Heroes of the Night

The lights of the city go out. Buildings all over town become prime targets for those creatures of the night. The darkness of a building triggers them to action. For Brokate Janitorial, this is much like the Bat-signal, that shines out of a building in need.

For many accounts, their nightly facility cleaners are either considered heroes or villains. They either fly into their account each night and transform their building into a sparkling clean-slate by morning for all to enjoy, OR they are the much talked and griped about villains that do as little as possible each night. Some facilities go through Joker after Joker looking for that caped-crusader of the night to finally show up and save the day.

Getting the right hero to show up and make your facility look exactly how you want it to is, however, more complicated than simply opening up the telephone book and calling everyone listed. Establishing a clear set of tasks that you would like to be performed from the start makes the chances of a successful cleaning program much higher. The second point, is getting input from everybody in the office and letting them all know what is and isn't going to be expected from the outfit you hire.

Creating a nightly cleaning program for your facility can be as easy or complicated as somebody wants to make it. It can be as cheap or as costly too. Some very important questions to ask when looking to restore the balance between cost and results are:

1.) Is your company licensed, bonded and insured? It only takes one door left unlocked, alarm not set, chemicals spilling on a computer or expensive machine, broken glass pane...the list can go on and on, to make that cheap cleaning guy/lady suddenly seem like the MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE option. Or how about hiring somebody like this:

Osage Beach Police say Cleaning Lady Stole Clients' Property

2.) How is the cleaning program going to be trained, monitored, inspected and followed-up with to ensure Quality Assurance?

3.) How well is your company at adapting to the changes of our facility? Whether it be rapid growth or expansion or cutting back in a sluggish economy, it is important to be able to communicate with your company the current needs and have them react quickly.

Here at Brokate Janitorial, we are not only happy to answer all of the questions above, but we also go into each facility with a list of questions, ideas and suggestions to help create a custom cleaning program that will work for you. We want to form a lasting relationship that will leave both sides feeling mutual appreciation.

In the words of Enrique Iglesias, Brokate Janitorial kindly asks you to, "Let Me Be Your Hero"

A Tough Economy, an Even Tougher America

Another year has come and gone. For most people 2009 was a tough year that won't be missed. With unemployment rates very high across the nation, the economy in Southwest Missouri was feeling some of that impact too. Tourism was down, but not gone. A few companies went under, while many others made tough decisions on how to cut expenses and who to lay off. Yet many people remain hopeful and confident in our country to get back on it's feet and back into prosperity.

For Brokate Janitorial, 2009 was a year of milestones. This year Brokate Janitorial gained more business, hired more employee's and went into unchartered waters with new business ventures. All year, the focus of everybody within the company was keeping focused on the task at hand and doing our absolute best at it. We all have felt so fortunate to serve so many businesses in 417 Land and provide more and more families with a means to support themselves.

With so many more people in our area looking for work, trying to keep their businesses afloat, the importance of doing business locally cannot be understated. Not only will you be directly helping the businesses you choose to support, but in turn the dollars they receive will then be passed on to another local business. It's a ripple effect that could have tremendous ramifications if everybody did their part to help one another out.

After all, it's up to us individually and as a community to help each other out and not rely on our government to come to our rescue with handouts. Our company is an absolute believer in the American Dream and idea that anybody can succeed if they are willing to "roll-up their sleeves," not be afraid to get a little dirty and do what needs to be done.

According to Jeremy Brokate, Office Manager for Brokate Janitorial, this year's motto is "First and 10, let's do it again!" He goes on to explain, "We were very fortunate to have such a great year last year. We give all the praise and credit to the hard-working employees of our company that did such a great job in every facet of our business. We just want to keep that momentum going and inch closer to that goal."

Hopefully this nose-to-the-ground, never-give up attitude that is instilled in so many Americans can bring this nation back on its feet quickly and moving in the right direction again.

Brokate Janitorial is Music to Construction Company's Ears!

What do large construction projects and symphony orchestras have in common?

The answer is a lot more than people would initially think.

