Mompreneur Reena Alcantara of CMDA Home & Office Cleaning Services

One of my personal goals is really to help the other entrepreneurs in the Philippines become successful at what they do. I’ve always believed that those who really want to be entrepreneurs need to be given the same opportunities given to huge companies. In this blog, I intend to help entrepreneurs, especially mompreneurs, by promoting their services. I recently made a shout out on my instagram account (follow me at http://instagram.com/mommyginj) that I am looking for more entrepreneurs that I could interview and whose services I can write about.

Today, I am proud to publish this interview with my friend Renz Alcantara who is also a member of the WAHMderful Life community. She is the proprietor of CMDA Home & Office Cleaning Services, which I think will be useful for busy moms like us who plan to outsource these household work. One of the tips that I always say during my talks is that we should accept the fact that we need help — from our husbands, from parents and from people around us. Even if we want to do everything by ourselves, it’s just humanly impossible! 🙂 These cleaning services of Renz will be a huge help. But, let’s start by getting to know this lady.

About Reena or Renz…
My family and friends are fond of calling me Renz. I’m a Mom of 2 beautiful girls and 2 feline boys. My girls are Peaches, 6 years old, and Luzy who just turned 2 months old. My rowdy furry sons are Ted, adopted from PAWS and Peanut, who Troy and Peaches rescued from the streets. Before CMDA, I have been working online since 2008. While my forte is Search Engine Optimization, I have honed different skills being a virtual assistant. I am a proud WAHM (work at home mom) and everyday I am thankful for being one. My ultimate goal, together with my equally hardworking and supportive husband, is to provide a stable work for honest and hard working Filipinos and give them and their family opportunities of a better quality of life. The good people who are working for us are treated as family and partners in providing quality service to our clients.

Interview with Mompreneur Reena Alcantara of CMDA Home and Office Cleaning Services

Ginger: Hi Renz! Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for Mommy Ginger. First of all, can you tell us what your business is about and how long have you been doing it?

Renz: CMDA cleaning service is about the people we work with and maintaining the quality of service that we provide to our clients. The concept came from my Mom and then my husband and I decided to start and try it out. We offer deep cleaning services on homes and offices, post construction cleaning, restaurant kitchen sanitation, stay out cleaning service, and post event cleaning services. In less than a year, we’ve managed to grow the business with help from both sides of our family and amazing people who came to work with us.

Ginger: Who is your target market?
Renz: We cater to commercial offices, condominium owners, houses, schools, restaurants and any other spaces that our clients want to be cleaned and sanitized without the hassle of buying industry grade solutions and cleaning equipment.

Ginger: How did you come up with this idea? What made you decide to start this kind of business?
Renz: My Mom first thought of the concept and I decided to move it forward. Being a clean freak myself, I have set high standards of cleaning on both residential and commercial spaces. I am easily turned off with even a small smudge of dirt in our wall.

Ginger: As a mompreneur, were there any obstacles that you faced when you decided to pursue this business? 
Renz: The biggest obstacle was hiring trustworthy and hard working cleaners for the business. But with God’s grace, we were given the perfect partners who love the business like we do. Second obstacle was the money to start the business. Being young parents, we were concerned about risking whatever savings we had in starting a new business but again, support from our families poured in and their confidence in us gave the final push.

Ginger: What are three traits that you think a Mompreneur should have when starting their own business?
Renz: Be a know-it-all. When it comes to starting up your business, make sure you know everything there is to know. Read, learn, ask, those were the most important things I did when I was just starting the business.

– Be ready to multi-task. As a business owner, a mother, a wife all rolled into one you are bound to wear two or three hats all at the same time. Keep your sanity by mastering the art of multi-tasking. I would also want to mention, know when to asking for help and delegate to maximize your time and potential.

– Dream big- the realization of your dreams and your visions start with having one. And then make baby steps to attain the dream.

Ginger: Any unforgettable moments or lessons that you learned as a Mompreneur?
Renz: There were plenty of lessons I learned the hard way like when a client didn’t pay for the service claiming they were not satisfied of the service even though they saw their place a week after our cleaning service was rendered and her helper and driver were there to check our cleaners and even signed a waiver saying all is well and satisfactory.

There was also this one time we had to do a repeat cleaning to a small condo because the owner complained and again, her helpers were there watching over our cleaners and again signed the waiver. The helper even made up stories about how our cleaners were when it really didn’t happen. But what can you do when you want your clients to be happy?

Also, unforgettable moments were when we started getting calls from celebrities and high end condominiums! I remember thinking of going myself so I can see the celebrity and her/his home. Teeheee.

Ginger: haha! But, yes, as mompreneurs, sometimes you have to learn these things the hard way. Not all days are bright and sunny. So what advice can you give to other Mompreneurs?
Renz: There are no small or big dreams, the most important thing is you have one and you’re working hard to achieve it. Believe and you shall see. Treat your employees well, they are your front-liners and always remember that they represent you and your business.

Ginger: Yes, I agree. Employees should be treated well, especially if they really show that they care for the company. As a company in this day and age, what are the tools that you use for your business?

Renz: The most important tools in my marketing my business are my laptop, my mobile phones and the Internet. Most of my clients know about our business through websites.

Ginger: So, what we can pick up here from Renz is that even if you business is a traditional service like cleaning services, digital marketing still plays an important role in growing your business. Thank you Renz for being our guest today. I hope a lot of our readers here get to avail of your services.

CMDA Home & Office Cleaning Services
Website: http://cmdacleaningservices.vaprostaff.com/ (temporary URL)
Email address: cmdacleaning@gmail.com
Mobile Number: 0917-5092768
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CMDACleaningServices
Landline Number: 994-4688 | 470-0415