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3 Best Janitorial Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read - Swept

Written by Konn Lavery | October 15, 2016

Deciding to start a janitorial business can be one of the most exciting and empowering steps someone can take. Thinking about launching something new? Already running your own janitorial business? Starting up a side hustle? Here are the top 3 janitorial books every janitorial business owner should read.

Being your own boss, Charting your own course

Taking control of your life in a way that only an entrepreneur can!

In this post, we are sharing three books that we think EVERY person running (or thinking about starting) a janitorial business should read.

Our hope is that you will get as much out of these janitorial books as I have. We recommend reading them in the following order to get the most out of them:

Janitorial Book #1 - The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It

Author Michael Gerber outlines an incredibly simple framework for not only avoiding the pitfalls so many new entrepreneurs fall into but also explaining a step-by-step process for how to create a business that has a drastically improved chance of beating the odds.

This janitorial book’s key concept is based on the idea of three key mindsets every small business owner can identify with:

  1. The Entrepreneur
  2. The Manager
  3. The Technician

 

This janitorial book will help you understand how much of each mindset you have, what that means, and what you need to do to avoid being one of the 90% of small businesses that fail within the first 5 years.

Janitorial Book #2 - Now, Discover Your Strengths: How to Build Your Strengths and the Strengths of Every Person in Your Organization

In this janitorial book, author Marcus Buckingham outlines the findings of a massive Gallup Study of over 2 Million people in the United States.

At this book’s core, Buckingham’s research challenges the common assumption that people should work on their weaknesses.

The research identifies 33 psychological profiles that are found across a wide range of people. Each offers a valuable window into how each of us thinks and views the world.

It will help you understand what personalities you work well with, which ones to avoid, and which ones you will need to fill in your weaknesses.

Use this janitorial book to help you better understand yourself, and in doing so, leverage the strengths you have to design a better janitorial business for you and the team you build.

Janitorial Book #3 - The Dream Manager

In this janitorial book, Matthew Kelly crafts a fictional story around the incredibly simple but extremely powerful idea of how to engage your employees and address the vicious cycle of turnover.

The best part of this book is that the fictional story he writes to illustrate the approach his consulting company has developed is based on a janitorial company named Admiral Janitorial.

This janitorial book’s foundation concept is in line with the approach that our co-founder Michael Brown started with:

Focus on your cleaners, and they will focus on your customers.

Whether you’re thinking of starting a janitorial business or have been running one for years and need a WHY to guide your day-to-day actions, this book outlines a great approach I would encourage all janitorial businesses to follow.

What about you? What are your favourite janitorial books that have helped you and your business grow? Share your ideas in the comments below.