Twelve years ago, Rick and Patty Traegler were spending their weekends cleaning apartments, while still holding down full-time jobs. Now the owners of All Florida Janitorial Services, the couple has built this sideline into a prosperous company, which serves both Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

“My wife and I were looking for a business to start up, and she suggested that we start a cleaning business because she had had experience in that area,” explained Rick Traegler. “So we started out cleaning one apartment on weekends, and the business grew and grew until we were able to quit our full-time jobs.”

All Florida Janitorial Services now has six employees, who do both residential and commercial cleaning. “Most of our commercial work is for professional offices, including doctors, lawyers and real estate offices,” said Traegler. “About 99 percent of our clients are regulars, who we visit once a week or every two weeks.”

The company, which is licensed and insured, also does heavy-duty house cleaning, as well as special cleaning jobs when a business moves, or plans to host a large gathering. All Florida’s staff has also been specially trained to deal with issues pertaining to the cleaning of medical offices, including handling bio-sensitive materials and meeting OSHA’s regulations for germicidal cleaning.

“Our main goal is to keep our clients happy by providing good, consistent service,” said Traegler, who adds that the business handles everything from 1,000-sq. ft. offices to 15,000-sq. ft. offices. “We really get to know our clients, and the way that they like things done.”

Traci Iserman, office manager of Bath & Kitchen Creations, says that their company has been using All Florida Janitorial Services since December. “I would definitely recommend the company to others,” she said. “We are very happy with Rick’s service, because they always do the job.”

One of the things that sets the business apart from other janitorial services, according to Traegler, is that the company works very hard to maintain its staff. “This is a field with a very high turnover rate,” he said, “and when you keep changing staff, it’s hard to keep clients happy.”

Traegler retains staff by paying them more than the going rate and also provides extensive training. “My wife and I personally spend a lot of time with our staff to make sure that they can handle the work that needs to be done,” he said.

Traegler also takes this hands-on approach to his clientele, making sure that all of their needs are met. “I take a personal interest as the owner of this company in opening new accounts and in maintaining our current accounts,” he said. “Every office is different and depending on the account, they may have different requirements. Some people really stress the bathrooms or the exam rooms; other clients have certain pieces of equipment or areas that they don’t want us to touch.”

“One of the advantages of maintaining the same staff is that they know these things because they return to these offices on a weekly, or bi-weekly basis,” said Traegler. “They know all of the tricks.”

While continuing to serve his current clients, Traegler is looking to expand the business as well. “I’d like to add more clients in the areas that we already serve, as well as expand further north into St. Lucie County and Martin County,” he said “I’d like to work our way up the east coast of Florida.”