"Building Hire a Housewife: My Journey and Lessons Learned"

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1. Introduction

  • Opening Statement:

    • I’m Natasha Harding the founder of 'Hire a Housewife.' Today, I want to take you on a journey from my humble beginnings to building a business that supports my family and community. This is a story of resilience, passion, and the belief that no dream is too big if you’re willing to work for it.”

2. Early Life and the Spark of Entrepreneurship

  • Childhood Endeavours:

    • "From a young age, I was always driven to earn and achieve. As a child, I walked my grandparents neighbourhood selling knitted teacup cosies (lets face it I am sure half those sales were from people who probably didn’t want or need them) . Later, I took on a paper route, babysitting, and even lawn mowing jobs. This entrepreneurial spirit was ingrained in me early on.”

  • First Jobs:

    • "At 15, I left school to work full-time at Parkvale Mushroom Factory, then moved onto Premier Bacon Factory. These early jobs taught me the value of hard work and the determination to keep striving for more.” It also taught me to have thick skin and take a joke, anyone who has worked at the meat works will know what the environment is like and will understand. Some of my best memories as a youngster was at the meat works.

3. The Struggles and Growth of Young Adulthood

  • Moving to Auckland:

    • "In my late teens, after a difficult breakup and a brief stint in Upper Hutt, I moved to Auckland. It was here that I started my career in sales, working for Empower and World Exchange. These roles were tough, especially the cold calls and door-knocking in all weather conditions, but they built the foundation for my resilience and sales.” Turning up wet at someone’s door in the middle of winter and having the door shut on you will build resilience REAL FAST!! Sales and marketing are one of my great passions.

  • Early Business Ventures:

    • "I continued in sales when I moved back to the Wairarapa, selling security systems and later smoke alarms. These roles were tough but crucial in shaping my business mindset – that success doesn’t come to you; you have to go out and get it.” I was in my early 20’s being dropped in the middle of Porirua to sell and install smoke alarms, this taught me to relate to anyone and everyone. I had no fear, and was driven to make sales.

  • Challenges of Single Motherhood:

    • "At 21, I found out I was pregnant with my son, Seth. I had Seth at 22 and soon found myself a single mother and in significant debt. I moved home to mum and dads to get back on my feet. When we moved to Carterton, Seth was just 2. We had no washing machine, fridge, or even a couch. I borrowed my grandmothers 14 inch TV none of these things really worried me as I knew I would work and get what I needed and work I did.

4. Overcoming Adversity and Finding Purpose

  • Carterton:

    • "Despite these challenges, I was determined to provide for my son. I worked tirelessly, often buying necessities from second-hand shops. My parents were supportive but made sure I knew that nothing would be handed to me on a silver platter. This instilled a fierce drive to create a better life for us.”

5. Birth of 'Hire a Housewife' and Business Growth

  • Finding Passion in Cleaning:

    • "After the birth of my son, I realised I needed a stable career that could support us. Cleaning was something I loved, so I started working for Focus in-home help and then for a cleaning company. However, their values didn’t align with mine, which pushed me to start cleaning for myself.” What I realised was I could earn what most people earn working 5 days in 3 days and that excited me. Uni was not for me, I wanted to prove to myself and those around me that I didn’t need uni to be successful.

  • Creating 'Hire a Housewife':

    • "The name 'Hire a Housewife' came about during a conversation with my brother. It perfectly captured the essence of what I wanted to offer – a service that felt like having an extra pair of hands at home. This marked the beginning of a journey that would transform my life and many others.” Hire A Housewife didn’t however come to life until I moved to the Manawatu.

6. Balancing Family and Business

  • Raising Two Kids as a Single Mum:

    • "By 31, I was raising Seth and my daughter Paige as a single mother. These years were incredibly challenging but taught me invaluable lessons in empathy, resilience. It also made me more understanding and supportive of my staff, many of whom are also single mothers.”

  • Meeting Pete and Expanding the Family:

    • "Eventually, I met my husband Pete, an agricultural pilot, and moved to the Manawatu with him and his 2 children. Together, we expanded our family with two more children, Jax and Meia (Yes this equals 6 children) Sometimes looking back I wonder how I survived juggling 6 children and the growth of a new business, however I worked day and night to achieve this without losing site of the end goal. This period also marked significant growth for 'Hire a Housewife,' as I balanced family life with business expansion.” Having support around you is key and having Nat to support me with the family and business was a god send.

