OXNARD : There’s Money in Mop, Janitor Claims

So, your parents warned that if you didn’t hit the books you’d end up scrubbing floors? Well, there’s a man who says people can gross $75,000 a year doing that, and he throws in a 26-chapter binder on how to do it.

Ron Saldino, with a little philosophy, some spirituality and a lot of morale boosting, works the college circuit every Saturday teaching people to become successful janitors.

He doesn’t demonstrate with a mop. Instead, the Orange County owner of Janitorial Specialists lectures for about eight hours each weekend at schools across Southern California. For about $70, the book included, he offers tips on marketing the services for cleaning commercial businesses, understanding the IRS and bookkeeping.

He declined to say how much he makes with his janitorial service but said the business is profitable because it does not require expensive equipment.

“Anyone with a mop and a bucket can start it,” Saldino said. “I dare say you could get into it . . . for $100 to $200 tops.”

But he emphasized that it is a profession. “There’s more to it than just cleaning toilets, than just cleaning windows,” Saldino said.

“You’re business people who happen to have a janitorial company,” he told about 14 potential entrepreneurs Saturday at Oxnard College. “You’re not janitors who happen to have a business.”

His students are generally in their 40s and have tired of working for other people, as he did in 1974 when he could no longer handle the stress of three jobs, including one delivering newspapers, he said.

“He’s honest,” said Jeanann Michl, who heard Saldino speak at Oxnard. At 32, she has spent 10 years cleaning for others to support her four children and now wants to branch out on her own. “It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to give a sales pitch, a gimmick. It’s from the heart.”

Saldino claims that he does not worry about his students becoming his competitors.

“There are a lot of dirty windows,” he said. “Competition is healthy.”