Anita Hodzic of BA House Cleaning Built Her Company Saying No to a Six-Week Postpartum Return to Work. Now She Serves Hundreds of Bay Area Families

Interview by Heather Anderson

Anita Hodzic immigrated to the U.S. from Bosnia as a child, and entrepreneurship was not something she grew up around. Today she is the owner of BA House Cleaning, a Diamond Certified company serving hundreds of families and small offices across Alameda and Contra Costa County since 2011, with a team whose longest members have been with her for over a decade. She is a wife, a mom of three girls, a self-described spreadsheet and workflow enthusiast, and one of the top cleaning company partners in the entire country for a nonprofit most of her own clients have never heard of. 

You immigrated to the U.S. from Bosnia as a child, and entrepreneurship was not something you grew up around. How did you end up building a house cleaning company from the ground up in the East Bay, and what was the real moment that set it all in motion?

Starting a house cleaning company was not pre-planned at all. It evolved out of wanting to help people. I started by recommending my mom and my aunt for cleaning jobs, helping my co-workers find someone reliable, helping my mom and aunt build something on the side. It was just pure helping out.

Then I had my first daughter, and my employer expected me back at work six weeks postpartum. I said no. I saw an opportunity, I knew I could do this, and that is where it became official. What had been a natural thing I was already doing became a business.

“When existing clients hit financial difficulty, like a job loss, we offer them Flex pricing while they get back on their feet. They can focus on interviews and finding the new job without worrying about scrubbing and cleaning on top of everything else. It works in both directions, and it is a win-win.”
— Anita Hodzic

BA House Cleaning has been serving Bay Area families since 2011. What does it mean to you personally to have built something that now provides careers for an entire team?

It is beyond rewarding to know we help so many families, on the customer level and on the employee level. Having employees who have stuck around with us for ten, eleven years speaks volumes in our industry. The relationships I have built over the years with our employees and our customers are invaluable.

Not all cleaning companies are created equal. You are Diamond Certified, a rigorous annual certification that involves client surveys, insurance verification, and a full review process. What does that actually mean, and why should it matter to someone choosing a cleaning service?

Only about three cleaning companies in the whole county have earned Diamond Certified status. It is a big deal, and it is very challenging to achieve. Consistently earning that certification year after year speaks volumes about our customer satisfaction, our loyalty, our overall business practices, and how we take care of both our employees and our clients.

You serve both residential homes and small offices in Alameda and Contra Costa County. What does a typical ongoing relationship look like, and what do people most often get wrong when figuring out how often they need a cleaning?

Let me start with the commercial side, because we are different there. A lot of commercial cleaning companies focus on very large buildings, big crews, big square footage. We are the opposite. We focus on smaller offices under 20,000 square feet, and there are not many companies giving real attention to those spaces. That also lets us offer flexible frequency to businesses, weekly, every two weeks, even every four weeks if that is all they need. They do not have to commit to daily service. And it lets us keep family-friendly hours for our employees, Monday through Friday, no nights, no weekends.

On the residential side, cleaning can feel like an overwhelming task, especially for one person. We hear it all the time: I spend my whole Saturday scrubbing bathrooms and mopping, and my house still is not fully clean. So a lot of clients come to us thinking they need cleaning every week or even a couple times a week. That is typically not the case. Most of our clients are on an every-two-weeks schedule. We handle the big stuff they never get to, scrubbing toilets and showers, mopping floors, baseboards, cobwebs, dusting, and they just keep up with the daily chores, dishes, picking up, taking out the trash. It changes people's weekends.

You have a program called Flex that offers significant savings in exchange for maximum scheduling flexibility. Who is that a great fit for, and how does it work?

Flex works for weekly or bi-weekly clients who can be truly flexible. If an employee calls out sick, the Flex houses are the first ones we reschedule, so our full-paying clients are not affected. In exchange for that flexibility, Flex clients get 40 percent off our cleaning. At that rate we make no profit as a company. It literally just covers our costs.

