#102: Sidi Thiam on Sales Skills and Pricing Confidence

2026-01-06

Starting a cleaning business sounds simple — until pricing mistakes, unreliable cleaners, scope creep, and money stress hit you all at once 🥴 In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Sidi, a 25-year-old cleaning business owner out of Philadelphia, to unpack what it really looks like to start and grow a cleaning company from scratch. He shares the wins, mistakes, and mindset shifts that shaped his first two years in business, and dives into things like pricing confidence, sales scripts, flat-rate estimating, recruiting cleaners, running 1099 teams, why charging less “just to get...

Starting a cleaning business sounds simple — until pricing mistakes, unreliable cleaners, scope creep, and money stress hit you all at once 🥴

In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Sidi, a 25-year-old cleaning business owner out of Philadelphia, to unpack what it really looks like to start and grow a cleaning company from scratch. He shares the wins, mistakes, and mindset shifts that shaped his first two years in business, and dives into things like pricing confidence, sales scripts, flat-rate estimating, recruiting cleaners, running 1099 teams, why charging less “just to get the job” almost always backfires, and more!

📌 What You’ll Learn:

— How Sidi's sales experience translated directly to closing cleaning jobs

— Why most new owners underprice and how to stop doing it

— Flat-rate pricing vs. hourly, and how Sidi estimates first-time cleans

— The real cost of “giving discounts” and loose money boundaries

— Why cleaners make or break your business

— Lessons learned from trying to run a cleaning company remotely

— How confidence closes higher-paying clients

— The importance of systems, scripts, and call recordings

Resources Mentioned:

— ZenMaid Scheduling Software: https://get.zenmaid.com

— OpenPhone (now Quo) (call recording system): 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

— Cleaning Entrepreneur Academy: https://www.skool.com/cleaningacademy/about

— Sidi's TikTok (cleaning business content): https://tiktok.com/@sidi.inspires

👉 Try ZenMaid free for 14 days:

📞 Book a Consulting Call with Stephanie: https://serene-clean.com/consulting-services/

🎙️ Listen to the Podcast:

📖 Read the full transcript: https://www.zenmaid.com/magazine/sidi-thiam-on-sales-skills-and-pricing-confidence/

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