Jared’s version of how Jani-Serv, Inc. Started in 2002

Why did I start a family cleaning service?

Finding out that I was going to have a baby in 9 months and I only had 6 months of college, I freaked out! How am I ever going to be able to take care of my new family? We have only been married for about a year & still can’t quite figure out what I want to do. I know that I always wanted to have a business ever since I was 10 years old. I knew that that was something that a lot of my relatives had done. 

Grandpa Dean had been a truck driver & then eventually owned a Service Station in Creston, Iowa in the 1950-1970’s. Grandpa and Grandma then owned about 1000 acres of farm in Iowa by retirement age. I had another Grandpa that worked at NASA on the Apollo 13 project. There was an Uncle that had his own Chiropractic Office & Aunt owned Real Estate. About this time my oldest brother also was a few years into a successful Lapel Pin business and Pool Store Then there were all those friends I knew that did MLM’s & owned Kiosk’s in the Mall and so much more. What am I going to do?

I struggled with being a little Dyslexic and having been told I have ADD my whole life, Mom &  Dad told me to learn to live with it & to try harder!  But seriously, How in the world am I going to take care of a new family? I am just barely 21 with little education and I have tried a bunch of jobs and after 10-15 jobs & nothing was a good fit by age 22 and now a baby! Then there was the competition in Utah. I felt that everyone was so highly educated and I only had 6 months of school and a really great personality to offer but that was it. I could work hard and didn’t mind changing jobs or states much. Growing up I moved to 9 or 10 states because my Dads work.

Everyone asks, was it Military that moved you around so much? No, my parents actually met as medics in the Vietnam War while serving our country. My Dad got a job in the Hospitality Industry after the War while taking business class at UCLA. He used his Military training and amazing education to move up the ladders of success, in Corporate America. He became VP of Operations over 84 Hospitals for a Nationwide Hospital management firm United Health Serve. He is a super stud!! Then he continued in the Service industries with many executive positions in these National & International Service Contract Management Firms. Then moved into more of Sales to these firms offering the equipment from the manufacturer of cleaning machines. My Dad is a super stud & I love the man!

Then came the acquisitions of his employers. Even though my Dad did amazing things for the companies and grew them 300% past goal in the first quarter, they sold the business. Then the new owners would gut the companies etc. Then my Dad would crush it again for another and He would get new areas to grow and we would move. Then acquisitions again and the cycle played over and over again. My Dad was as great as the next Dad, working hard to provide & get us a nice home in a nice neighborhood etc. The cost was he would travel & we would only see him on the weekends as he pursued providing the best way He knew how.

Okay so, fast forward to ME with my new family and what I need to do. With only 6 months of school & really had no solid job experience. Well except the 15-20 service jobs, assistant painter, car sales, lawn care, waiter, loan officer assistant, CNA without the Certification taking care of Old Folks- (loved it). On and on I changed jobs. But I need to grow up and get it together man!

So,I called my Dad and asked him what I should do. I told him everything & that I was scared. He told me, my brother was also thinking things over now that he finished college. My older brother is a lot like my Dad, super smart and graduated summa cum laude in ½ the time most people take college. Dad told me that maybe the 3 of us could start a commercial cleaning service. He specifically said  “Jared, I have met the owners of these companies and you don’t have to be that smart.” Really, this is for me Dad. I can physically work but I don’t have all the smarts my Dad and brother have. I would offer my body to the cause haha.

My wife and I lived in Utah at the time and she had a good job, savings & insurance.Then I gave her more great news. My Dad thinks we should start this in Arizona with Him and my brother. So, I told my 5 month pregnant wife “stay at your job & move in with your Mom & Dad again, I will go to Arizona and become magically successful!” HAHAHAHA, I can only imagine the conversations all my new In-laws had about me!!. 

Well, guess what,  it was really hard and we didn’t know where to start. I would sit at my parents’ pool side and swim while working on my tan and think about what the heck I am doing.Other than getting a really nice tan and working out, We had no work for at least 2 months. Then we got a break from someone my Dad sold equipment to. Building One was the company that offered us to be a subcontractor cleaning floors. I offered my skills of a healthy body to  work 7 nights a week 10pm -6 am cleaning KMART on 89th Ave & Olive in Arizona. I lost 30 pounds walking 4-6 miles on the 3rd shift. It was our only contract. I would call my wife in Utah every night on the way into work to stay awake.Oh, yeah there was a baby coming. These conversations turned out to wake up our daughter and she is still a night owl because of it. 

The day came for her to be born and we hired my replacement to the only contract we had. So, I went back to Utah with no job and oh yeah no money. We were saving the money to pay for the future business growth that didn’t exist yet except payroll for my replacement. Well by this time I had had so many amazing experiences to believe we would succeed. I left without fear or being scared this time. While I was in Utah I got a call from my brother a couple days after my amazing daughter was born..” get home Building One is offering us 4 more Kmarts!!” What…..the heck this is awesome!! 

My Mom came up and helped us pack my new daughter, wife & everything we had like the Beverly Hillbillies. I felt like we struck gold!. My Dad told us that there are “Golden Nuggets in the Toilet.” He wasn’t lying. After our first year we had about 20 workers and then 40,80,160 and kept doubling every year. Things haven’t happened without trials and changes but our focus has always been on helping families. Almost 99% of our staff is after hours looking to get out of debt, put kids through school or just stay ahead. 

We have focused on hiring folks with responsibilities and commitment to be there 1-7 nights a week if they have to. “We Take Pride In Our Work” has been our slogan for almost 20 years and we mean it! We know that there isn’t a lot of appreciation for the janitor until you realize the toilet was’t cleaned, the office is dusty or service was missed. 

What makes us different

We make sure we pay above the industry average & help employees become small independent contractors under our platform. We don’t sell our contracts or charge them a fee to be a contractor. We teach them how to open a business with the state and to be licensed and insured. We get them work and help them manage the business. This is only offered to those that want more than to be an employee that have a proven track record with us. We feel that helping them open this small business gives them more pride of ownership. They employ the same way we do with background checks and quality training nightly. We visit during the day and provide billing, sales and other management services. We pay all our staff and contractors every 2 weeks. Even if we are paid once a month we make sure they never miss a paycheck.

That’s it in a nutshell: we help start small family businesses and give anyone with a big enough dream the chance to reach their goals.