First, we are extremely proud to be starting a business out of Alfred, Maine in 2018. It is such an empowering time to be a woman-owned business and we feel pressure to be an outstanding example for the next generation. That being said, let’s get into what sets our business aside before bragging about how great we are.  

We believe in employees over profit, that if we are upfront about our processes and benefits we will continually outshine our competition. Employees are the bread and butter of a business. If employees feel undervalued they are less likely to provide exceptional service. Employees over profit means paying a liveable wage, providing appropriate healthcare benefits, and maintaining a culture of honesty, respect, and integrity. These values are essential in a service-based business and even more so in an industry that involves people entering your home.

These aren’t the only things that make Down East Maids unique. We have done our research and strive to provide consistent pricing. We also understand that the economy changes so we won’t promise to never change our pricing arbitrarily or to lure in first-time customers. It’s bad for business and oftentimes those first-time customers aren’t around long-term because they are unhappy with the business changes. The thing that makes our pricing unique is we are upfront.  You can book in 60 seconds or you can play around and find the best cleaning package for your home. If we do decide that our price model needs to change to better our business, we will make an announcement and outline exactly why these changes are taking place.

To keep a culture of honesty, respect, and integrity we encourage all our clients to review their service with our follow-up phone call. This allows us to see what changes we might need to make over time and open a dialogue in case there was any issue with your service. We also allow customers to request certain cleaners if you find a team you like. We hire on cleaners as we grow which makes us able to comply with these requests. We also have an internal anonymous review system for our employees to critique the business, allowing us to grow as a company while keeping true to our important values.

My wife and I moved to Maine from Idaho in March after she received a job offer from a California-based data analytics company operating an office in Maine. Unfortunately, the last day of our move she received a notice that the job offer had been pulled. We were devastated and couldn’t believe that there was little to no response from the company. We didn’t know what to do, but once we arrived in Maine we knew we wouldn’t be leaving. Luckily, we were able to find a farm that we could work in exchange for rent and as long as we finished up a cabin, we and our 4 pets could stay. Talk about a relief!
