In 2023, Anna-Marie Ortiz worked remotely for a fintech startup, where she earned $60,000 a year.
He liked the job, but wasn’t sure what his future at the company would be. “I realized I couldn’t wait for other people’s dreams, and that’s when I decided I was going to do everything with myself,” she tells CNBC Make It.
That July, Ortiz used the last of his $2,000 savings to start a cleaning company. By November, she took over the business, Cool Aunt Cleaners, full-time.
Although she’s only able to pay herself about $29,000 this year — a significant pay cut from her last position — she’s happy with her choice to be self-employed.
“I like being my own boss,” she says. “It gives me the flexibility to make my own decisions and create a work environment that reflects my values.”
Becoming an entrepreneur in your 20s
Coal Aunt Cleaners is not Ortiz’s first experience with entrepreneurship.
After working at a series of tech startups in his early 20s, he opened a plant store in Wichita, Kansas in 2020. Although the store closed in early 2021, it taught him about inventory, customer service and budget management — important lessons he would later learn. Apply to start Cool Ant Cleaner.
Ortiz decided to start a cleaning business instead of another retail store because of the low start-up costs and solid return on investment, she says. The low overhead gave him the flexibility to start solo and expand gradually, hiring employees as demand grew.
He also likes that cleaning is a “tried and true” service that has been around “forever,” which he hopes will give the business stability for the future.
Ana Marie Ortiz is cleaning an apartment.
Matt Wolcott | CNBC Make it
In its first month, Cool Aunt Cleaners brought in about $2,600 in revenue. It has grown steadily over time, and the business has brought in about $10,000 per month so far in 2024.
After taking on Cool Aunt Cleaners full-time in November 2023, Ortiz was eager to expand. He hired four employees, but quickly realized the challenges of expanding too quickly. She decided to bring her team back to where she was running the business alone during the summer of 2024.
“When you start a business, you never know how it’s going to go,” she says. “But you keep going because you believe in what you’re building.”
The future of business
Business has since stabilized, with about 15 to 20 repeat clients. And in August, Ortiz hired a part-time worker using a commission-based pay structure.
She plans to continue expanding as she acquires more cleanings, eventually turning Cool Aunt Cleaners into a seven-figure business.
“When you have a vision for your business, it’s a long-term investment, it’s not something that can be rushed into,” she says.
Although Ortiz’s $29,000 salary is less than she earned in previous roles, she sees it as a small sacrifice for the long-term independence her business will bring.
“I think people have a false sense of security from their 9-to-5 jobs,” she says. They can “get into the habit of being told what to do every single day,” which can be “dangerous” and lead to being in a place where “they’re not happy anymore.”
Although Ortiz has taken on a lot of risk to own a small business, he finds fulfillment in creating his own path: “I’d rather work now than build something that lasts.”
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