Maid2Match cleaners scrub and polish 200 homes across Australia every single day. Here are owner Toby Schulz's top five tips for small business growth.

Toby Schulz and his brother Jason are entrepreneurs who relish in bringing business ideas to fruition. But the idea for their most successful venture to date came completely out of the blue. Back in 2014, the pair moved their workspace from the family home to an office and booked their parents a regular cleaner as a thank-you gift. However, the service was poor. "Each week it was a different person, or the cleaners didn't turn up, or the clean wasn't where it needed to be," says Toby. "We asked ourselves, 'Why is it so hard to find a reliable cleaner?'" With skills in business and digital marketing, they decided to launch their own cleaning business. After a weekend spent creating a logo and a website, Maid2Match was born. They planned to rely on SEO to generate leads through Google but to kick things off in the meantime, they marketed the old-fashioned way, giving out thousands of flyers offering three years' worth of cleaning to passersby in Brisbane's CBD. "We got a few hundred people to sign up to the competition, we were able to convert a few into clients, we got some testimonials, and then we incentivised clients to refer us to friends," says Toby. Maid2Match cleaners now scrub and polish 200 homes across Australia every single day. Here are Toby's top five tips for small business growth.

1. Create demand before supply

When the Schulz brothers scored their first clients, they didn't have any cleaners or cleaning products. "After we got our first inquiry, we basically had a week and a half to go and vet cleaners," says Toby. Their parents' cleaners (whom they were now satisfied with) became their first sub-contractors.

"You may have a great idea for a business but you need to make sure it's what people want. For us, once we find and generate demand then we can worry about the supply side of it."

Toby says they needed to be confident of demand before making their next move. "You may have a great idea for a business but you need to make sure it's what people want. For us, once we find and generate demand then we can worry about the supply side of it." They now pay 120 employees.

2. Regional markets can be easier to crack

In time Maid2Match expanded from Brisbane to the Sunshine and Gold Coasts. The business is now present in every Australian state and territory apart from the Northern Territory. "We consider a new market when the leads on our website are consistent enough to employ someone there," says Toby. Regional towns including Wollongong, Newcastle, and Geelong have proven to be strong growth areas for the business. "Melbourne and Sydney have been difficult markets to crack, with longer distances between homes and more competition, both for clients and for cleaners, so regional towns continue to be our focus,” says Toby. "We're cleaning around 200 homes every day at the moment and by December 2025 we want to be cleaning 500."

3. Permanent employees enable quality control

The brothers' biggest business challenge has been having enough cleaners; they have often turned away customers because they don't have the staff. While a subcontractor model was "low-risk" when they were starting out, they always planned to evolve the business to an employee model to help attract and retain quality staff.

"Our staff can also progress to become team leaders, managers, and regional managers; subcontractors don't always have those opportunities."

Maid2Match now permanently employs all its staff on a full-time or part-time basis, which enables training and development, and a tiered business structure, which provides motivation. "Training and development are rare in the cleaning industry because so many companies rely on contractors," says Toby. "Our staff can also progress to become team leaders, managers, and regional managers; subcontractors don't always have those opportunities."

4. Focus on quality content for SEO

Toby and Jason have always relied heavily on SEO to attract traffic through Google, with the blog on their website crucial in improving their rankings. "We now employ a search and content team of six team members,” says Toby. “Over the past two years, we've really focused on the quality, not the quantity of our content, which creates much more engagement. We offer cleaning tips and product reviews, which raises our authority with Google as a cleaning hub." Social media supports the company by providing a trustworthy shopfront. "We're active on Facebook and Instagram but we've never really done a push there for customers. Instead, we have photos of our team members in real homes, which acts as social proof." Maid2Match also relies on flyer drops using Australia Post's Unaddressed Mail service. "A big challenge in cleaning is making sure your cleaners don't have to drive too far between jobs,” says Toby. “If we're already servicing 50 homes in a suburb, we'll do a big flyer drop so we can build density there."

5. Get financial support when you need it

Toby and Jason's belief in their business has meant they've felt confident taking out business loans when needed. When COVID-19 hit, they secured a Prospa Small Business Loan to avoid making any redundancies and to continue to expand their business. "It was tremendously helpful,” says Toby. “When we were unable to go into people's homes during COVID lockdowns, we could expand our business to properties covered by the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which was considered essential work." Toby says every successful business involves taking a leap of faith. "We truly believe in our business, which means we've been willing to take risks. We were very proud to have made it through the difficult COVID years and now it's so exciting to see our business grow."