Errund, Author at The Errund Blog

Wisconsin Innovation Awards 2022 Finalist: Errund

Errund has been announced as a finalist for the 2022 Wisconsin Innovation Awards. In total, more than 300 businesses, products and services from around the state were nominated. The finalists were determined by a panel of 19 statewide industry experts.

The Wisconsin Innovation Awards (WIA) connects and showcases innovators throughout the state of Wisconsin, across industries and organizations of all shapes and sizes.

By producing and providing educational media content, organizing a statewide network of experts willing to mentor and support each other, and hosting events that highlight groundbreaking work, WIA is building a lasting legacy of instruction inspired by Wisconsin’s thinkers, makers, creators, and designers. WIA fosters innovation in this state and helps shine a light on companies throughout Wisconsin that have transformational ideas.

Cleaning Tips

Deep House Cleaning VS General House Cleaning

Many customers often ask whether errund provides deep house cleaning and general house cleaning? Our answer is always yes and then we try to explain deep house cleaning vs general house cleaning:

General House Cleaning

All Errund cleaning professionals routinely clean according to errund.com/cleaningchecklist:

Bedroom(s)

Picture frames dusted
Floors mopped and/or vacuumed
Furniture and accessible surfaces dusted
Baseboards dusted
Reachable vents dusted
Trash can emptied

Bathroom(s)

Showers/bathtubs cleaned
Toilets cleaned
Countertops wiped
Sinks and faucets cleaned
Cabinet exteriors dusted
Mirror and glass fixtures wiped
Floors mopped and/or vacuumed
Baseboards dusted
Reachable vents dusted
Trash can emptied

Kitchen

Sinks and faucets cleaned
Dishwasher with dirty dishes loaded
Microwave exterior & interior cleaned
Exterior of stove, oven and fridge wiped
Countertops and backsplash wiped
Cabinet exteriors dusted
Floors mopped and/or vacuumed
Furniture and accessible surfaces dusted
Baseboards and reachable vents dusted
Trash can emptied

Living Room

Floors mopped and/or vacuumed
Furniture and accessible surfaces dusted
Reachable vents dusted
Trash can emptied

Deep House Cleaning

For deep house cleaning, we tell our customers to add the following extra services:

Extra(s) (Upon Request Only, and Additional Time Will Be Required)

Inside Refrigerator (+1 man hour)

Inside Oven (+1 man hour)

Inside Cabinets (+1 man hour)

Interior Windows (+1 man hour)

Laundry Wash, Dry & Fold (+1 man hour)

Deep House Cleaning VS General House Cleaning. What’s the difference?

So as you can see above, there are two main differences between a deep cleaning and a general cleaning – the amount of labor required and the tasks covered in the cleaning.

Deep cleaning includes a general cleaning and more. Often deep cleaning is requested during move in/out or if a home has been vacated for a long time. At Errund, deep cleaning can be up to 6 man hours longer than a general cleaning.

Company News

Errund receives State of Wisconsin QNBV Certification for its seed round

Errund, Inc has received Qualified New Business Venture (QNBV) certification from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC).

QNBV certification program allows investors in qualified early-stage companies to receive a 25% state tax credit on the amount they invest in the business. The program, one of several WEDC initiatives aimed at helping early-stage companies secure new investment and accelerates their potential for job creation in Wisconsin.

Investors in Errund can receive up to $125,000 in state tax credits through March 2018 as the company is in the process of closing its seed round, allowing the company to raise as much as $500,000 for its seed round under the program. Errund previously raised $75,000 of pre-seed funding.

“We are really excited to receive QNBV. We were just about to move to Chicago earlier this year and gener8tor kept us in Wisconsin for 3 months. Now, WEDC is keeping us here for another 3 years” said founder Jacob Ong, who worked a year at Epic Systems as a Technical Project Manager prior to launching Errund in early 2016.

Earlier this year, Errund was one of five companies chosen from 691 startups to qualify for gener8tor, a top startup accelerator program headquartered in Wisconsin.

Ong is also contemplating moving Errund’s headquarter from Madison to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be closer to the Chicago market in which the company currently provides service.

About Errund:

Errund connects customers to cleaning and other service professionals for homes and offices. Despite its uber-like business model, Errund bookings are backed by its 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and Property Protection Insurance.

Errund currently focuses on cleaning services and has plans to quickly expand to other home and office services, as well as to other cities beyond the 10 Midwestern cities in which its customers can book next-day cleanings instantly.

Cleaning Tips

Best way to clean your shower head

Over time, minerals in the water supply deposit themselves on your shower head. The deposits eventually block the water flow and cause a less desirable spray. In worse cases, water from the shower head will squirt all over the place. So what is the best way to clean your shower head and how often do you clean it?

