He had to move back from Johannesburg to Polokwane and was taken in by his brother who gave him an industrial cleaning machine.
“I did not know how to use it and had to spend time with somebody who worked with the machine, to learn my way around it. Once I had perfected that, I created fliers, which were by no means classy, but they put the message out there, I would walk from house to house handing them out,” he said. That was how he started his upholstery and cleaning service company.
Jim explained that because he had zero clients, zero capital and zero resources, he walked with his machine to his first few jobs. Through word of mouth, he started gaining more clients as people were happy with his services. He added that most of his clients are in affluent areas and he has clients who make use of his services regularly.
“The biggest game changer for my business was introducing uniforms, because people suddenly took us seriously. Before, when we worked in ordinary clothes, people would want to negotiate the amount we charged for our services,” he said.
Most of his business comes from house calls and he has grown so much that he has now introduced valet services to his business. One challenge that he has encountered, however, is the Covid-19 pandemic, he was unable to keep his four employees. “It was a sort of blessing in disguise because starting afresh means that I can have people with the same passion and drive as I do to grow the business. I want proactive people who will not only grow my business but also grow and start their own,” he said. Jim expressed that his willingness to introduce people to the upholstery cleaning industry comes from his confidence in the work that he does and welcomes any competition.
He plans to grow his business further, branching into pest control, window cleaning and selling his own cleaning products. He understands that it will not be easy but as a man who started a booming business from nothing, he is ready for the challenge.
