#128: How Jonathan Berger Runs a NYC Cleaning Empire Remotely From Southeast Asia

Jonathan Berger was living in his car and driving for Uber when the idea for Cleanzilla began. Now he runs 400+ recurring clients across New York City and just came back from six months in Southeast Asia.

In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Jonathan, co-founder and co-owner of Cleanzilla in New York City, to learn more about his origin story. From dropping out of high school, living in his car, and meeting his wife Anna, Jonathan has since built a multi-six-figure residential cleaning business across Manhattan and Queens. He breaks down the NYC logistics of running a cleaning business with solo cleaners, subway systems, and 600–1,500 sq ft apartments, how he cut ad spend from $8,000 to $1,500 per month while keeping 15–20 inbound leads per day, and how he and Anna built the systems to step away from the business for months at a time.

📌 What You'll Learn
— How Cleanzilla scaled from Google Calendar to a fully remote operations setup with ZenMaid, Notion, and Quo
— Why Jonathan dropped from $8K/month in Google Ads to $1,500/month in SEO but maintained the same lead volume
— The "Pizzeria Effect:" how to stand out when you have five competitors on every block
— How to structure a team that runs without you
— What running a cleaning business in NYC actually looks like, including solo cleaners, metro cards, condensed supply kits, and apartment-only routing
— How Jonathan and Anna built word-of-mouth hiring by treating their team like family
— The honest truth about running a business with your spouse

Resources Mentioned
— ZenMaid (scheduling and CRM software): https://get.zenmaid.com/
— CBF / Cleaning Business Fundamentals by Debbie Sardone: https://debbiesardone.com/
— CBF Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cleaningbusinessprofits/
— Quo, formerly OpenPhone, affiliate link: https://www.openphone.com/perks/zenmaid?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=partnerstack&utm_content=community_experts&utm_campaign=c92107ec7cc9&pscd=get.openphone.com&ps_partner_key=YzkyMTA3ZWM3Y2M5&fbclid=IwY2xjawMr03ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBleUtsVnZtUjlJa2h5ZWpwAR7Gp8p4NVVF-Y8WODTTXb-NJi57ltYrsQs-pyFmuaRR4gMrj6TGYWpL1zlA_Q_aem_Ey2JG_AkBSk_SI8w5kDOBA&ps_xid=iGpmmTBqEJNW4d&gsxid=iGpmmTBqEJNW4d&gspk=YzkyMTA3ZWM3Y2M5 

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