Cleaning and Maintenance Solutions in Kuwait: Ahmad Al Hendi Presents Bleach Cleaning Services

Interview with Ahmad Al Hendi, Founder and Managing Director at Bleach Cleaning Services

How would you describe your sector and where does Bleach Cleaning Services fit within the sector in Kuwait?

We are aiming to create a new norm for how the sector functions. Facility management is all about resource management. Resource management is the core of how this sector works because cleaning and all other kinds of maintenance fall under facility management. The cleaning itself is extremely diverse as are the other sectors within the facility management industry. When it comes to cleaning however, it is about how to manage your resources and have sustainability, not only in the sense of being environmentally friendly, but in terms of sustainability for better income, a healthier business, and an easier transaction to your customers. Environmentally friendly and nontoxic chemicals and tools are being used with good results and with less complications at the same time. Accessibility and transparency are also important for everyone, where everyone knows what their rights are, whether it is the customer or the worker. In that sense, sustainability makes you change how the business is run and helps you in making things more digital than they are in normal management process. In fact, manpower management is considered to be both the main resource and the most time-consuming resource for this industry specifically. Therefore, we are looking at how we can make it easier, more flexible, and more fit to deliver the end result for all clients and all types of customers.

What are you doing to move into this new digital way of managing the business?

It is all about intelligence. When you have intelligence within your manpower, that is when you can do almost anything. When you do that, you will be able to migrate that intelligence to your system. This will make things so much easier for you and the customer to know what is available and how to make requests for the manpower. For example, sometimes there are HR related issues such as someone being sick and they cannot report for duty to certain kinds of venues at certain locations or a certain event. Such matters can be only a button or a click away for the employee to complete his sick leave, annual leave or any other transaction.

Are you implementing any specific systems, programs, or apps to do this?

We have four main service categories starting with the detailed cleaning, which was how it all started. Second is the special care cleaning. Third is the kitchen cleaning. Lastly, we have the infection control.

We have been working hard on this over the last three to five years and it is becoming a very good and healthy investment in how we can develop quickly as a business. In fact, when you are too big, you are too slow to move. However, when you are optimizing to the last drop, every single resource you have, you can be much stronger, faster, and more intelligent than anyone else. We have to change the way we understand cleaning service providers. It is not about manpower; it is about intelligence and about knowing the needs. It is not always about systems or digital. You can always buy a car, but you have to use it properly. You can get the best systems money can buy, but it is all about how you manage those systems. When you combine the system and your advanced or skilled management, you can have your success with less cost, with higher income, with more customers, and with higher satisfaction as well.

What are you doing to move into the greener way of doing business?

It has to start by having an extremely strong and professional inventory department first. When you have a well-established inventory department, that is when you can move on to what is more advanced. You have to have control over your consumption of all the raw materials. Moreover, your finished goods here are the ones not given to your customers. Your finished goods are handed over to your operations because operations are the inventory department’s customers. You have to have full tracking over their assets, the amount of raw materials used, etc.

What services do you offer?

We have four main service categories starting with the detailed cleaning, which was how it all started. Second is the special care cleaning. Third is the kitchen cleaning. Lastly, we have the infection control. Every one of those categories has a group of services that you can choose from. This is something that can be beneficial for all classes of customers whether it is industrial, commercial, retail, individuals, or domestic. This is because of the fact that cleaning services are a need and a necessity for everyone.

Who is your main clientele?

The domestic sector is where we get most of our revenue from with an average percentage of 40% to 50%. The rest is divided between the industrial, commercial, and retail. We have plans to get bigger shares of other customer segments throughout those four categories. Our plan is to increase our services in all categories to a total of twelve. They are now going to be more clearly and properly defined. When you choose a service category, you know that whatever service you are going to be interested in is related to detailed cleaning, but not marble grinding or to textiles, upholsteries, curtains, or mattresses, for example. Therefore, all these fall into the category of special care. Even kitchen cleaning includes its group of services because kitchen appliances are a world of their own. There are some companies that are established only for cleaning kitchen appliances and nothing else. Such approach and clarity of how we present our services allows easier communication and understanding between us and all our segments of customers.

What makes you unique? Why should a customer come to you over any of your competitors? What is something that you can offer that makes you stand out?

First of all, it is not only the service that is important, it is also the after service and giving guarantees for going the extra mile with customers. When you are in the contracting business, however strong you are, there are always things that might come up. The service sector is a slippery road. It is not about delivering the service for the 100%. That is required, but the after service is more important. There is always room for comments. Even when you take your car to be serviced every few thousand miles, you might have an inquiry of something that might have been missed. They utilize whatever systems they have to give you the accessibility over what they are doing and how they are doing it. This is also how we manage things through our digital software and more specifically our CRM.

What is your vision for the medium term, three to five years?

We have ambitions for expanding regionally. Currently, we have plans for focusing in the local market given that the demand in the domestic sector in Kuwait is increasing. Even given its geographical location and its size, there are other domestic sectors coming up and there are increasing needs for facility management and services in other governorates around the country.

What is your inspiration? What drives you to get up in the morning every day and do what you do as an entrepreneur?

As an entrepreneur, you should not be thinking about whether you are going to win or lose, whether there is pain or gain, etc. That is not how it works to me at least. It is more about continuing on that road. You should get up every morning at 5 or 6 AM. You need to believe and live the ambition that you always have, whether it is in business A or B. There are people that keep going down that road and there are people that do not. There are people who succeed in nine months of establishment and there are people who succeed after 20 or 30 years of hard work. They are both good. It is not about who is better. It is not about what is right or what is wrong. The point here is whether you have what it takes or not. It is about who has the deepest breath for going down underwater.

ABOUT BLEACH CLEANING SERVICES: Ever since 2013, Bleach is dedicated to providing clients with cost-effective cleaning and maintenance solutions for today’s competitive markets. Bleach has earned an exceptional reputation throughout Kuwait that allows the company to continue to evolve and set new industry standards. As a leader in the cleaning industry, Bleach Cleaning Services understands the specific requirements of fully managed service. Bleach provides domestic, commercial and industrial cleaning services, with a wide range of specialized services.

For more information, please visit: www.bleach-kw.com.

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