This story is part of CNBC Make It's Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money.

A little over a year into running her cleaning business, Cool Aunt Cleaners, Anna-Marie Ortiz has learned a lot about the resilience and adaptability needed to succeed as a small business owner. 

When she's not cleaning apartments with a portable vacuum strapped to her back, the 30-year-old is managing fluctuating revenue, controlling operational costs and making tough decisions — like downsizing her team — to keep her Portland, Oregon-based business running.

"In the beginning, I had no idea how it was going to go," she tells CNBC Make It. "But you keep going because you believe in what you're building." 

Ortiz started the business in July 2023 with her last $2,000 in savings. Since then, she's grown it from a part-time side hustle into a business that's projected to earn over $100,000 in revenue in 2024. She currently pays herself a salary of about $29,000 per year.

While she's faced setbacks and had to adjust her operations, Ortiz remains committed to growing her business. "Looking back on the past year, it hasn't been easy, but it's been worth it, knowing that we're heading in the right direction," she says.

Growing up paycheck to paycheck

Ortiz grew up in Wichita, Kansas, with four sisters, raised by young parents who divorced when she was 3. Her mother later married her stepfather, who ran a flooring business that, though eventually successful, faced financial struggles in its early years.

"Growing up, money was definitely tight," says Ortiz. "I've been poor my whole life."

The family lived paycheck to paycheck, stretching every dollar to cover essentials and often relying on thrifted items and hand-me-downs to make ends meet.

When Ortiz was in fourth grade, the family moved from Wichita to an 80-acre farm near Kingman, Kansas. The shift to rural life brought a period of social isolation, as she left behind her friends and found herself as one of the few people of color living near a predominantly white "cow town," she says.

On the farm, she had a long list of chores, whether it was cleaning, pulling weeds or driving the tractor. On weekends, she often helped her stepfather with his flooring business, laying baseboards and doing other related tasks.

"I was raised in a very strict household, for sure," Ortiz says. "I resented that like any teenager would, but looking back at it now, I feel like it had a lot to do with the person that I am today."

Becoming an entrepreneur

In 2012, Ortiz graduated from high school and attended Butler Community College near Wichita on a track scholarship to study business. 

However, she was uncertain about her career path at the time and decided college "was a really expensive way to figure that out." She dropped out after one year.

Ortiz then worked various odd jobs in Lawrence, Kansas, including as a server at a café. One of her regular customers, a fintech startup founder, invited her to join him on a project.

"Startups are risky businesses, it's like taking a chance of a lottery ticket every day," she says. "But I was in my early 20s, what else do I have going on?"

Over the next few years, Ortiz worked with the founder on a series of projects that ultimately "fizzled out," but in the process, she gained an "untraditional four-year degree in business," building skills in sales, marketing and project management.

Tired of the uncertainty that came with startup projects, Ortiz returned to Wichita and briefly re-enrolled in college in 2018 and 2019. But it didn't last: "I was pretty miserable at school, and I was like, 'What is the end goal?' I don't see myself working for anyone."

In 2020, Ortiz decided to open a plant shop with a high school friend. Unfortunately, the shop launched just before the Covid-19 pandemic, and despite a pivot to online sales, it struggled to turn a profit and closed in early 2021.

Despite the failure, running the shop gave Ortiz lasting insights she was able to apply to her cleaning business. She also realized through the partnership "that I had selfish tendencies, I had my vision and I wanted things done my way."

Starting her own cleaning business

After going through a difficult breakup and the closure of her shop, Ortiz realized she needed a change in her life. In September 2022, she moved to Portland, where she was able to continue working remotely for her fintech startup job.

"I wanted a fresh new start, where I could move to a city where no one knew my name and build something from the ground up," she says.

This pushed her to seriously pursue a side hustle, and after some research, she decided to open a cleaning service in July 2023. Unlike her retail shop, cleaning offered low startup costs, had no inventory to manage and was something she could handle on her own. Ortiz also figured she could stand out in the space by applying her tech and advertising skills to an industry mostly run by small "mom and pop shops."

With the last of her $2,000 in cash savings, Ortiz paid for supplies, a website, a professionally designed logo and registered her business as a limited liability company.

