Same Day Turn
For residential & short-term rental cleaning owners

Fire Yourself From Your Cleaning Business

How I built a team of virtual assistants that runs my cleaning company without me, and the exact steps to hire, interview, and train your own.

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Logan Robison · Founder, Same Day Turn
01 My story

How I started a cleaning business I couldn't run

I started my cleaning company because of a 6-week competition with some friends. The rules were simple: "whoever makes the most money, wins." In week 5, after failing at everything else, I started a cleaning business.

The kicker? I was working a corporate job at a Fortune 100 company. I couldn't answer cleaner texts in the middle of a meeting. I couldn't reschedule a customer while I was talking to my boss. I had a business that needed someone running it every day, and that someone couldn't be me.

So I paid a firm $1,500 to find me a virtual assistant. The VA they sourced lived in the Philippines and I could hire him for $5/hr (a great wage for him and a great deal for me). It was truly a win-win.

But here's what I didn't understand. The firm found me a VA, took $1,500, and then basically said "good luck." No help with payroll. No help with contracts or admin. No help with training. I had to figure all of that out on my own. It was painful, but I did it.

I spent weeks and months training him. After-hours Loom videos, weekend feedback sessions. It was rough. But he managed the day-to-day of the business while I was at work, and in our first year we did $92k in revenue. All while I was working a full-time job.

$5/hrWhat my first VA cost me
$92kFirst-year revenue, while I worked full-time
1,000sApplicants I sorted through over 4 rounds of hiring
1.5+ yrsHow long 3 of my 4 VAs have been with me

When I eventually quit my job, I wanted more overseas help. I'd seen the huge value a VA brought to my business, and they let me grow my business without killing my profit. So I hired 4 more on my own. I posted jobs, received thousands of applicants over 4 rounds of hiring, and spent countless hours sourcing, interviewing, training, and re-training.

It was so worth it. 3 of those 4 VAs have now been with me for over 1.5 years. But I won't pretend it was easy, and I'll show you exactly what it took.

02 The turning point

The week I turned my phone off

About a year after I quit my job, my wife and I were expecting our 3rd child and I wanted to take her to Cancun for a baby-moon. If you're an entrepreneur, you know what it feels like to never really spend time with your spouse. We needed it.

So I told my team: "I'm going to Mexico for a week. You won't be able to contact me. Good luck."

Honestly, I was terrified. I thought I'd come back to no business at all. 1-star reviews with no cleaners or customers. Entrepreneurs get those catastrophic anxieties from time to time, and I was no exception.

My saving grace was that my VAs had somewhere to turn. I'd paid to get them connected with another cleaning company in Slack that they could go to if something came up they couldn't solve. That gave me huge peace of mind.

When I got back, can you guess my relief? Nothing bad had happened. The cleans went well. No one quit. No one was mad. I had turned my phone off for a full week and my business kept running.

That week in Mexico changed everything about how I run my business.

Today I have 4 full-time virtual assistants and a full-time in-person manager running my cleaning company. My business doesn't rely on me for anything. This summer I went on a 6-week trip to visit family and (truthfully) worked 1–3 hours a day.

I don't say this to brag. I say it to show you what's possible when you build a team around you and focus on growing your business instead of putting out fires.

03 The mindset

The 3 things you have to believe first

1

You can't grow your business if it's just you.

If you're the only one managing the day-to-day (talking to cleaners, talking to customers, putting out fires), you have no time to market, sell, or write SOPs. Those are the things that actually grow your business. If you don't hire someone, you'll always be managing and never growing.

2

It's cheaper than you think, but it isn't free.

You can find really great talent for $5–$7/hr. But what it doesn't cost you in salary, it costs you in time and mental energy. If you do it yourself, the hours you should be spending on growth get eaten up by sourcing, interviewing, hiring, and training (and re-training).

3

Your VA has to become a "mini you."

At first they'll ask, "How do I solve this?" Over time they need to ask, "How would the owner solve this?" When they solve problems the way you would and tell you about it after the fact, you have a real mini you. That's your first taste of a business that doesn't need you.

04 Self-check

Are you ready for a VA?

If you check 3 or more of these, you're ready. Honestly, you were probably ready a few months ago.

  • You answer cleaner or customer messages during dinner, at church, or on vacation
  • You've turned down new clients because you didn't have time to onboard them
  • Scheduling, rescheduling, and filling call-offs take you more than 10 hours a week
  • You know you should be marketing, but you never get to it
  • You don't have written SOPs because you've never had time to write them
  • Your business suffers whenever you get busy or take a day off
  • You can't remember the last time you went a full day without checking your phone for work
  • You can't remember your last vacation
My score: 0 / 8A VA won't fix a business with no customers. But if you have steady work and you're the bottleneck, a VA is the fastest way to get your time back.
05 The playbook

How to hire a VA yourself: the 8-step playbook

This is exactly what I did to hire my team. If you want to do it yourself, follow these steps. If you read this and think "there's no way I have time for all that," that's okay too. Keep reading.

