- Business: Pristine Property Services
- Location: Myrtle Beach
- Interesting Fact about Pristine Property Services: A lot of the employees are moms looking for extra income while their kids are at school.
- Interesting Fact about Lauren Poole: She worked in sales and advertising for 20 years before opening her cleaning business.
After cleaning a few houses to earn a little extra money outside of her career in sales and marketing, Lauren Poole decided to start a cleaning business with her friend Adelia Lint. At first, they were keeping track of employees’ hours just by taking notes. But hundreds of dollars a week in lost wages plus countless hours wasted on doing payroll drove them to find a timetracking app. With ezClocker, they save money that they’re able to reinvest into their business. And they save time that they can now spend booking more clients or at home with their families.
A Heartwarming Feeling
Lauren Poole was working in sales and marketing in Myrtle Beach and looking for some extra income when a realtor approached her to clean some properties before they went on the market. After cleaning the first property, Lauren enjoyed the heartwarming feeling she got from helping someone. Her friend, Adelia Lint, was out of work at the time due to COVID, so Lauren asked her if she wanted to start a cleaning business together.
The two worked together and built the business through referrals, cleaning for residential and commercial clients and vacation rentals. After about a year, they hired their first two employees. Today, Pristine Property Services employs 14 team members.
Lauren estimates that, between rounding up time and employees clocking in before they were actually at work, the business was losing hundreds of dollars a week on payroll.
Lost Money, Lost Time
At first, Lauren and Adelia allowed employees to write down their clock in and clock out times. But a lot of employees would clock in before they were actually at the job site. Lauren would then add those times to her Notes app on her phone, rounding up to the nearest half hour. Lauren estimates that, between rounding up time and employees clocking in before they were actually at work, the business was losing hundreds of dollars a week on payroll.
The process also cost Lauren a lot of time. She had to check back and forth with employees to see what times they were at each house. “It was very time consuming and frustrating,” she says. Clearly, the business needed a better solution.
Once Lauren and Adelia started using ezClocker, they were hooked right away. “We loved being able to look and see where people clocked in. We loved the alerts. And we liked that we could email the spreadsheets to our accountant,” Lauren says.
Easy and Streamlined
Lauren posted on a Facebook group for cleaning business owners and asked what other businesses were using to clock employees in and out. She wanted something with a GPS feature to prevent employees from clocking in before they arrived at work. Another business owner recommended ezClocker, saying that it was affordable and easy to use.
Lauren looked at some other time-tracking apps, but they didn’t have the GPS feature, or were too expensive, or offered features that Lauren didn’t need. A lot of them were tied to accounting services, but Pristine Property Services already used QuickBooks, so they didn’t need an accounting service. Plus, the other apps seemed more complicated. Of all the apps Lauren looked at, ezClocker seemed like the easiest and most streamlined service.
Once Lauren and Adelia started using ezClocker, they were hooked right away. “We loved being able to look and see where people clocked in. We loved the alerts. And we liked that we could email the spreadsheets to our accountant,” Lauren says.
And, best of all, it was convenient and easy to use. Lauren and Adelia could use the app from their phones while traveling around to different client sites. And their employees didn’t have any problems or questions on how to use the app.
Now that Pristine Property Services is using ezClocker, Lauren and Adelia save hundreds of dollars a week, and they invest the money back into their employees. The company’s turnover rate has gone down tremendously.
Big Dreams
Now that Pristine Property Services is using ezClocker, Lauren and Adelia save hundreds of dollars a week that are no longer wasted on inaccurate wages. They invest the money that they’ve saved back into their employees. They like to give their employees bonuses and gift cards. And they give raises when they see that an employee is trustworthy and dependable. “Our employees feel valued,” Lauren says. “It keeps retention and makes them feel good. It makes them feel that they’re doing a good job.” As a result, the company’s turnover rate has gone down tremendously.
ezClocker has also saved Lauren and Adelia about five hours per week on payroll. Now, when they need to send the timesheets to their accountant, all they have to do is press a button and input their accountant’s email address. “It’s just really easy and convenient,” Lauren says. The time that they save allows them to go on more estimates and book more jobs. Plus, they get to spend more time with their families.
Lauren knows that all this time and money saved will help her company grow. She wants to continue hiring more employees and get a company office and a vehicle wrapped with the company name on it for advertising. One day, she would love to franchise the business. With ezClocker, that big dream is within her reach.
