If you’re thinking about starting a business, that alone puts you ahead of most people. Most people talk about starting something. Very few actually do it. Starting your own business is one of the most empowering decisions you can make. You answer to yourself. You control the upside. You build something that didn’t exist before. Yes, there’s risk , but looking back, I realized it wasn’t risk that scared me. It was discomfort. And success doesn’t come from avoiding discomfort. It comes from hunger. If you’re hungry enough, you won’t fail. You might pivot. You might struggle. You might adjust. But you won’t quit. And quitting is what kills most businesses, not bad ideas.
The biggest obstacle isn’t competition. It isn’t the economy (I started my first business in the tail wind of the dot com bust and through the 2007 financial crisis, and continually grew through both). It isn’t lack of capital. It’s fear. Fear of failure. Fear of embarrassment. Fear of instability. But the real mistake isn’t failing. It’s never starting. If you’ve already taken action, even small action, you’re ahead of the majority. That matters more than you think.
When I decided I wanted to start a business, I didn’t wait for a lightning bolt of genius. I started writing down ideas. Every single one. For an entire year, anytime an idea popped into my head, I wrote it down. Cooking dinner. Random middle-of-the-night thoughts. Sitting in a meeting. Even siting on the toilet. The spontaneous ideas are powerful because your subconscious is always working in the background. When something keeps resurfacing, that’s worth paying attention to. After a year, I had a long list. And here’s the secret: you don’t find a great idea by having one idea. You find it by having fifty. When you look at a long list, a few will stand out. For me, that idea was a house cleaning service. I just had a compelling feeling that I couldn’t fail. More on this from my writings on on reddit and here and here on my blog.
Cleaning wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t trendy. Venture capitalists weren’t lining up. But I knew I wouldn’t fail at it. That confidence wasn’t arrogance, it was alignment. It solved a real problem. It had recurring revenue. It was scalable. And it didn’t require millions of dollars to start. Many people think they need a revolutionary, unicorn-level idea. In reality, most of those fail. Boring businesses win. Cleaning services. Painting companies. Lawn care. Moving services. Pet sitting. They solve everyday problems. And everyday problems always have customers.
Once I chose the idea, I didn’t overcomplicate the launch. I didn’t wait for perfection. My first website was basic, painfully basic by today’s standards. But it worked. Within 10 days, it started bringing in business. Why? Because it solved a problem and it was visible. I learned SEO by pretending I was the customer and searching phrases like “maid service dallas” or “house cleaning dallas” and studying what showed up. On many of those sites I was able to get a backlink (e.g. a link from their website to mine) which propoelled my website to the top of Google. That one skill changed everything and I share my SEO secrets here (I recommend reading this!). When customers call you, they’re already warm. That’s far easier than chasing them. I also passed out thousands of flyers per week. It wasn’t glamorous. It was a numbers game. Consistency beats creativity in the beginning. Later, when I hired my first office manager (As an olympic athlete, she enjoyed the workout), she helped me pass out even more flyers. Business boomed.
The real turning point, though, wasn’t marketing. It was systems. Building a business is like writing code. You create the process, you test it, you fix it, and you refine it until it produces consistent results for your user, aka customer. Before hiring anyone, I did the job myself. I learned the best way to do it, then documented it clearly. If a 12-year-old can follow your instructions, you’ve done it right. Businesses scale through systems, not hustle alone. Systems create freedom. Business owners are often relunctant to release control because “no one can o it better than me” line of thinking. Don’t fall into this trap. Find the right people and empower them to do the job. More on this below.
Systems automate your business. Once you have the right SOPs in place and your team is humming along, something interesting can happen… you might get bored.
That’s actually a good sign.
It means the chaos is gone. The business runs on systems, not adrenaline.
When that happened to me, I traveled the world for a while. But even then, I was still bored. So I started another business using the same systems. And it was surprisingly easy. Then I got bored again and I started another. And another.
At one point I told myself Oakville Maids would be my last. But if I get bored again, I may just write a book because creating something from nothing, offering a service people truly appreciate, and making their lives easier gives an overwhelming sense of purpose. It’s hard to replicate that feeling in a traditional job. And I want to share my knowledge to make this dream come true for others.
Anyway, I digress.
Hiring the right people is make-or-break for any business. Hiring A-players can propel your company further than you ever imagined. Hiring the wrong people can quietly sink it. I’ve seen both. That’s why hiring isn’t something you rush. It’s something you engineer.
You build a hiring process the same way you build your service systems: intentionally, carefully, and with high standards. Because once you have the right people aligned with the right systems, growth becomes far easier and far more sustainable. So, hire slowly. Train thoroughly. Protect your culture. Your reputation depends on it. And reputation is everything. Deliver exceptional service, protect your reviews, and treat your customers like they matter because they do.
Over time, I also learned that talent isn’t limited by geography. Some of the strongest contributors in my companies were from hiring remote team members around the world. By hiring exceptional people internationally and paying them above their local market rates, I’ve been able to build a high-caliber team while still maintaining smart operating margins. I have team members who review call recordings to ensure quality control, track KPIs so I have a clear bird’s-eye view of performance, assist with recruiting, manage operations, handle SEO research, and support marketing. That additional layer of support has dramatically increased the consistency and professionalism of our services.
Remote talent, when managed properly with clear systems and expectations, can be a massive advantage. It allows you to raise standards without dramatically raising overhead. But it only works if your systems are strong. Systems first, then scale.
If you’re trying to decide what business to start, don’t wait for fear to disappear. It won’t. Write down a long list of ideas. Choose the one that feels aligned and practical. Start small. Execute consistently. Improve relentlessly. Read constantly. Learn from mistakes.
I remember feeling lost early in my career, unsure of what direction to take. The moment everything changed wasn’t when I found the perfect idea. It was when I decided to act. That decision turned into my first company. And that first company grew into something far bigger than I imagined. So, stay hungry, build systems, hire wisely, and keep improving, you can create something meaningful, something that not only supports your life, but improves the lives of others too.
And that’s worth building.
~ Greg
Founder of Oakville Maids, Inc.
P.S. If this article resonates, you’re welcome to explore more of my writing on building and growing successful businesses here: https://dallasmaids.com/category/business-advice/
And for any university students who may be struggling or feeling behind, I once went from failing classes to graduating with honors by formulating a few simple study hacks and mindset shifts. If that sounds helpful, you can read that story here: https://dallasmaids.com/from-failing-freshman-to-graduating-with-honors-a-guide-to-academic-triumph/
Sometimes small systems, in business or in school, make all the difference.
P.S.S. This article was inspired by a heartfelt question posted in the Oakville Reddit community by TactiSgt:
https://www.reddit.com/r/oakville/comments/1r1yt5p/my_son_and_his_lack_of_income/
Sometimes the most meaningful business lessons don’t come from boardrooms, they come from real families navigating real challenges. I’m grateful for the reminder of why entrepreneurship matters in the first place.