Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandra Romero
Hi Sandra Romero, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Being an immigrant is not always easy
There are a lot of barriers that restrain you of being successful. Language and information seemed to be the main ones to me. My name is Sandra, and I’m co-owner of X-Act Care Cleaning Services.
Sandra Romero expresses: When I came to the US, I started working in a dry-cleaning business making $8 an hour. Long days of Ironing, folding, and organizing clothes. It took me a couple of years taking ESL classes to be proficiently enough in English to work in the front desk as customer service representative.
I met Hernan through an online dating website, Match.com
Sandra Romero talked about her project with Hernán: We had an ongoing dating and fell in love pretty soon. We moved together in 2017 and started traveling when my boss told me I had already lost my vacations for the years 2017 and 2018.
Hernan wanted to travel with me, and my job was in the middle of our happiness. We realized it was time to move onto something new. We dreamed of becoming business owners. With zero experience and guidance, we did brainstorming about possible business ideas.
We thought about either opening a dry cleaner, a daycare, or a hair salon. None of the first 3 ideas would work with us, or that’s what we thought at that time. For these businesses, we needed a local space, and as we grew, we had to continue to increase our infrastructure. These ideas were not an option for us.
We registered our brand X-Act Care, LLC
Sandra Romero openly declares that they have registered with low budget, little cleaning experience, and no business experience whatsoever.
We went together to our first quote appointment, and we got the first job. In a matter of 2 months, we hired our first contractor. We started learning about scheduling, accounting, customer service experience, payroll, contracts, website, social media, marketing, etc.
The current result
As of today, we manage a pocket of 300+ clients monthly; some of them have services monthly, bi-weekly, weekly, or even daily (our Airbnb clients); we have automated services on our website, and our lovely marketing team is always working on featuring our maids and us on social media.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been easy
The biggest struggle was finding our north. We were determined in the idea of opening a business, but not knowing what to do really made us more vulnerable to make mistakes.
Early in our days, we paid big companies for “Leads” (new clients). Putting money into a business without having good accountability systems was a liability that put our business at risk at a certain point of our early steps.
We ended up investing in the business and owing $105,000 in credit cards. We certainly hit rock bottom, and we didn’t have another alternative than selling our house to cash some money out for solvency.
Selling our home and buying a new one was a big relief, then we focused on strengthening our business structure.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
As of today, I’m the general manager of X-Act Care Cleaning Services. I work with a lot of contractors, and I keep constant communication with our clients. Professionalism is key, our cleaning ladies are always on time, with their uniform, and it is easy to know when they arrive; our cars are wrapped with the X-Act Care logo and business information. I’m very proud of saying that my clients love our customer experience.
I’m also proud of saying that I have a loving husband that has been there in every step of the company since the formation until today. My husband is a real estate broker and we both help each other to grow our family business.
What are your plans for the future?
We want to promote our brand and continue to expand. Next year, we will open another location in Fort Worth. We are planning to sell franchises starting in 2024. Dedication is the key to success.
Pricing:
- Cleaning services Starting at $129
Contact Info:
- Website: https://x-actcare.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xactcare/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/XActCare
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/XActCareLLC1
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JMdXjpFXUQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/x-act-care-cleaning-services-dallas-2
- Other: https://x-actcare.blogspot.com/2022/09/best-cleaning-service-in-dallas.html
Article taken from the publication of Vollage Dallas