She saw an opportunity to target the many young professionals living in smaller condos and chose the name Cool Aunt Cleaners to appeal to younger clients. "A cool aunt is someone who looks out for their nieces, nephews and friends — and if they find weed under your bed, they're not going to tell your mom or something," she says.

To drum up business, Ortiz put up flyers and handed out business cards in targeted neighborhoods. By avoiding online advertising, she also kept her costs low.

Things started off slow, with the company bringing in just $2,595 in its first month. But Ortiz kept at it and decided to focus on Cool Aunt Cleaners full time starting in November 2023.

Running the business

Cool Aunt Cleaners primarily offers residential cleaning, move-out cleans and turnovers for short-term rental properties. 

Figuring out pricing was tricky at first: "I quickly learned that just because you're in a higher income neighborhood or a bigger house, that doesn't mean that you're making more money," Ortiz says. "It actually means that you're making less money."

Despite bringing in less than $5,000 a month at the beginning, the business has brought in an average of around $10,000 per month throughout 2024. It's on track to earn over $100,000 in revenue by the end of the year.

In the early days, Ortiz quickly expanded her team, employing up to four cleaners so that she could focus on managing the business. However, between flat-rate pricing for clients and hourly pay for employees, her costs began to add up when jobs ran long. Ensuring that each cleaning was done right also added unexpected labor expenses.

Ortiz decided to scale back her team to the point where she was running the business solo for a time.

After recalibrating, she hired a part-time worker in August using a new pay structure, and plans to continue expanding when she can book more cleanings.

Currently, company has about 15 to 20 recurring clients, and Ortiz and her employee handle up to 10 cleanings per week. Ortiz doesn't go on every job, assisting on about two to three cleanings a week.

The business is small, but profitable. After expenses, the largest of which is payroll for her employee, Ortiz pays herself about $29,000 a year.

Though she takes home less than the $60,000 she earned at her previous job, Ortiz prefers the freedom and flexibility of running her own business over a traditional 9-to-5. She's hopeful that, in time, the financial payoff will reflect her hard work as she grows the business.

How she spends her money

Here's how Ortiz spent her money in August 2024.

• Credit card repayment: $4,537
• Housing: $1,350 for her share of rent
• Transportation: $380 for car payment, gas and Uber ride
• Discretionary: $205 for pet expenses and clothes
• Phone: $100
• Dining out: $77
• Subscriptions and memberships: $63 for her gym membership, Amazon Prime, Spotify and Apple storage

After relocating to Portland, Ortiz faced unexpected expenses that led to $14,000 in credit card debt. In August, she used money she'd saved over the summer to make a significant payment on it, bringing her total credit card debt down to around $5,000.

"Moving out to the West Coast for the first time, this is the most I've ever spent on rent, gas, eggs — everything," she says. "It's insane out here."

Her only other debt is an outstanding student loan balance of about $10,000, currently in forbearance, so payments are paused. She plans to hold off on payments until her lender starts "knocking at my door."

In August, Ortiz paid $1,350 toward rent on an apartment she shared with her now ex-boyfriend. The couple split costs while living together, with her ex covering the remainder of the $3,500 total rent, utilities and some groceries.

Otherwise, Ortiz keeps her expenses minimal, rarely spending on entertainment or travel. She doesn't have health insurance, and deducts her car insurance as a business expense.

"I don't feel good when I spend money," she says. "I feel really good when I earn money and when I save money." 

Looking ahead

Ortiz has ambitious plans to expand Cool Aunt Cleaners beyond Portland and turn it into a "seven-figure business."

To reach this goal, she plans to use digital ads for the first time, streamline client onboarding with new software and hire at least six more employees by the end of 2025 — setting the stage for expansion into other cities.

And despite the challenges of growing a small business, she values the independence and purpose that comes with it. 

"I love being my own boss," she says. "It allows me the flexibility to make my own decisions and create a work environment that reflects my values."

Having grown up in a family that often struggled financially, Ortiz is determined to achieve self-reliance through financial independence.

"I want to be the person in my family that creates generational wealth and leaves behind a legacy," she says.

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