Jaron Hall is graduating with a degree in business administration in May 2017 – and he has no plans to get a job. He hasn’t had a regular job since 2014. Instead, Hall plans to focus all of his attention on his latest startup, Utah Maids.
In 2015, Hall launched the company for less than $2,000 with Alex Ledoux, who recently graduated with a communications degree from the U. Both experienced entrepreneurs, they looked everywhere for an idea worth pursuing, and they arrived at housecleaning as an industry full of potential.
“We knew we could do it,” Hall said. “It’s not a super complicated industry. We’re not building a biotech company. It’s housecleaning.”
Their idea was to improve the customer service experience when hiring a housecleaning company and scheduling an appointment. Utah Maids provides a website with an easy-to-use scheduling process that allows customers to “book a housecleaning in 60 seconds or less.”
“People can book without having to call us,” Hall said. “It’s similar to the simplicity of buying something on Amazon or Uber without talking to someone.”
Utah Maids was their side project until it gained momentum in spring 2016. They started getting more appointments, gaining employees and improving their systems. They have continued to grow, cleaning more than 500 homes since they started and employing seven people. Among other highlights, they received free office space from the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the U and secured a $10,000 investment from the Campus Founders Fund.
What’s next? They are expanding into neighboring states, including Nevada, and if Hall has his way, they will continue growing so he never needs a real job. “If you can put as much focus on something as possible, that’s where you can grow it the fastest, and that’s what I plan to do,” he said.
Learn more and book a cleaning at utahmaids.com.
More articles like this in ‘Student Innovation @ the U!’
Find this article and a lot more in the 2017 “Student Innovation @ the U” report. The publication is presented by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute to celebrate student innovators, change-makers and entrepreneurs.
