Cleaning Up : She Got Herself Off Aid, Into a Franchise

Growing up on public assistance in Watts, Eva Young vowed that she would not live her life on welfare. She worked 16-hour days doing custodial work for the Los Angeles Unified School District and bought her own Jani-King commercial cleaning service franchise 19 years later. Young was interviewed by Karen Kaplan.

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For as long as I can remember, my family was on public assistance. I went on welfare myself when I was 18 and pregnant. But I knew that it was not for me. I didn’t want it going from generation to generation.

I got a job at a bakery making $4.11 an hour, and that was enough to get off public assistance. The welfare people were very discouraging and said, “You’ll never make it.” They don’t give you any help in finding a job.

In 1977, I got a job as a custodian with the Los Angeles Unified School District because it paid better than the private sector. I started taking on additional eight-hour shifts at night to earn more money. Then I realized that if I could work 16 hours for somebody else, I could use that time to run my own business.

After nine months, I was promoted to custodial management. At my last school, I had a crew of eight people. I trained new custodians coming in. Because of my management experience, I knew I could run my own business.

I stayed with the school district for 19 years. Before I left, I did my homework. I called around to the different custodial franchise companies to see what they had to offer and what suited me best. I ended up choosing Jani-King.

I used my retirement benefits from the school district to purchase my franchise. I retired last year in March, my benefits were released in the latter part of May, and I bought my Jani-King franchise on June 6 at age 46.

I never really considered starting my own business from scratch because there are so many benefits to having a franchise. You can buy your liability insurance as part of a pool and get a better rate. They find customers for me, although I have the option of finding additional accounts. They do my accounting for me. It was the best thing for me, since I didn’t know anything about running my own business.

When I get a new account, I usually service them personally for a couple of months or so. Then I can train my employees to do what is required.

The people at Jani-King never asked if I had been on public assistance. In fact, being on welfare has never been an issue with regard to my work life. But the memories are still there.

When I was working for L.A. Unified, I hated it. Now that I work for myself, I truly enjoy it. It’s just so much more rewarding. . . . I want to pass this business down to my children.

On her motivation to get off of public assistance . . .

“I went on welfare myself when I was 18 and pregnant. But I knew that it was not for me. I didn’t want it going from generation to generation.”

On why she decided to start her own business . . .

“I realized that if I could work 16 hours for somebody else, I could use that time to run my own business. That’s what motivated me to take the ball and run with it.”

On why she decided to buy a franchise . . .

“I didn’t know anything about running my own business. Otherwise, with all of the competition out there, I would have gotten swallowed right up.”

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AT A GLANCE

Company Name: Young & Associates Commercial Cleaning Service

Owner: Eva Young

Nature of Business: Jani-King cleaning service franchise

Location: Pomona

Founded: 1995

Number of Employees: 3

Annual Sales: $105,000