Two working mums who met by chance 10 years ago have created their own business with a huge waiting list of people wanting their services.
Briony Connolly, 30, and Chelsey Stanistreet, 32, met 10 years ago while they were out walking with their kids in Wigan. Briony's mum and Chelsey's nan both volunteered in the same shop so they started chatting and have been "inseparable" ever since.
They both started working as housekeepers in the same place and had been making throwaway comments about starting their own cleaning business for a while. The mums then went on a "day sesh" in a bar in 2020 when they started speaking about it seriously for the first time.
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From there the mums made a mock up logo for what would then become their cleaning company, Clean and Bright Services. The mums officially launched in February 2020 just before Coronavirus national lockdown.
Briony told The ECHO: "We were house cleaners and have both always loved cleaning but we just didn't like where we worked. We wanted out and would always say to each other about making out own business, but it didn't lead to anything.
"After we went out we created a logo, which is based on a tattoo we both have of us on a swing to show us swinging through life, started making a Facebook page, and went from there. I left the job completely and Chelsey was still there when we launched and then lockdown hit.
"We had to get help from universal credit because we couldn't work. But we still kept going and worked out our plans for when we could work again.
"It wasn't long, maybe two or three months after lockdown was lifted and we could work again that we were fully booked."
After starting by just cleaning friend's and family member's homes word spread about the mum's cleaning business and they're now fully booked every week with a huge waiting list of clients. Working for themselves means the mums can work at times that suit them and their childcare needs instead of working long weekends.
The pair also joined social media platform, TikTok, in April 2022 and have more than 135k followers and their videos have been viewed millions of times. They use the platform to display their work – including their top secret carpet lines – and give people cleaning tips, tricks and motivation.
Briony said: "TikTok is amazing, it took off really quickly with one of our videos getting four million views alone. We now get hundreds of messages every day from people saying how we have inspired them which is great to see.
"TikTok doesn't really do much for our business because we do have a waiting list, but it's about more than that really. We have it in our terms and conditions that we have a big following on social media and share our work on there – our clients love it.
"I think they like watching the videos and some of the owners comment underneath as out followers will ask 'where's the bed from' and they will reply 'from DuneIm'."
Briony explained there is a darker side to being on social media, with some people commenting to judge the cleanliness of people's homes before they are cleaned by the mums.
She said: "Sometimes there are nasty comments on there, but we tell people this is not a space to judge. People can be so quick to comment something nasty, but people don't get cleaners just because they are lazy.
"Some of our clients work eight till eight shifts, some are struggling with [ill] mental health, some volunteer and we are the backbone of their household and a lifeline. I think people are also quick to look down on cleaning as a profession when it is a lot of hard work."
When asked what advice they would give to people looking to start their own business, Briony said: "It's a very hard and demanding job. Make sure you check on the cleaning community in your area, make sure you're insured and make sure you let people know what is involved in your cleans so they know what to expect.
"Most of all, just keep going. It's such a good job."
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