ABUNDANT LIFE

Cleaning for Domestic Bliss.

Ten years ago, Yulya Deych and her business partner Kim Henninger started a small environmentally-friendly housecleaning business, finding new clients by word-of-mouth and personal recommendations. After several years of working at the business on and off, going to school, having families, and managing the distractions of modern life, Yulya and Kim decided that they wanted to revisit their business and make it more professional and appealing.

They both enrolled in Enterprise for Equity's Business Plan Training Program in the Spring of 2006, and transformed their enterprise into a livelihood. Yulya says, "Before E4E, we were barely covering our expenses. Now it's our only source of income; it's become a "real" business."

Abundant Life's motto is "Cleaning for Domestic Bliss," and both partners take pride in the personal relationships they cultivate with their customers. They enjoy serving clientele who value keeping dollars local, and go out of their way to patronize other local businesses. For example, almost all the cleaning products Abundant Life uses are purchased in bulk from the co-op.

Yulya and Kim use only natural, biodegradable, low-allergen products (no bleach, for example), and describe themselves as "obsessive about dirt," dusting, scrubbing, and mopping until a house is "pristinely clean." They're also acutely aware of their impact on the environment as they drive from client to client, and they plan to purchase an electric or biodiesel car as the company's next vehicle.

Even though Yulya and Kim saw their sales triple after completing Enterprise for Equity's program and putting the concepts they learned into practice, they're always taking new clients, both residential and commercial. You can find their contact information in the sidebar on the right side of this page.

Financial planning was the most enlightening part of the program. It changed my perspective of how to look at running a company. Learning the language of business brought the whole picture together. We were familiar with a lot of the concepts already, from experience, but when the instructors put it into words, everything clicked into line, and it just made perfect sense.
-- Yulya Deych