeted local reach
- Word-of-mouth through exceptional service
Now he has 292 Google reviews, and his closest competitor has 8. That’s not just luck — it’s a systematic review collection using software like NiceJob ($75/month) that automatically follows up with customers.
Techs/Tools
For a simple remote cleaning business, there’s actually quite a bit of tech making this thing run:
- OpenPhone for business calls
- BookingKoala for scheduling ($57/month)
- Stripe for payments
- Slack for team communication
- General liability insurance
- NiceJob for reviews
But perhaps more important than the tools themselves is how he uses them together to create a seamless operation that can handle 22+ cleanings per day.
A Day in the Life (with a Day Job)
Skyler’s life sounds hectic, but he loves the chaos. By day, he’s working a full-time job as a firefighter. By night, he’s running a business—often staying up until 3 AM to handle logistics.
He’s also built a team of 4 assistants who handle the day-to-day scheduling and customer communication. This lets him focus on growth while maintaining that steady paycheck.
“80% of the job can be done by somebody else at a good level… and not too much to do too much micromanaging,” he said.
And through it all, he makes time to hit the gym. “I try and always get myself a lift in just to say at least I invest in myself today in some capacity.”
What Are the Challenges?
Keeping customers happy isn’t always easy, especially in a business where people are quick to switch for cheaper options. Skyler was refreshingly honest about his:
Poaching: Cleaners sometimes try to steal his clients, so he created better contracts, monitoring, and even undercover “spies” (like his sister) to help deter poaching.
Cash Flow Issues: Commercial cleaning clients often pay on a net-30 basis, requiring Skyler to front labor costs.
What’s Next?
Skyler isn’t slowing down. Skyler is exploring growth through acquisition, and looking at other home services like:
- carpet cleaning
- window cleaning
- painting
The playbook works — why not apply it to more industries?
To learn more, check out the resources from Home Services Academy.
Syler’s #1 Tip for Side Hustle Nation
“Stick with it.”
101 Service Business Ideas
Guaranteed inspiration for your next income stream!
Enter your email to download the full list now:
You’ll also receive my best side hustle tips and weekly-ish newsletter. Opt-out anytime.
Episode Links
- NebraskaEliteCleaning.com
- Home Services Academy
- Angi Leads
- Indeed
- Google Ads
- Thumbtack
- Yelp
- BNI networking group
- NiceJob
- OpenPhone
- BookingKoala
- Stripe
- Slack
- How to Start a Window Cleaning Business
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