We also use Flex in a second way that means a lot to me. When existing clients hit financial difficulty, like a job loss, we offer them Flex pricing while they get back on their feet. They can focus on interviews and finding the new job without worrying about scrubbing and cleaning on top of everything else. It works in both directions, and it is a win-win.

You are one of the top five cleaning companies in the entire United States participating in a nonprofit program called Cleaning for a Reason. Can you tell us what it is, why you wanted to be part of it, and what someone should do if they know a person going through cancer treatment right now?

Cleaning for a Reason is a partnership between cleaning companies and a nonprofit, providing free cleanings to individuals undergoing cancer treatment. We have been partners for over ten years. And here is something I just learned recently: it started as a breast cancer initiative for women, but it is now open to men and children too. Anyone going through chemo treatments can qualify.

Through the program, we provide two free two-hour cleanings, typically four weeks apart. The patient decides what part of the home they want help with, the bathroom, the kitchen, the common areas, and we work down their priority list.

I wanted to be part of this because when a family member is going through such a big diagnosis, the home often gets neglected, and at the same time, they are spending more time in that home than ever. They do not have the energy to keep it up. The family members are torn apart, trying to spend as much quality time as they can with the person they love. Having a clean home during that time is vital. Families facing cancer treatment do not get nearly as much support as they should, and this is our way of giving back.

If you know someone going through treatment right now, tell them about it. They can register through Cleaning for a Reason and request our team.

You just launched a referral rewards program where anyone who sends a new client your way gets paid, in cash, Amazon cards, or credit toward their own cleaning. Why did you build it that way?

Most companies will simply discount a cleaning as a referral thank-you. I believe in autonomy, in giving people the ability to choose how they want to use that money. Through our partnership with Clicky, our clients can share about us easily, on social media, through QR codes, however works for them, and then choose exactly how they get paid, even direct deposit to their bank account. They get to put that money toward whatever they actually need at the moment. I like giving people those options instead of deciding for them.

You occasionally put out what you call a model call, offering a free cleaning to homeowners willing to let your team document their work for marketing and social media. Who is a good fit?

This is a brand new initiative. In the past I always used my own house for our social media photos, and honestly, it gets boring. There are only so many views and so many bathrooms in my home. Meanwhile, some of our clients have absolutely stunning homes.

Here is how it works: you get a free professional cleaning, we photograph our work in your space for our marketing, and nobody will ever know whose house it is. We never share anything private or identifying. And your home does not have to be a huge, elegant showplace. Sometimes a beautiful, photogenic space belongs to someone who could really use a free cleaning and does not have the funds for it. That is exactly the kind of win-win I love. Depending on interest, we may build an official application, but for now, just reach out and raise your hand.

You are a wife, a mom of three girls, a Bosnian immigrant who built a business from nothing, and someone who genuinely gets excited about spreadsheets and workflows. What do you want Bay Area families to know about who you are?

I feel like I am similar to a lot of our clients, and we can connect on so many levels. I have a real passion for technology, so I can hold my own in Bay Area tech conversations. I am a mom. I am a dog owner, his name is Benji. And I know what it is to come to this country not speaking English and start from scratch with nothing. Having lived that gives me a broader view on life, on accomplishment, and on understanding people in general. That is what I bring to every relationship, with clients and with my team.

If someone is reading this and wants to get started, whether for their home, their office, Cleaning for a Reason, or a model call, what is the best way to reach you?

Our website is very user friendly. If you prefer not to talk to anybody on the phone, you can do everything online. If you like the human connection, call us. And if you just want to send a quick email, you can reach us at [email protected]. There are multiple ways to get a hold of us, and we make all of them easy.

Find BA House Cleaning  on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

You can also find Anita on The M List, The Mamahood's searchable database of mom-recommended resources, or connect and collaborate with Anita inside of The Club membership for women Founders.

Heather Anderson