21 brutal lessons on running a cleaning biz, subcontracting angle hit hard

Just watched this Angela Brown video on 21 brutally honest lessons for cleaning business owners, and the part about subcontracting had me nodding the whole time. She's got 30+ years in and talks about how subs can screw you on deep cleaning jobs if you don't have tight agreements. I've been burned on a $800 Bissell deep clean subcontract where the guy ghosted mid-job, left me scrambling with the client. Def need better ways to vet these folks.

man, that sounds exactly like the crap i dealt with last year, subs flaking on bathroom deep cleans.

same here, thought i had a solid crew for commercial gigs but they bailed and i ate the $500 loss.

subcontracting is a nightmare, always ends up costing more in fixes.

hired a sub for a hoarder cleanout, he took the easy stuff and left the worst for me lol.

PE firms buying up cleaning companies are making subs even shadier, undercutting everyone.

those corporate assholes ruin it for the little guys, forcing us to compete on price alone.

warning: always get a deposit from subs, or you'll be out the door fee with no recourse.

for invoicing subs, use QuickBooks and tie payments to milestones, saved me twice.

subcontracting deep cleans is a crapshoot, better to train your own team.

i feel you on the ghosting, lost a $700 vac job because of it.

same boat, subs always cut corners on grout cleaning.

totally get the frustration, been there with window subs.

this is why i hate the whole subcontracting model in cleaning.

Angela's video nailed it, subs think they can half-ass and still get paid.

clients demanding spotless but subs delivering garbage, then insurance hikes because of complaints.

the big corps are squeezing us dry with their sub networks.

PSA: background checks on subs or regret it, had one steal supplies.

for reliable invoicing, track hours with Toggl before paying subs out.

subcontracting is why small cleaning ops are dying off.

yeah, the PE vultures circling just make it worse.

lost $900 on a sub who botched a carpet steam clean.

i commiserate, it's exhausting chasing these flakes.

SharkBite for plumbing subs? nah, but for cleaning, stick to vetted locals only.

corps are the real enemy, underbidding and ruining rates.

how do you even find decent subs without the headache?

big money PE takeovers are killing independent cleaning crews.