So, in February, we took the big exciting step of moving out of my back room into a proper grown up fancy office. Well, it was more of a medium sized cupboard, but it seemed posh after fighting for space on my kitchen table knee deep in green cleaning paraphernalia. Anyhoo, it soon became home to Ceri and I.
Well, as always with us, it hasn’t gone smoothly! On Tuesday afternoon we were informed that the very nice people that were renting it to us were going bust.. and that we wouldn’t get our deposit back.. and that we had to be out by Friday. Yes, this Friday. Yes, 3 days notice.
Turns out they’ve done it before and make a habit of taking people’s deposits then chucking them out.
We’ve no idea what to do about attempting to get our deposit back, but we’ll try. I don’t think we stand much of a chance. As a word of warning, the lovely people who have taken lots of deposit money from lots of small business and disrupted us all are called MLS Business Centres.
In a panic, we rang round some of our commercial customers to see if they had room for 2 homeless Green Moppers. A couple of kind hearted souls offered us spaces without needing a deposit. Green Mop customers are the BEST! So in the end we took up one of the offers, and we spent all day today moving offices. I’m so greatful to the lovely Fifth Element people who have taken us in!
We’ll be settled in in no time I’m sure!

I don’t mean to go on.. but I’m going to anyway!
Please can we all try to stop the 3 most unnecessary household things that have become a habit for many.
1. Air fresheners.
2. Bleach.
3. Anti-bacterial products.
I’ve already gone on and on (and on and on..) about why not to use these as well as alternatives. So I just thought I’d remind you all to give em up! We don’t need to pollute our homes in order to keep them clean.

So close and yet…
We very nearly got our first franchise off the ground. It didn’t quite work out unfortunately. I was disappointed, but the lovely lady decided to go it alone. I’m sure she’ll do really well, but it’s a huge shame we’re not going to be helping her out.
I completely understand her decision and admit that when I first started Green Mop, I was very determined to go it alone and build my own business from scratch. I can even remember saying out loud “it’s cleaning.. how hard can it be”.
Oh I was SO naive!
I’d never run a business before.. or employed anyone, negotiated contracts, been a sales person or an accountant, done any marketing, been a boss or supplied quotes, provided customer service, chased payments, been responsible for health and safety… the list is HUGE!
I had done a bit of cleaning! But that is only part of what makes Green Mop a business. The learning curve was (and still is) very steep. To have had help with all the other elements at the beginning would have been a big advantage.
Oh well, we wish her the very best of luck in her cleaning business and genuinely hope that it works for her. She’ll work hard and be very successful, I’m sure. (I still think teaming up with Green Mop would have seen her hit the ground running though!)
So, meanwhile, we’ll be seeking out other quality candidates to become our first Green Mop franchisee! We want there to be Green Moppers keeping homes and workplaces clean and green all over the country!