If you've ever lost a contract, underbid a job, or made a costly mistake in your cleaning business — this episode is for you.

In Episode #12 of Polishing Profits, industry veterans Mark Anderson, Sharon Cowan CBSE, and Ed Selkow reveal their most painful failures and exactly how they turned those lessons into long-term success. From ruined French doors to $1.5M in debt — nothing is off-limits.

🔑 What You’ll Learn:

• ✅How to bounce back after losing a major contract
• ✅How to turn a cleaning disaster into a long-term win
• ✅The hidden cost of poor supervision, bad pricing, and bad financial habits
• ✅Why ignoring your financials can cost you everything
• ✅Real tactics for turning mistakes into money

👉 Whether you're new to the game or scaling past $1M+, this is a must-watch for cleaning business owners who want to grow stronger after setbacks.

🧠 This Episode Is For:

• Cleaning company owners who’ve hit a wall (or a loss)
• Managers struggling to train, retain, and supervise staff
• Entrepreneurs who feel alone when things go wrong
• Anyone who needs a reminder: failure isn’t final
• Leaders ready to stop fixing symptoms and start solving root problems

🕒 Episode Highlights:

• 02:20 – How to analyze and learn from mistakes
• 05:45 – Dealing with addiction and people problems in the field
• 10:53 – When poor supervision cost $400+ in repairs
• 14:50 – The dangers of ignoring your financials
• 23:38 – The real cost of not training your team
• 28:12 – Why repeating failure becomes your fault
• 30:33 – Final lessons: Get up, fix it, and move forward
  
  
  

🧠 Resources:

• ➡️ Catch up on previous episodes of Polishing Profits here:

The Profitable Cleaner Network

🔗 Where to Find Your Hosts

• Sharon Cowan, CBSE – LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
• Mark Anderson – LinkedIn
• Ed Selkow – Facebook

About Polishing Profits

Polishing Profits is hosted by three of the most respected leaders in the janitorial industry—Mark Anderson, Sharon Cowan, and Ed Selkow. With over 140 years of combined experience, they’ve built and scaled cleaning companies, coached hundreds of owners, and helped countless teams grow stronger.

Every episode delivers real stories, actionable strategies, and tools to build a cleaning business that thrives.

Produced by The Profitable Cleaner Network.

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