Both groups are formed by combining a wide-variety of individuals, each with their own set of talents, together for a sole purpose of taking a piece from start to finish. Both require careful planning, coordination, timing and precision to make the end result work for its audience. Both are unique art-forms in their own right. While orchestras put together ranging sounds from various string, horn, brass, percussion and woodwind instruments; a construction project brings in electricians, plumbers, builders, architects and of course, commercial cleaners.

While every electrician, plumber, builder and architect is vital in their own right to bring a project to fruition, the commercial cleaners provide a very different value to the project. The commercial cleaner takes no credit for the design or functionality of the project being completed, but is vital to making all of the other contractor's work shine. In using it in the metaphor, other contractors form the various instruments in an orchestra that weave in and out of the piece, while the commercial cleaners serve as the silence that occurs just between that music stopping and the audience erupting in applause.

Using a professional Construction Clean-Up company such as Brokate Janitorial is often underestimated. The Clean-Up company allows both the construction company and its' hired contractors a much smaller "Punch-List" at the end, and by making the building look clean and new, the owners generally release the retainage in a much shorter time. That means the job gets paid fully much faster, making everyone happy.

To the owners, it provides a sense of completion and appreciation for the work that all of the contractors came together to complete. The owner needs to see the clean look and smell of its building to know the project is actually complete.

Brokate Janitorial provides all types of reliable, flexible Construction Clean-Up services from trash and dust removal throughout the projects early stages, to the very deep and detailed cleaning services on an almost finished project. Those services include but are not limited to: VCT Floor Scrubbing and Waxing, Outside and Inside Window Cleaning, Floor-to-Ceiling dust and residue removal,trash removal, cabinet cleaning inside and out and carpet cleaning. From "rough-to-fluff" Brokate Janitorial does it all.

Brokate Janitorial also offers one free service with every construction project it works on, that "new-building" smell. With all Brokate Janitorial can do for a construction project, it should sound like a mighty good option for construction companies!

Costs vs Expenses vs Value

In these difficult economic times, cost and expenses are being looked at even closer than ever by individuals and businesses. How much is being spent on groceries? Insurance? Taxes? The kid down the street that mows the lawn. Those faced with a tight budget(or tightening budgets of their own to prepare for the worst) are constantly looking for ways to cut costs and expenses.

But what is cost, anyways? Most people think in terms of cost as a function of how much is spent from your pocket or checking account to obtain certain items or services. And indeed that is true...for the most part. Their is another side to cost that most people don't naturally think about in their day-to-day lives. This side of cost is the result of not buying a certain product/service or opting for an inferior product. While eliminating frivilous and unnecessary costs is always a prudent measure for improving ones overall bottom line and operating under a more responsible budget, many people can mistakenly go too far and cut "costs" that were indeed necessary and prudent.

When this happens, people and businesses experience an even greater cost later on. For example, if a company chooses to cut its landscaping and yard mowing services from its expenses an indirect result of that could be reduced business and traffic to their location because of the unsightly grass that gives the appearance of a rundown, ill-kept property. For Brokate Janitorial, we see this far too often with companies considering their janitorial and maintenance needs for their facilities. Often times a company will opt for the lowest bid regardless of other factors in hopes to keep costs low. What happens almost as often, however, is that we will get calls from these same companies down the road looking to fix the poor work done by other companies. This is not too suggest, however, that you should always go with the highest price either. You don't always get what you pay for, but the more you research and consider all factors the better your purchasing decision will be.

This past month we received a call from an account we had managed for 4-5 years and always kept happy and looking great. Last year they sent the services out for bid (per their requirements) and went with a lower PRICED (notice I didn't say COST)company. Not even 6 months had passed before they were removed from the building and we were called back in to fix the mess they had left us. The next day we received an email from the head of the building excited to see the instant improvement and look of their facility.

These are just a few small examples of the many ways that people can overlook the overall impact of choosing how to spend their time and money; which for businesses equates to the same thing. How the individuals of a company spend their time is directly related to how much money thier company makes. By focusing on what they do best, and leaving the rest to those more qualified, a company can operate with much greater efficiency and productivity.

If cost is a concern for your company, please contact Brokate Janitorial and we can help you receive the most value for your dollar. By properly maintaining your facility, Brokate Janitorial can extend the life and wear of your building for a MUCH lower cost in the long run.

Have Mercy!