08/08/2020
From Little Things, Big Things Grow
Paul Kelly could have been referring to Melbourne Cleaning Group when he wrote the lyrics From Little Things, Big Things Grow. Working at Ford in 1996, and with his first baby on the way, David needed some extra money, so his friend suggested a bank job – he was referring to cleaning a bank. David gave it a go for the princely sum of $7 per bank that he cleaned. His wife thought it was mental, but he actually enjoyed it.
Fast forward a few months, whilst cleaning an office David was approached by a lady who said that they were getting rid of David’s employer as the cleaning contractor, and would he like to tender for it. David said “Yes”. Whilst he knew nothing about business, this was the start of a series of opportunities that would see him eventually create one of Melbourne’s largest private cleaning businesses. David registered a business, and started to find that a lot of clients wanted to work with someone who had a Yes attitude. Things were going well for David and his young family in 2000 when Ford discovered that he was working on the side. Ford’s employment contracts at the time were strict that employees could not have another gig whilst they were an employee at Ford. David was asked to give up the cleaning, so he gave up Ford instead – and has never looked back. This was the start of Melbourne Cleaning Group (MCG).
Almost 20 years on and David still loves getting his hands dirty. In fact at a recent car show CEO Ferrari Australiasia, Herbet Appleroth came across David cleaning a car and remembering him from the early 2000’s and said “Dave, you still doing the dirty work?”. Over time David realised he needed greater support on the business side, in order to strengthen the group’s future, so he spoke with an old friend (Joe) about coming on as a business partner. Turns out Joe was great mates with the ex-Swan footballer Bernie Evans. Joe put up a 2 for 1 deal, and the rest is history. David, Joe and Bernie have been busy building MCG ever since.
When asked what he thinks has been the key to his success, David says two things: “Always being easy to deal with in business, clients need to feel that nothing is too much trouble for you. And having good staff – my whole business is based around it. That’s why businesses have stayed with Melbourne Cleaning Group for so long. Our people on the ground are just really good.”. This is backed up by the fact Melbourne Cleaning Group still has a number of its clients from 2000. Some of which have moved away temporarily, but have then come back to MCG.
PS: A footnote to the story is that David actually purchased a house in Sunshine from Paul Kelly (The Singer-Songwriter!) many years ago. It’s funny – the connections you make…
https://melbournecleaninggroup.com/our-story/