1

Decide what to hand off

For one week, write down every task you do in your business. Every text, every call, every schedule change. Then sort each one into a bucket.

Hand to your VAKeep for yourself (for now)
Scheduling and rescheduling cleansSales calls with big accounts
Texting cleaners and filling call-offsMarketing and growth
Answering customer, guest, and host messagesHiring in-person cleaners and managers
Sending invoices and following up on paymentsPricing decisions
Asking for reviews and responding to themWriting (or approving) SOPs
Checking photos and checklists after each cleanBig-picture strategy
Updating your CRM or scheduling software

Most owners find that 60–80% of their week can go to a VA. That's the time you're about to get back.

2

Write the job post

Be specific. Vague posts get vague applicants. Here's a template you can steal:

Job post template
Operations Assistant for a US Cleaning Company (Full-Time, Remote)

We're a growing residential / short-term rental cleaning company in city, state. We're looking for a full-time operations assistant to help manage our cleaners and customers.

You'll be responsible for: scheduling cleans, communicating with cleaners and customers by text, phone, and email, filling last-minute call-offs, checking completed cleans for quality, and keeping our software up to date.

Hours: Xam–Xpm US Central time, Monday–Friday, plus weekend coverage details.

You must have: strong written and spoken English, a reliable laptop, internet speed of at least X Mbps, and a backup power and internet source.

Pay: $X/hr, paid weekly / biweekly.

To apply: send your resume, a screenshot of your internet speed test, and a 1–2 minute video introducing yourself. Start your message with the word "CODE WORD" so we know you read the whole post.

That last line matters. You'll be shocked how many applicants don't follow it. That's your first filter.

3

Post and filter

I've used both Onlinejobs.ph and Indeed. Onlinejobs.ph is built for hiring Filipino VAs and is where I've found most of my team. Expect hundreds of applications within a few days.

Then comes the sorting. Go through each application one-by-one and cut anyone who:

  • Didn't use your code word
  • Didn't include a speed test or video
  • Has a speed test below your minimum
  • Has no backup power or internet plan (happens often overseas)
  • Can't work your hours
  • Has written and/or verbal English that would confuse your customers

This alone will cut 80–90% of your applicants. From what's left, pick your top 10–15 to interview.

4

Interview

Keep the first interview to 20–30 minutes on video. You're checking three things: can they communicate clearly, can they think on their feet, and do they actually understand the job.

QuestionWhat you're listening for
Tell me about a time you handled an upset customer.A specific story, not "I'm very patient." Did they stay calm and solve it?
A cleaner calls off 2 hours before a clean. Walk me through what you do.They try to find a replacement first, then tell the customer early. They don't just text you.
A customer says the clean was terrible and wants a refund. What do you do?They apologize, ask for photos, offer a re-clean, and know when to involve the owner.
You have 3 urgent messages at once. How do you decide what to handle first?They prioritize by impact.
What software have you used to manage schedules or customers?Comfort with new tools matters more than any one program.
What's your setup at home? What's your backup plan if the power goes out?A real plan: generator, mobile data, a backup location.
Why do you want this job?Signs they want a long-term role, not a quick gig.
What questions do you have for me?Good candidates ask about the business, the customers, and how they'll be trained.

After the first round, bring back your top 3–5 for a second, longer interview. Have them role-play a few real scenarios from your business.

5

Make the offer and set up pay

Once you've picked your person, you need to handle:

  • A contractor agreement covering pay, hours, confidentiality, and what happens if either of you ends the relationship
  • A payment method. Most VAs prefer Wise or PayPal. Know the fees before you start.
  • A pay schedule. Weekly or biweekly. Never be late. Nothing kills trust faster.
  • Holidays and time off. Decide upfront which Filipino and US holidays they get off.
  • The "13th month." In the Philippines, an extra month of pay in December is fairly standard for corporations. Plan for it.
  • Raises. Decide when you'll review pay. Great VAs get recruited away by people who pay more.
6

Set up tools and access

Your VA needs to see what you see, without having the keys to everything.

  • A shared business phone and text line (so customers and cleaners never have your personal number)
  • Slack or another chat tool for your team
  • Access to your scheduling software or CRM
  • A business email account
  • A password manager, so you can share logins without sharing passwords
  • Loom (or any screen recorder) for training videos

Only give access to what they need. You can always add more later.

7

Train them (plan for 3 months)

This is where most owners give up. Plan for at least 3 months of constant training before your VA is performing at the level you need. I'm not saying this to scare you, just to be honest about the time it takes.

Weeks 1–2
Your VA

Shadowing you. Reading SOPs, watching your Loom videos, listening in on calls.

You

Recording yourself doing every task. Answering lots of questions.

Weeks 3–6
Your VA

Doing tasks with you checking their work before it goes out.

You

Reviewing everything. Correcting in the moment.

Weeks 7–12
Your VA

Running the day-to-day on their own. Checking in on anything new.

You

Reviewing after the fact. Writing SOPs for anything that came up.

