Written by Mary Ann Boateng, DM&C writer

Zianne Small isn’t an ordinary 23-year-old woman. As head of a growing company, her entrepreneurial skills have catapulted her to success in an industry that has stayed steady during the COVID-19 pandemic: the cleaning business.

Small has always had an entrepreneurial spirit.  At the age of 15, she purchased a sewing machine with a plan to sell outfits to family and friends.  She enrolled in Fashion Design at George Brown College and in her final year, Small took a job at a small cleaning company.  After a few weeks, she quickly realized she could run a similar company and now she is the owner of Elite Housekeeping Services Incorporated.  Small explains how she saw her early fashion business as the match that ignited her entrepreneurial spirit.  “I used to say I had a passion for fashion but I don’t think that was it, said Small. “I think I was just looking for a way to make money on my own terms. I knew that I wanted to try a range of different businesses throughout my lifetime.”

In a little over three years, Small has built a 10 person team that services most of the city of Toronto.  Although running a business in the midst of a pandemic has its tough moments, what continues to drive Small is her employees. She is always looking to better her business policies so that her employees are happy. “My goal is to bring great service to the city. A lot of people tell me it’s not easy to find great services. I do everything in my power to keep the clients happy.”

For Zianne, running Elite Housekeeping is a journey. She is now in the early stages of developing a cleaning product and is meeting with manufacturers to understand packaging, products and pricing.While the young Torontonian is very happy with the success of her business, she doesn’t deny that it does take a lot of blood, sweat and tears to keep things running.  She has big dreams and wants to scale the company properly so it grows in a smart, savvy and manageable way. Zianne believes her work will be rewarded and she’s looking forward to a bright future.  Her advice for young entrepreneurs? “They shouldn’t value themself, or their worth based on age. Entrepreneurship is not easy, but nothing worthwhile is easy, right?”Looking to get a jump on your spring cleaning while supporting this young business owner?  Elite Housekeeping has special for first time customers!

Mary Ann Boateng is a PhD candidate in Communications and Culture..