By: Jhanae Winter

At the age of 23, Krystal Deveaux began working for others at various jobs, but things would change for the business owner only six years later. 

For the past five years and counting, Krystal has been managing and operating her business Cleaning Wizard242. Through these years in business, Krystal is glad to have upgraded her life to provide for family and herself.

“The journey has been a roller coaster. I've been introduced to prominent business minded individuals, the company has the opportunity to provide services to many well off clients, and we have been able to expand our employee count,” she said.

Cleaning Wizard242 offers a range of services for both commercial and residential cleaning such as move in/move out cleaning, Airbnb cleaning, decluttering and organizing.  

“Our purpose is to provide cleaning services with professionalism, efficiency and competitive rates, while providing detailed oriented service,” she said.

Krystal is always reaching to be the best as she strives to become the most memorable cleaning service, based on effectiveness and results. 

When she first established her business she recalled there were few challenges she faced, the most “frustrating” among them, was obtaining a business license. 

“The start-up cost was very manageable, however obtaining a business license was very stressful for us. The waiting period was nearly four months. During that time we missed the opportunity for a government contract because the procedure was lengthy and time consuming which was frustrating,” she said.

She is proud to say that just in her second year of business she employed additional staff members to her team.

Other goals she met were completing her team by employing at least four others within three years, legitimizing her business and obtaining a contract with a company. 

“We applied and were granted our business license, we also employed five new team members within a time frame, and lastly we landed a contract with a well established firm out of Lyford Cay,” she said.

Expansion is the vision. Krystal has more in store for Cleaning Wizard242. She hopes to have a storefront and open a retail store to distribute cleaning products.   

But, like many businesses, Cleaning Wizard 242 too suffered from the various lockdowns and protocols established in 2020 because of the pandemic. 

“In the beginning due to the constant lockdowns we were forced to shorten our hours, we couldn’t accommodate all of our clientele on a daily basis because the work day was shorter. Eventually the staff were placed on a part time schedule due to less of a demand,” she said.

Not all of her employees were eligible to receive NIB payouts at the time, so she resorted to paying their full salary from the business’ treasury for 13 weeks, she said. 

From being short staffed at times and having to adjust her business accordingly, Krystal's goal is to restore the business’ losses and “bounce back” within the next two years.

“Once the country started to open back up we gradually started to take on clients under the new COVID protocols,” she said.

Through it all Krystal looks at each situation as an opportunity. She accepts it, learns from it and improves her business. Even with negativity, she chooses to have a positive perspective and not take things personally. 

Some of the words she uses to stay uplifted on her journey are, the scripture, Jeremiah 29:11, The Serenity prayer and “I almost let go”, a song by Kurt Carr.

Loving what she does, Krystal said the easier aspects of being her own boss is setting her own rules for the business, creating her own schedule and delegating cumbersome tasks.

“The opposite to this is… working extended hours because I’m the boss, occasionally missing out on family events because I may be exhausted and still having to actually do a lot of the hard work because some clients prefer me and only me,” she explained.

Nevertheless, Krystal believes all millenials should have their own business.

“We are young and vibrant, we think outside of the box, we have so much at our fingertips to assist us in achieving success. One of the many benefits of having your own company is you can determine your salary, you can delegate tasks, and you can experience the better things in life because you’re in a better financial position.

“Don’t focus on what you don’t have and allow failure to be a stepping stone,” she said encouragingly. 

For all your cleaning needs, connect with Krystal on Facebook at Cleaning Wizard242.

Cleaning Wizards, we’ve got that magic touch