Meet the young founder whose cleaning company has grown to $2.5 million in revenue in 17 months

A 22-year-old Queensland entrepreneur has revealed an ambitious goal to turn his Gold Coast-based commercial cleaning company into the biggest cleaning company in Australia, after growing the business to $2.5 million in annual recurring contracts in just 17 months.

New Era Cleaning, which was founded and launched by managing director Zeke Gallaway at the beginning of May 2022, has 35 employees and serves 51 sites throughout Northern NSW, South East Queensland, Toowoomba and the Fraser Coast.

Its clients include Cali Beach Club, Hallmark Hospitality, and The Gennari Group among many others. 

Speaking to SmartCompany, Gallaway says he had always been interested in starting a business from a young age. 

“But I think when I moved to the Gold Coast and left my old environment in Sydney, it really solidified how badly I wanted to achieve my goals and start a company,” he says.  

“Originally, when I moved here I worked in telesales, but I soon figured out that wasn’t for me, so I decided to quit and go out on a leap to start New Era.

“I chose cleaning not because I am super passionate about the topic itself but because I saw a gap in the market post-COVID. 

“This desire to elevate the highly demanded service paired with my experience growing up in family-owned hospitality venues, meant I could reinvent the industry with my own take on it thus the New Era vision.

“Overall, I am definitely very happy with the growth we have achieved although we still have lots of goals to achieve in the next couple of years so we definitely aren’t stopping.”

According to the New Era Cleaning website, research conducted by the cleaning company has found that 70% of businesses are not happy with their cleaner at some point.

Gallaway says his future goal for New Era Cleaning is to be the biggest cleaning company in Australia.

“I think this is very achievable, although we want to grow at a rate that does not impact our relationships and service that we currently provide to our client base because that is vital,” he says. 

“I think what separates us and why we have been able to grow so quickly is that we focus almost solely on building strong communication systems that really allow our clients to be heard. 

“In turn, this has led to a lot of referrals and us building out quite an extensive sales process around this. This has definitely allowed us to stand out from the competition and grow as quickly as we have.”

Gallaway says being a young entrepreneur is challenging but very rewarding.

“I hear a lot of young people my age say they want to start a company and build financial freedom and that they will when they’re older and that they have ‘plenty of time,’ he says.  

“I understand this thought process but nothing ever comes to fruition without starting. I would encourage people to start tomorrow and to not look back. 

“Yes it can be daunting, but I believe what should scare you more is getting to an age where you realise that life has passed you by and you wish you had done more. That’s what drives me.”