Business

How I got that job: Mark Anderson

February 7, 2009 at 11:48PM

Lori and Mark Anderson (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Age: 44

Home: Cottage Grove

Job: My wife owns Lori Anderson's Home Cleaning.

Salary: The business made about $10,000 last year.

What's your background? I'm working on the assembly line at Ford Motor Co. in St. Paul.

What do you do for your wife's cleaning business? I try to think of incentives for customers, and I figure out the money for her.

How did this job come about? It was between '06 and '07. Ford Motor Co. said they were closing our plant up here and they were offering severance packages to leave. ... They always said they were going to close the plant, and we knew we had to decide what to do. We decided to try our own business -- something that would help the consumer out. We started with friends. A lot of good came back from it, so we decided to give it a shot.

What's the work like? We have a job every other day at least. I like to figure out how to improve things and get things rolling, and that's what I've been doing for my wife's company. If you have something good out there, someone's going to take it instead of taking something that's not offering much.

What are some of your incentives? Every 11th cleaning is free. If you refer us to someone, you and whoever you referred get 25 percent off every fifth cleaning you have in 2009. [We have] Anderson's Stimulus Package -- that's something I just thought of. For people who have $100 or more in an account, they get 10 percent off for five cleanings, and 5 percent off for people who have $99 and less in their accounts.

Why do you place such an emphasis on incentives? I save money for people. Every time we go clean, I let customers know what's up. Every time you can save money these days, it's good. I just like to try to help customers. By giving them incentives like this, our word-of-mouth is huge.

Favorite part of the job? Leaving the home and looking back at it to see how clean it is. When it's that clean, it's just so rewarding for us. Especially when the homeowner comes home and they're real happy. It just makes your day.

What drives the incentives you create? Just because someone's having their home cleaned doesn't mean they're rich. Some of them are working two jobs and they have kids and they're busy. ... Everybody's struggling, everybody's trying to make it, and we're going to try and help you save a buck.

ANDREW NEWMAN

Andrew Newman is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment with the Star Tribune.