When it comes to retirement, not everyone is ready to hang up their hats for good. Many are now opting to continue working through retirement, whether that’s with a strong side hustle or a few odd jobs here and there. With the heightened cost of living that many face today, it can be incredibly beneficial to make a few extra bucks where possible, to support your retirement fund and ensure you’re not running out of money anytime soon.
But many retirees are now looking for ways to make a good income from these after-retirement gigs. Sure, we can sell online, start a new business, or even turn to investing, but that doesn’t tell us exactly how to turn these endeavors from pipe dream to successful reality.
Which is why we found this story about building a $20k/month business in 90 days such an inspiring one…
“I built a $20,000/month business in 90 days for my 64-year-old Mom”
Johnny Robinson of Home Service Academy released this statement on Twitter this November and we just couldn’t hold it back from our readers…
He noted that, instead of driving around 8 hours a day for Uber, this business requires just 5-10 hours per week of her time (max).
Which, to us, sounds pretty incredible. We know a tonne of retirees are flocking to Uber and other driving apps to spend days working, without seeing the kind of income they deserve.
While we’ve heard the fairytale stories of retirement-aged Uber drivers that know how to manage peak times and long drives, making it work by only using the app when they’re already out and about… we know this isn’t the case for everyone. For those of us who need a more steady income and can’t figure those darn apps out? There needs to be another solution.
So what is it that made Johnny Robinson’s Mom $20k/month in just 90 days? A remote house cleaning business.
Why remote house cleaning?
Because, unlike other services such as plumbing, house cleaning is unlicensed. You don’t need years of schooling and you can start up whenever you feel ready to.
Other unlicensed services you can use include:
- Window cleaning
- Pool cleaning
- Windshield repair
- Gutter cleaning
- Junk removal
- Landscaping
- Mobile detailing
How to build a $20k/month business in retirement as a remote house cleaner
So, how did he do it? We’ll take you through step by step what Johnny did to secure his mom a flourishing business, plus the tools that will help you get it all done.
Step 1: Sign up for all free business directories
A business directory helps users search for companies, services, or products in their area in a more targeted and precise way. By signing up for all free business directories such as Facebook, Google My Business and Yelp, your website or service will be much easier to find. Which is pretty important because when it comes to business… visibility is key!
Step 2: Reverse-engineer pricing
When you want to figure out exactly how much to charge, instead of just taking a shot in the dark, it counts to follow this step. And it’s much easier than you may think. Call your top 10 competitors from Yelp and get a quote from them.
(For the record, when Johnny Robinson did this, 8 of the 10 didn’t even answer! Makes things pretty easy, right?)
This will help you gauge exactly how much your competitors are charging for the same service you’re offering, so you can tailor your price accordingly.
For example, Robinson discovered that their competitors were charging $40-$45 an hour. They’d decided they wanted to charge the highest price, so they settled on $50/hour. This was so that they could pay subcontractors $25/hour (which is a lot and will likely guarantee a job exceptionally well-done).
But keep in mind that prices will vary based on your location so don’t just take this example and run with it. It’s important to do the research and, to make things as functional as possible, to then put all of these pricing details into a spreadsheet so you can easily refer to it when quoting over the phone.
Step 3: Build a nice looking website + integrate a booking service
Build a nice-looking website and integrate Booking Koala. Booking Koala is the perfect platform to grow a service business, with an aim to give your customers the perfect experience while still making your life easier. It means that anyone can start a service and compete with multi-million dollar brands in seconds.
For the build of your website? We’d recommend getting started with WordPress or even MailChimp, which both have free options available for when you first get started. We do have a personal bias toward WordPress, which is easily upgradable once you have the funds coming in and is both easy and super-professional to use. It makes building that website an absolute breeze.
(And, if you ever want to offload your website builds to a freelancer or other, they’ll love you for using this platform!)
Step 4: Find subcontractors
If you’re anything like Robinson’s Mom, you may already have a presence in the local Facebook group for your area. This made it easy for her to make a job post looking for professional house cleaners: she received a bunch of calls.
And you can do this too! But it’s not just exclusive to Facebook – you can also post to any job board as well.
Step 5: Find leads!
The final step is the most important one – you’ll need leads to start making money. But it’s also the easiest part.
There are homes and buildings that need cleaning absolutely everywhere. Whether it’s corporate cleaning, cleaning before a move, cleaning a new home, or just cleaning up after a big (accidental) mess, there are jobs everywhere.
Use the same approach you did finding contractors: make posts everywhere you can, get referrals and get the word out as much as possible. Don’t forget to tell all your friends too – they or someone they know may be in dire need and you can easily ask for a referral too!
Additional steps:
If you want to do paid advertising to increase your visibility and leads, you can use Google LSA, Facebook Ads, or even Yelp Ads. It’s an additional step, but it’s a great way to ensure that you’re getting as much traffic as possible.
If you want low-cost, top-quality Facebook ads training, we recommend Jody Milward’s ADVisory.
Test 1-2 platforms at a time to see what works in your specific area and always optimize for what performs best.
If you want help with your paid advertising? Digital marketing services such as McKee Creative can get your advertising running like clockwork. McKee Creative are definitely our favorite pick for marketing: they create consistent revenue growth for ecommerce and lead generation clients, and they’re ready to manage all aspects of your paid marketing where needed.
“McKee Creative lives up to its name. Jo and her team are such a pleasure to work with and they are extremely knowledgeable about Facebook ads. Her team takes a lot of pride in their work and they get results for businesses who want to grow. I highly recommend them!”
– Jula Pereira
But if you’re not ready to completely offload all your work? You can easily order copy (that’s the words you’ll need) for your ads that’ll easily turn heads, without having to spend hours figuring out how to write effectively. We’d recommend checking out Your Ads on Demand for copy of all kinds, completed within 3 business days. So you can do “you” and they can focus on the words.
And that’s it! That’s all it took for Robinson to build a $20k/month business in just 90 days for his 64-year-old Mom (so she could quit being an Uber driver, even as someone who barely knows how to use a laptop).
If you’re considering ways to make money in retirement, we definitely recommend keeping this avenue in mind. With the free training from Robinson, you can easily check it all out, and get started without the start-up costs of most businesses.
It’s the perfect job for retirees and will save you time, effort, and money, giving you the kind of results you’ve been dreaming of!