Cleaning your shower head once every 6 months or a year is recommended to ensure a comfortable shower. However, using household chemicals may damage your shower head and harm your health. We offer you the most natural and best way to clean your shower head in 3 quick and easy steps. We think this way is the best because it’s safe, effective and environmentally friendly.

1. Detach your shower head

Carefully detach your shower head often by rotating it anti-clockwise to dislodge it from the water hose. Use a dry rag to help you if you need more friction or to prevent damage to the shower head if you are using a wrench for even more friction.

2. Place the shower head in a pot of vinegar

Make sure that the vinegar covers the entire shower head. Being slightly acidic, the vinegar will soften the minerals for easier removal. Leave the shower head in the pot for 1 hour or more depending on how much mineral deposits are on your shower head. The easiest way is to leave the shower head overnight after you have taken a shower for the night.

3. Brush and wash away the clog

Use an old toothbrush to brush away the mineral deposits and then rinse the shower head. Viola! You should have a clean shower head now. Put the shower head back on and take a nice long shower!

To summarize, here’s what you will need to clean your shower head:

Distilled white vinegar
Pot or other container
Cleaning rag
Old toothbrush
Wrench (optional)

Should I tip my cleaner?

If you have used a cleaning service or are in the process of getting a cleaning service, you have probably asked yourself should I tip my cleaner? How much do I tip? Our customers have asked us these questions many times as well.

Cleaners work harder for you than your waitresses and hairdressers. So if you usually tip your waitress and hairdresser, then we recommend tipping if you are happy with the cleaning. At Errund, tipping is not mandatory but we offer the option to tip. A majority of our customers tip their cleaner in cash after the cleaning is completed. Some of our customers do the tipping online.

However, not all cleanings require a tip.

Should I tip my cleaner for a recurring service?

If you have a cleaning professional who comes in weekly, monthly or regularly, then you don’t really have to tip. In this case, we recommend that you tip during the holidays to show your appreciation for their past weeks of good work. Think of this tip as a year-end bonus.

Should I tip my cleaner for an occasional service?

If you have a one-time or occasional cleaning, then we certainly recommend tipping your cleaning professionals. The tip represents your gratitude to the cleaners for getting rid of the accumulated dirt and dust from your personal space and making your place spick and span. It also increases the likelihood of their willingness to return to your place to clean or serve as your dedicated cleaning professional.

How much to tip?

While tipping your cleaners are encouraged, there’s no known tipping standard such as the 10-20% tip you usually leave for your waitress. But we recommend a tip between $5 and $25 depending on the length of the cleaning and how satisfied you are. That being said, we have had many cases where generous Errund customers tip in excess of $50.

Cleaning Tips

What is Green Cleaning?

Green cleaning has generated some buzz lately. It has various definition depending on who you ask. For some, green cleaning means using natural substances such as baking soda, vinegar and lemons to clean a place.

At Errund, our professionals see green cleaning as using environmentally and human friendly products to clean your homes and offices. Green cleaning is not so much how you clean but what you use to clean. Green cleaning minimizes the potential harm that regular cleaning chemicals may cause to your family and environment. Here’re 3 ways you can identify green cleaning products:

1. Natural/Organic Cleaning Products

Often, natural/organic cleaning products are safe for the environment and members of your household. These products are considered by most as green cleaning products. Often, they are also mild on your skin and do not leave a harsh chemical smell in your house or office. The only down side is such products are often 30-50% more expensive than regular cleaning products. But for your health and the environment, the extra cost may be worth it.

2. US Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice products

The Environmental Protection Agency launched the Safer Choice program in 1992, which was originally called the Design for the Environment (DfE) program. The program aims to reduce the overall human health and environmental impact of a product. A product is only allowed to carry the Safer Choice label if each ingredient is among the safest in its ingredient class.

3. “Green” labeled products

Many cleaning products use the word “green” to label their products these days. These labels are often more expensive than regular household cleaning products but cheaper than organic cleaning solutions.

Errund will soon offer Green Cleaning products for an additional $8 instead of the the $5 regular supplies fee. Our customers can also opt to not pay any supplies fee if they have their own supplies for the cleaning professionals.

Cleaning Tips

Dust or vacuum first?

One common question that our customers and professionals ask us is should I dust or vacuum first? Another way of asking is will dusting or vacuuming last result in a cleaner home?

Many cleaning experts have mixed answers and so we attempt to provide you a clearer one based on the feedback from our cleaning professionals.

Dust First.

If you have a good vacuum that does not kick up a lot of dust, then dust away first. Depending on how you dust, dusting can push all the dust onto your floor and into the air.

By vacuuming last, you are able to clean the dust in the air and the floor. This way, you won’t be surprised by dusty surfaces shortly after you cleaned your place.

Vacuum First

If your vacuum is not effective and often takes you multiple times to clean an area, then vacuum first. After you vacuum, dust your furniture and take a wet microfiber cloth and clean the surfaces and fixtures.

