Growing business makes a clean sweep

Now her company "Living Clean" is going into national franchising. Julie has her own line of environmentally friendly cleaning products and teams of home and office cleaners who fan out across East Anglia every day.

It started with Julie's concern about her family's exposure to the harsh chemicals in cleaning products. "I have asthma and I would start to wheeze whenever I cleaned the shower stall," she said. Julie learned about the neurotoxins in many common cleaning products. Her father, who had contracted liver cancer, blamed it on his exposure to chemicals. Then one day, her young son had an allergic reaction that closed his oesophagus. "That's when I started looking at importing environmentally safe cleaning products," Julie said. "There was a lack of them in this country."
Julie brought the cleaning products over from America and began thinking about starting her own environmentally friendly cleaning service.

Even though she'd hit on a great idea for her business, "I felt very isolated so I went along for a chat," Julie said. By this time, Julie's dad was in the latter stages of the liver cancer that would kill him. "Full Circle gave me all kinds of support, especially when my dad was so ill."

Julie had run a business, helping her parents with a catering operation in East London. But her dad always handled the financial side of things. So the Full Circle bookkeeping, cash flow and market research sessions were especially helpful, Julie said. As part of her own research, she worked doing odd jobs for another cleaning company. "I learned what I didn't want my business to be like." she said. Julie joined a business support circle called WITCHES - Women In The Circle Having Every Success. The members approved a loan that Julie used to buy her first cleaning van.

She opened "Living Clean" at the end of January 2002 with 11 clients. Now, she has 300 clients and 15 employees. Julie stopped importing cleaning products because she developed her own line - all strong and safe and not harmful to marine life. "You could clean a fish tank with Bathroom Blitz and the fish would be fine," Julie said.
But making the leap to independent businesswoman was a risk. "It was scary," she said. "I had no idea how it would go."

Now, the hard work doesn't let up. Julie said she could work six or seven days a week. And, she spends a lot of time working in the evenings after her son goes to bed. There's still so much she wants to do. Franchising across the East of England is Julie's next project. But she also has written some children's books about her company mascot Dolly the Dolphin. Publishers suggested she add in some princesses so Julie has a rewrite ahead of her.
But her core business will always be safe cleaning with environmentally friendly products.

Contact Julie on 01603 492820 or on 01603 219966.
Email: Julie@livingclean.co.uk
Website: www.livingclean.co.uk
Living Clean, 14 Unthank Road, Norwich NR4 2RA