She Started Cleaning Houses to Work Around Her Kids. Now She Has 30 Staff. | Kerryann Martin

In this episode of Scale HER Up, Brenda Hector is joined by Kerryann Martin — owner and managing director of K&M Cleaning Services Limited. Kerryann started in 2014. Her son was months old. Her daughter was in nursery. The goal was simple: clean houses during school hours, nobody telling her otherwise. Twelve years later, K&M Cleaning Services has 30 staff and offers domestic cleaning, deep cleans, tenancy cleans, commercial contracts, carpet and upholstery cleaning, laundry, and biohazard cleaning. Some of it was planned. Some of it landed in her lap. The most recent expansion — biohazard, laundry, carpet cleaning — was all at once, because once she decided to take the risk, she didn't do it in small doses. This is a conversation about building a business without a business background, the goalpost that keeps moving, the husband who keeps you going, and why you shouldn't wait until you know everything before you start. In this episode: 00:00 — Introduction 01:00 — What K&M Cleaning Services does: domestic, commercial, carpet, laundry, biohazard 01:30 — How the business grew: what was planned and what was opportunistic 02:30 — What she wishes she'd known — and why she's glad she didn't 04:00 — Started in 2014 with a months-old son and a daughter in nursery 05:00 — From 30 staff to the goal: a business that runs without her 06:30 — Women, risk appetite, and what it took to start taking bigger risks 08:30 — Going all out: biohazard, laundry, carpet — all at once 10:30 — The goalpost problem: commercial client, office, van, staff — and then needing more 11:30 — What she's learned about herself: patience and not taking it personally 13:00 — The hardest parts: balancing staff and customers, implementing what you've learned 13:30 — How she learned to run a business: courses, networks, ChatGPT, asking questions 15:00 — The best moments: contracts, awards, providing jobs for the community 15:30 — Biggest supporter: husband Jim Martin 17:00 — Did she always expect to have her own business? 18:00 — Advice for her 18-year-old self: set goals, make a plan 19:00 — Advice for women starting and scaling: don't get lost in the detail Scale HER Up is the podcast for female-led businesses ready to grow to seven figures and beyond. Each episode features real stories, tools and tactics to help you build a business that supports the life you want. Only one in three UK entrepreneurs are female — and men are still five times more likely to scale beyond £1 million in turnover. When we change that, we add £250 billion to the UK economy. Ladies, you can do it. #ScaleHERUp #WomenInBusiness #FemaleEntrepreneur #CleaningBusiness #WomenInBusiness #WomenSupportingWomen #Entrepreneurship #SmallBusinessScotland #BusinessGrowth #WomenEntrepreneurs