This is because a mediocre vacuum can create a more dusty environment by kicking up a lost of dust than the act of dusting itself.

Dust or Vacuum First For Errund Professionals?

Because majority of our professionals have decent vacuums, they report that they dust first and then vacuum the place. Later on, the professionals often use a wet microfiber cloth to clean your fixtures and surfaces in order to ensure that any settled dust gets wiped up.

How often should you dust and vacuum?

This question depends on your tolerance for dust. Some of our customers get a cleaning once a month and some 4 times a month. As a guideline, we recommend dusting and vacuuming your place at least once every 2 weeks if you are home daily.

To clean your place less regularly, read also our 3 guaranteed ways to make your home cleaner.

Cleaning Tips

3 Guaranteed Ways to Make Your Home Cleaner

One of the most common questions we get from our customers is how can I make my home cleaner? We always answer with 3 guaranteed ways to make your home cleaner:

1. Don’t wear outside shoes around the house!

Perhaps the most important of 3 guaranteed ways to make your home cleaner is to not wear outside shoes in your home. Wearing shoes in the home seems commonplace in the United States. In certain countries like Japan and Canada, it’s considered rude to wear shoes around somebody’s house.

This is actually one of the surest ways to dirty your home as our shoes carry a lot of bacteria, dirt, and all sorts of other dirty stuff picked up from walking the streets and yet people have little qualms wearing them around the house. Imagine stepping on someone’s spit and later bringing it around your home.

So loose the shoes once you get home! Put them in a shoe rack or at the entrance and have your guests do so! If you are worried about your feet getting cold in the winter, have shoes specifically for the house.

Try this even if you ignore the two other advice below.

2. Clean common areas regularly

The second most important of 3 guaranteed ways to make your home cleaner is to clean the frequently used areas of your home. These commons areas include dining area, kitchen counters and sink. They get dirty faster than other parts of your house because they are more frequently used. Cleaning them briefly after each use can go a long way in making your home cleaner. As the saying goes, three foot of snow does not accumulate from a night of winter, a dirty house does not happen overnight too.

If you don’t have time, consider our cleaning service. It’s only $24/hr for a minimum of 2.5 hours so that’s $60, if you do it monthly. 2.5 hours of cleaning are good for a studio and sometimes a 1 bedroom apartment.

3. Don’t let the dishes pile up

I think many of us are guilty of this – letting dishes pile up mountain high. Eventually, we grow to resent washing dishes because we have to do so much at once. But if you minimize the dishes you use and clean them whenever you use a few, you won’t hate doing dishes as much as you do now.

Company News

Errund Presents at Chicago Startup Conference

Errund presented on April 26 at Technori, a startup showcase that featured 6 companies, including the CEO of Avant, a company which raised more than $650 million. Held at the Chase Auditorium in downtown Chicago, the 2-hour conference drew more than 300 attendees.

Since 2010, more than 275 companies have been featured at Technori and they have gone on to raise more than $260 million in venture capital.

Here’s a video of Errund’s pitch:

Product News

Errund Property Protection Insurance

We are here for you when accidents happen. We understand that honest mistakes do happen and we are committed to protecting your property. Therefore, we offer you the Errund Property Protection Insurance.

What is the Errund Property Protection Insurance?

Our incidence rate is 0.1%. This means there’s only 1 incident per 1,000 cleanings. While property damages are rare, we understand that you may need protection and a peace of mind.

Therefore, all cleanings after March 9, 2017 will be covered by the Errund Property Protection Insurance which will protect you against eligible damages to your properties caused by an Errund professional during an eligible cleaning.

What is an eligible damage?

An eligible damage is one that is caused by an Errund professional by accident during the course of cleaning according to our checklist. We do not cover any damages due to cleaning outside the scope of our checklist.

An example would be when a cleaning professional accidentally break the glass shelf while cleaning the inside of your refrigerator.

What is an eligible cleaning?

An eligible cleaning is defined as a cleaning that was booked through errund.com and took place after March 9, 2017, and complies with our recommended duration of cleaning.

What is the coverage amount?

Currently, we cap the claim limit to $200 due to past reported damages and we found the amount to be satisfactory for your need. We anticipate raising the claim limit in the near future.

How do you make a claim?

To file a claim, compile as much documentation as possible and email them to support@errund.com. Useful documentation and information that will help process your payment request as quickly as possible include:

photographs of the damage being claimed
receipts or some alternative evidence of the accurate fair market value or report cost
proof of ownership
any other documentation that you feel will be helpful to processing your request

What is not covered?

The Errund Property Protection Insurance should not be considered as a replacement or stand-in for homeowners, renters and office insurance. The Property Protection Insurance does not cover:

theft (this is often covered by renters’, homeowners’ and office’s insurance)
cash, securities, and jewelries
pets
personal liability
health issues
injuries

Refer to the official insurance policy here. Read also about our Satisfaction Guarantee.