Month 4+
Your VA

Owning the operation. Telling you what happened, not asking what to do.

You

Growing the business.

Record everything. Every time you explain something, turn it into a Loom video or SOP. That way you only explain it once, and your next hire gets trained twice as fast.

8

Build your "mini you"

This is the step that turned my VAs into people who could run my business while I was in Mexico. The secret is being really clear about which decisions are theirs.

1

Decide and don't tell me.

Routine stuff: rescheduling a clean, swapping cleaners, answering normal questions.

2

Decide, then tell me after.

Things like issuing a small refund (set a dollar limit), offering a re-clean, or handling an upset customer.

3

Ask me first.

Big stuff: firing a cleaner, refunds over your limit, anything legal, losing a big account.

At first, almost everything will feel like #3. Your job is to move as much as possible into #1 and #2. Every week, look at the decisions they made. When they got it right, tell them. When they got it wrong, explain how you would have handled it and why. Over time, they start thinking like you.

Reading this and thinking "that's a lot"?

It is. That's why we do it for you, from sourcing to training.

Book a free 15-minute call →
06 Learn from me

Mistakes I made (so you don't have to)

Over 5 hires and thousands of applicants, I made plenty of mistakes. Here's the one that taught me the most.

I once hired a VA and didn't do any real training. I just told her to go watch a bunch of Loom videos. It was incredibly boring, so she didn't watch them. Honestly, I can't blame her.

After 2 months, I was convinced the problem was her, not me. So I fired her.

That was a mistake. I hadn't taken the time to actually train her on how to run the business. I set her up for failure. And I see a lot of cleaning business owners doing the exact same thing. They hire a VA, hand them a pile of videos, and then wonder why it isn't working.

Videos are a tool. They aren't training.

Training is you (or someone) working side-by-side with your VA, checking their work, and correcting them in the moment until they get it.

Red flags to watch for

  • They didn't follow the instructions in your job post
  • Their video or interview English is noticeably better or worse than their writing (someone else may have written their application)
  • They can't explain their backup plan for power or internet outages
  • They say "yes" to everything and never ask questions
  • They're vague about past jobs or why they left
  • They want to start part-time while "finishing another project"
  • They miss or are late to the interview without telling you
  • In training, they make the same mistake 3+ times after being corrected
07 Objections

"But what about..."

Isn't hiring someone overseas risky?

Not anymore. Virtual assistant work is a common, respected career in the Philippines. Plenty of major US companies already outsource a lot of their work there. This isn't new for the people you'll hire. Many of them have been doing it for years.

What about the time difference?

They work in your timezone. When your customers and cleaners are awake, your VA is online.

Will my customers be able to understand them?

If you hire well, yes. That's why the written test, video, and interview matter so much. My customers and cleaners talk to my VAs every day.

Is my business too small for this?

If you checked 3 or more boxes in "Are you ready for a VA?", no. I hired my first VA when my business was brand new. I couldn't have grown it any other way.

Can I trust them with my business?

Start small. Give access only to what they need, use a password manager, and expand their responsibilities as they earn it. That's how trust works with any employee.

What if they quit?

It happens. If you hire on your own, you start the whole process over. If you hire through Same Day Turn, we replace them for free and keep managing and training your new VA.

08 What's next

You have two paths

When I hired my first VA, the firm I paid $1,500 found me someone and said "good luck." No payroll. No admin. No training. I had to figure all of that out alone. That's exactly why we built Same Day Turn differently. Yes, we find your VA. But we don't stop there.

Path 1

Do it yourself

A perfectly valid option, and one I chose several times. Follow the 8 steps above:

  • Write and post the job
  • Sort through hundreds of applications
  • Run first and second interviews
  • Set up contracts, payroll, and tools
  • Train. Lots and lots of training.
You'll find great people. Just go in knowing it'll take months of your time before your VA runs things the way you would.
Path 2

Let Same Day Turn do it for you

  • We source.A custom job post, and we sort through every applicant.
  • We interview.We make sure they meet every requirement you set.
  • You choose.We introduce you to the top 3, and you pick.
  • We handle the admin.Payroll, contracts, and all the headaches.
  • We train alongside you.The same sales tactics and SOPs we used to make our own company run without me.
  • We're their backup.When your VA doesn't want to bother you, they come to us. If only you can answer, we point them back to you.
  • We replace for free.Not working out, for any reason? We find you someone new at no cost.
No upfront fee for any of this.

Already have a VA?

If you already have a VA (or want to find your own), you can sign up for just the training. Your VA gets the same training we've put our own team and dozens of others through, and you can rest easy knowing they're learning what they need to free you up.

What owners are saying

“

Same Day Turn has helped me source an administrative assistant which is going to be a huge game changer for scaling my business this year so highly recommend Same Day Turn.

Victor · Chicago

“

Same Day Turn help me get a new VA which was amazing. It was an amazing experience working with Same Day Turn.

Omar · Philadelphia

More stories from owners we've worked with at samedayturn.com.

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