1. Last time I finished my post at the moments when our two friends had come to a
crossroad in their endeavor, the moment that would define their success
onwards. As it often happens they were not prepared for the choice they had to
make and their adaptability and even stubbornness lead them to the final
success.
Just four months had passed since the moment they got their first deal when the
perfect opportunity appeared on the horizon. Brixton was experiencing some
fast business development and new offices were opened almost every month. A
participant of this new wave was one of England’s leading banks, which finally
decided to open a branch in the area. Alongside with that they announced a
competition for a sub-contractor for the sanitary and janitorial maintenance,
preferably a company that operated in Brixton.
Rob and Brandon new this was their perfect option for a breakthrough. There
was just one slight problem- they were not ready. They neither had the
manpower nor the experience to clean at such scale. And though they were
already asserting themselves as a reliable and efficient cleaning company, they
still did not have the contacts on a London-scale base.
It was a tough decision ahead of them, a painful dilemma. They could choose
the more slowly but steady way to build their business and wait for another
opportunity. Or they could jump in the dark and hope their hard work and little
luck will balance their lack of experience. Still the danger remained- if they
should fail, it would have been a fatal blow to their reputation and further plans.
So they decided to try something innovative and original- they asked their
employees about their opinion. The result was surprising- the vast majority said
that if more working hours meant more money and significant bonuses- they
were up to the task. Rob and Brandon had to start writing their business offer.

2. It turned out they had only one competitor- one of London’s leading cleaning
companies. When the executive director of the branch opened the two offers, it
turned out Rob had scored a major success. First, they had offered better
schedule- twice a week, one of the times during the weekend, while the big
company offered the service once a week and obligatory in the working days.
Second, Rob’s price was 30 % better than his competitor’s. It was an easy
choice and a huge success- and obviously the other company had simply
underestimated the competition. Well, they paid dearly for it.
Still, Brandon had to double and in prospect triple the number of employees in
the company. It was a big project, and they did not intend to lose their previous
clients. So the real working marathon began. What were the results? We will
find out in the next post.