Mike Will: A Great Clean (Heber City, UT)

Today, Ete sits down with entrepreneur Mike Will of A Great Clean, located in Heber City, UT. Mike is a passionate musician (check out Mike Stance and Unfailing), a pug owner, a heat-hating snowboarder, and owner of a successful carpet-cleaning business. Ete and Mike met in a hot tub at the beautiful Mountain Valley RV Resort in Heber City, UT.

Big ideas from this episode:

A “free roaming spirit” can lead to entrepreneurship.
​​I kind of was able to connect that idea of that free roaming spirit, of wanting to be out in the world sharing a message, with my idea of also wanting to manage myself without needing someone else to tell me what I need to do every day. And so the idea of music led me straight to entrepreneurship.

Claim the right name the right way.
I realized that I hadn't trademarked it properly…and ended up losing the company to another company that is very popular in this area…

Sometimes you have to let go and start over.
…I was contacting attorneys and finding out that I did have a case. What I realized then was that it was going to become a case of the deeper pockets. I needed to have money to go to court. And I realized I needed to take a step back from something that I had been focusing on every day for three years. And it was actually kind of a relief.

Shift your focus when you need to.
And I just started moving in the direction of, okay, I need to focus on one thing at a time now, because if I spend this time trying to build another clothing company…I'm just gonna spend so much energy and not really give what I need to to the business that's actually going to put money in my pocket. And so when I realized it was time to focus on the carpet cleaning, I just did what I need to do.

Your business needs to work for you, so  only work with the clients who will honor that.
I've been doing this now, for three years, four years that I haven't been answering my phone, my business has not suffered for it. I have found the clients who are willing to work with me in the way that I'm asking them to. And in that sense, I'm allowing the people who are good for me to come into my life.

Charge what you’re worth.
I started off at 25 cents a square foot...then realizing as I got better, that that is the the poor man's carpet cleaning. You know, like, if anybody's charging you 25 cents a square foot, they don't know how to charge what they're worth, or they're beginning,

You might not need employees.
But I've also had employees that I've trained and spent time training–time and money–and to have them leave and realize, Oh, now I've built my business up to this point, a now I either need to find somebody that I can train again, or what I took a deeper look at is, if I was to just handle this on my own, which I know I can, would I  make more money.

Connect with yourself, be yourself, and believe in yourself.

• …have a meditation practice, a way to quiet the mind a little bit in order to hear what the heart is telling you…that's been one of the ways that I've truly been able to connect with that belief and self.
• Do what feels right to you. Don't let anybody tell you what the right way to be you is.
• So when you hear self doubt come up in the mind and you know, in your heart, you want to experience what life has to offer you, in order to receive what it is that you want, you've got to believe in yourself.