7. Support and Growth: A Tribute to My Executive Team

    • Hiring my best friend Nat as my Executive Assistant was one of the most pivotal decisions I've ever made. Her dedication, hard work, and excellence have been instrumental in our success at Hire A Housewife. It's often said that surrounding yourself with supportive and diligent people is the key to thriving in business, and I couldn't agree more. I'm incredibly fortunate to have three remarkable women who support me fully and handle the day-to-day operations, allowing me to focus on the aspects of the business that I love: marketing, growth, and systems.

    • Nat's Journey to Hire A Housewife: Nat and I met at school, her son and my daughter are the same age and started school at the same time, I remember seeing her and thinking how lovely she was, very smiley and had a really friendly presence. I remember going home and saying to my husband, how do you ask a girl out on a date!! Well she ended up asking me for coffee, rest is history, she become my bestie. Nat was working for a local company, and we quickly became friends. I admired her tireless work ethic and thought to myself, "When I can afford her, I will ask her to join Hire A Housewife." That opportunity came on the 17th of July 2017, when she officially started working with us. Since then, she's been more than just an employee; she’s become an integral part of our business. Nat is now the Operations Manager and runs the day-to-day operations with the same passion and commitment as if this were her own company.

    • In many ways, Hire A Housewife is as much Nat's baby as it is mine. I often joke that if she ever decided to leave, I would sell the business because her role is that crucial. Her leadership ensures the smooth operation of everything we do, and her support allows me to concentrate on expanding our horizons and improving our services.

    • The Backbone of Hire A Housewife: Together with the other two key ladies in our team, Nat handles the essential day-to-day tasks that keep Hire A Housewife running seamlessly. Their support and efficiency give me the freedom to put better systems in place, spend time on our community initiatives and focus on our marketing.

8. From Humble Beginnings to a Full-Fledged Business

    • Hire A Housewife started in the most modest of settings—a small office at the end of our hall way on Lethbridge street, with a old dog snoring under her feet, we had a old villa, given the amount of children we had we didn’t have a spare office lol, Nat would come there every day and the team based out of home as well, it got to the point I never had my children to school on time, and me and my husband were wanting to build a new home on a lifestyle block, we talked about building a office on our new block but it was time to separate work from my home life and get a little balance. We hired Kesters building behind feilding automotive and this give us so much more room to grow. Fast forward to last week: Hire A Housewife proudly paid 36 employees and has 13 cars on the road, serving a diverse range of clients, from building companies to private households. And we brought the old SPCA in Feilding a year and a half ago. Every space was what we had visualised for years. I am big on visualising what you want, knowing and seeing where Hire A Housewife will be has helped us achieve this.

Anna's Integral Role in Our Success:

    • On January 16th, 2020, we welcomed Anna to our team as an Executive Housewife, Anna was one of our best cleaners (Executive Housewives) and all the team respected her immensely. She quickly became the cornerstone of quality and support. Anna's presence is indispensable to the daily operations and well-being of our team. Whether it's coordinating equipment needs, managing supplies, or offering a comforting word, Anna is always there. If the team forgets a key, Anna is the one they turn to. If they need a hug or a morale boost, Anna is there with open arms. And when extra equipment or support is required, Anna steps in without hesitation.

    • Anna’s role extends far beyond logistics. She makes sure everything runs smoothly.  Her commitment to quality and her nurturing spirit are vital to our success. Simply put, without Anna, the business would not run as seamlessly as it does.

The Growth and Evolution of Hire A Housewife:

    • Our journey from a small home-based setup to a full-fledged business has been remarkable, and it’s people like Nat and Anna who have made it possible. Their dedication, combined with the hard work of our entire team, has transformed Hire A Housewife into a trusted and beloved service provider. We’ve come a long way, and as we continue to grow, we remain committed to maintaining the quality and personal touch that set us apart from the very beginning. We also added Kim to the team 10 months ago as our accounts manager, and main support to Nat, this has been another great step for us and helped me achieve much needed balance but also Nat the much needed support she needed.

