Elaine’s American Maid is more than a cleaning referral service. It’s an enterprise that is built on the passion for helping single mothers who are forced into the workforce to support their children. Equipping women with entrepreneurial skills by helping them open their own cleaning services and providing them the flexibility to be with their children is what makes this organization truly unique in creating a positive impact through business.
Innovation
American Maid helps women on welfare open their own cleaning services by offering mentorship and referring clients for continuing their enterprise. What makes this truly sustainable is that these women are encouraged and supported to work themselves out of depending upon being employed by American Maid’s to start a business independently. The organization walks the sub contractors through business licensing process, teaches how to book clients and juggle their weekly schedule. Each new subcontractor is helped to apply for a business license. The women then fix their own hours and number of houses they can clean per week.
All of American Maid’s workers are subcontractors. They are free to find their own clients as long as they do not cannibalize the organization’s clients. To ensure that both the cleaner and the client are happy, the organization hand-picks a cleaner for the client by matching personal cleaning style. Echoing the spirit of community development, American Maid reaches out to the less affluent clients in the area and also offers discounted rates to senior citizens who are incapable of cleaning their own house.
Moreover, the foundation created by the organization called Elaine’s Maid For Life offers free services for women with cancer, men whose wives have died of cancer, and for mothers whose children are stricken by this disease. The funds for this initiative are raised through the cleaning services. Additionally, the cleaners voluntarily offer extra hours to help people out of their misery.
Impact
The success of the organization speaks for itself in terms of creating a strong business by caring for people. Having already created twenty two years of prospering service, the organization has also won many awards like the Better Business Bureau’s American Spirit Award in 2004.
The company cleans about 127 houses a week with more than 80 sub contractors. The impact is huge on the women who have become financially stable by their association with the company. The women can earn as much as five hundred dollars per week. The improvement is reflected not only in their standard of living but also in their self-esteem by rising above sustenance on welfare to supporting their children through school.
Inspiration
Having gone through the misery of being on welfare herself, the founder of American Maid was driven to help women be financially independent, be empowered as business owners, and yet have time to spend with their children. Having helped more than 100 women already to prosper and grow in their self-esteem and finances is what makes this business an innovative example of sustainable positive change.
The philosophy of the business is beautifully summed up by its founder when she says that building a successful business takes more than patience, skill, endurance, and persistence; it requires a heart that is caring and not self-seeking.
The World Inquiry editorial team edited this profile from the original submission of the interviewer or other source. The views expressed do not necessarily represent Case Western Reserve University, the Weatherhead School of Management or the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. More >>
