- Story by Tess Van Straaten Photography by Don Denton

Michael Sikorski91裸聊视频檚 introduction into the commercial cleaning industry came at a very early age.

91裸聊视频淪ome of my parents91裸聊视频� Polish friends picked up a cleaning contract for some extra money and my parents decided to do the same thing,91裸聊视频� says Michael, the vice-president of Fantastic Cleaning. 91裸聊视频淭hey used to bring me along91裸聊视频� I had this little pedal car and I would ride it around whatever location they were cleaning.91裸聊视频�

After seeing how successful they could be, Michael91裸聊视频檚 parents, Waldek and Elizabeth Sikorski, decided to start their own cleaning company in 1989. Polish immigrants, they were living in Regina at the time, after leaving their homeland for a better life.

91裸聊视频淢y father was a photojournalist, a photographer for a newspaper, and was doing quite well in Poland in those times,91裸聊视频� Michael explains. 91裸聊视频淟istening to Radio Free Europe, he became quite obsessed with Western values. He was fired from the newspaper during martial law in Poland after refusing to affirm commitment to the Communist party. It was quite a big deal given how well they were doing at the time.91裸聊视频�

When Waldek told his in-laws he wanted to move to America or Canada, Michael says, they were shocked and said, 91裸聊视频淲hy would you want to do that?91裸聊视频� But the young couple wasn91裸聊视频檛 going to be deterred.

91裸聊视频淢om and Dad packed their tiny car91裸聊视频攁 Polski Fiat91裸聊视频攚ith everything they could and said they were going to visit his dad in Germany. And they didn91裸聊视频檛 go back,91裸聊视频� Michael says. 91裸聊视频淭hey were given refugee status and I was born there.91裸聊视频�

But Waldek91裸聊视频檚 dream of going to the United States would soon be dashed.

91裸聊视频淢y dad went to the U.S. Embassy and the guy had his feet up on his desk and wasn91裸聊视频檛 very kind. He got denied to go to the States, and that was heartbreaking for him because that had been his life91裸聊视频檚 dream,91裸聊视频� Michael says. 91裸聊视频淗is next choice was to come to Canada.91裸聊视频�

With a reputation for a professional European approach to cleanliness, quality service and treating people well, the hard-working Sikorskis quickly grew Fantastic Cleaning in Regina to 35 employees. But then a trip to Victoria would once again change the trajectory of their lives. They fell in love with the city and decided to move here.

91裸聊视频淭hey sold the business and they looked to see if there was another business they could purchase here, but Dad decided to stick with what he knows,91裸聊视频� Michael says.

They launched Fantastic Cleaning in Victoria in 1996 and the business is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. They now have loyal commercial customers all the way to Qualicum, but those early years weren91裸聊视频檛 easy.

91裸聊视频淭he biggest challenge in Victoria early on was this insider mentality,91裸聊视频� says Michael. 91裸聊视频淭hey weren91裸聊视频檛 open to new people being here then91裸聊视频攖hat was the big difference from Regina, which was so welcoming91裸聊视频攁nd my dad was told, 91裸聊视频榃e have enough cleaning companies here; you should go back to Regina.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�

But Waldek wouldn91裸聊视频檛 give up. He went door-to-door, dropping off pamphlets that a 10-year-old Michael helped him to write, to 15 to 20 businesses a day.

91裸聊视频淗e wouldn91裸聊视频檛 let himself come home unless he had dropped off 15 introduction packages,91裸聊视频� Michael says. 91裸聊视频淭he biggest thing my dad taught me was to never give up and to embrace that immigrant mindset to build our enterprise.91裸聊视频�

From those humble beginnings, Fantastic Cleaning has grown to around 100 employees and now services more than 100 buildings on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. This includes numerous long-term customers and some that have been with them for more than two decades. Michael91裸聊视频檚 younger brother, Philip, is the company91裸聊视频檚 operations manager and they became equal partners with their parents a couple years ago. Both have worked in the company since they were kids, but they weren91裸聊视频檛 sure they91裸聊视频檇 go into the family business.

91裸聊视频淒ad told us he wanted us to do something else because it is a difficult business,91裸聊视频� says Michael, who went to business school at Camosun College and then did an entrepreneurship program at Royal Roads before coming to work for the company full-time.

91裸聊视频淚t was still being run as a mom-and-pop shop out of our garage then, and I came up with a restructuring plan that had a central office location and a warehouse, so we could become a more professional and efficient company with streamlined operations.91裸聊视频�

After making those changes, Michael says, the business started growing at a much more rapid rate91裸聊视频攁bout 20 per cent a year. But convincing his parents to do things differently wasn91裸聊视频檛 easy.

91裸聊视频淲e had some crazy fights,91裸聊视频� Michael laughs. 91裸聊视频淲e call them 91裸聊视频楶olish fights91裸聊视频� because they91裸聊视频檙e crazy loud! People often think we91裸聊视频檙e yelling when we91裸聊视频檙e talking because of our language. There was a lot of pushback because it91裸聊视频檚 hard for someone to let go of micromanaging when it91裸聊视频檚 their baby.91裸聊视频�

Michael also implemented quality control and employee-tracking systems. He admits, however, that his biggest mistake was trying to change things too quickly. Looking back, he thinks that if he91裸聊视频檇 introduced things more slowly and proved they work, it would have produced faster results in the end.

The COVID pandemic has been another hurdle to overcome, with decreased hours and some businesses temporarily shutting down.

91裸聊视频淚 learned that no matter how good things are going and it seems like it will be forever, everything is91裸聊视频攁t the end of the day91裸聊视频攙ery fragile and we shouldn91裸聊视频檛 take it for granted,91裸聊视频� Michael says.

The pandemic has also highlighted the critical importance of proper cleaning and sanitizing, and Michael and Philip have helped clients implement new cleaning protocols. Like their parents before them, they91裸聊视频檝e also invested in staff91裸聊视频攐ffering benefits and paying above minimum wage.

91裸聊视频淏uilding relationships with our staff has always been a staple for us,91裸聊视频� Michael explains. 91裸聊视频淭he cleaning industry is notorious for high turnover rates among employees because of lack of job satisfaction. Nobody likes to feel replaceable or that their work is undervalued. We made it a priority to approach this differently and that91裸聊视频檚 resulted in many long-term employees.91裸聊视频�

The brothers are now looking to grow the company, both internally and through acquisitions, and have started to expand to the Lower Mainland.

91裸聊视频淭he sky is the limit on what we can achieve,91裸聊视频� Michael says. 91裸聊视频淎nd I believe staying true to our values and harnessing that resilient immigrant mindset we learned from our parents, we91裸聊视频檒l be successful.91裸聊视频�

Fanstastic Cleaning can be found .

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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