  • What Sets Us Apart:

    • "Our passion for cleaning and commitment to our clients' satisfaction set us apart. We’ve invested in branding, comprehensive training for our staff, and roles like quality control and training development to maintain high standards.” We are hugely invested in our team and this is what sets us apart, we believe strongly if we have a happy team we have happy clients and we hear this often through feedback from our clients saying how lovely it is to have our team in their homes, and how happy they are etc.

    • Manuals Training. I have spent months putting training manuals together, this very much sets us apart in the cleaning industry and these are very valuable to our team.

    • In a time a lot of companies are losing work and struggling, we are maintaining our team and are still slightly growing this is a massive accomplishment that we are very proud of, our number one goal going through what seemed like a recession was to just stabilise what we have and try and get through, it has not always been smooth sailing but with a positive team who is dedicated to the success of Hire A Housewife this is being achieved and by having supportive clients who continue to support our team, which we very much appreciate.

  • Community Impact:

    • "Our journey continues. We’re committed to creating more employment opportunities and supporting our local community.

    • Paper bag presents, we collect thousands of dollars worth of presents for children in need at Christmas time, these get split between, paper bag presents, Women’s Refuge and Manchester House in Feilding. Last Christmas paper bag presents managed to give thousands of dollars in presents to Manchester House, Women’s Refuge and also additional to this we gave out 131 bags to individual children to ensure they did not miss out on a visit from Santa.

    • Clothing Extravaganza, this is one of my personal favourites, in times when things are tough and a lot of our people can’t even afford to shop at second hand shops we have brought essential items to those in our community for FREE, we will be running this 2 x a year alongside Pip from the Egg Project and Fran From Firmly Fit, we collect all our clients / communities second hand items and then we have one massive event and people in our Region can come and collect items for FREE.

    • Cleaning for a Cause. For those that tick our criteria we give 3 months free cleaning to those with Terminal Cancer in their final days.

  • Closing Thoughts / Future Vision

    • "From starting with almost nothing to building 'Hire a Housewife,' my story is one of passion, perseverance, and community. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and excited for the future.”

    • Our vision in to open branches around New Zealand and share Hire A Housewife and help other women to create what we have created here in the Manawatu

Lessons learnt

Know what your good at! And do more of that! Employ someone to do the things your not so good at.

Trust the universe will look after you, if you put good things out , good things will come back.

Positive mind set, know what you want and where you want to be, visualise it, there is always solution to problems don’t sweat the small stuff and learn from your mistakes. Ive made a lot over the years, we use them to improve our systems and learn.

Put your energy into things that help you grow not things that don’t or people that don’t.

Why I love Competition.

As the owner of one of the biggest domestic cleaning company in the Manawatu, people often ask me about competition. I got asked this last night. My answer? I love it! Here’s why:

  1. It Keeps Us Sharp 💪

    • It pushes us to innovate and continually improve our services. If I am honest my whole life I have wanted to be the best at anything I do, so we always improve everything we do to ensure we are the BEST.

  2. It Keeps Us Honest 🤝

    • Knowing others are striving for the same goals reminds us to uphold our values and maintain high standards.

But here’s the thing – I don’t focus on competition

Our Real Focus: Team and Growth, I guess I like to think of it like this, we are in a so called recession, If we are to focus on the fact we are and worry about the loss of jobs etc we will focus on all the negative stuff and guess what the universe will give us? YES what you are focusing on. This is why we are still growing because we only focus on growth and success.

Instead of worrying about what others are doing, we focus on what truly matters:

  • Our Amazing Team 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

    • We invest in our people, their skills, and their happiness. A motivated team is our key to success!

  • Our Bright Future

    • We’re always looking ahead, aiming to grow and improve. We’ve become one of the top companies by focusing on our journey and goals.

We succeeded by:

  • Listening to Our Clients

  • Constantly Innovating

  • Staying Positive and Focused

The future is bright, full of exciting opportunities and growth. We’re expanding our services and continuously improving to serve you better.

Thank you to my Family and Nat, Anna, Kim, Rob (REC Rob Edwards Creative) and all of our team for your ongoing support.

Thank you to our clients and supporters for being part of our journey. Your trust and support inspire us to keep reaching for the stars!