On-demand residential cleaning startup Whystle was growing fast when Covid-19 hit the Queen City like a ton of bricks.
But founder Chris Wright refused to be buried by such a setback. So he used what he already knew and pivoted operations.
When Whystle was founded in 2019, Wright said the goal was to give customers a fast, headache-free way to schedule and manage home cleaning appointments via a mobile app. The services are available for apartments, single-family homes and short-term rentals in the greater Charlotte area.
Wright said the startup had been making month-over-month financial gains when concerns over the coronavirus spread caused clients to pull appointments off the books.
"Covid swung in out of nowhere, and it was a shock at first," he said. "Our operations in short-term rentals fell off quickly, and residential clients were uncomfortable having us in their homes not knowing where we'd been previously."
Wright said the company, like many other small businesses and startups, struggled in April.
"Initially, almost overnight, we saw a significant drop in revenue," he said. "It was a momentary pause, though."
A quick shift in operations helped Whystle recover, almost completely.
Immediately, Wright said he realized a potential need for their services in small business spaces. They already had the training, manpower and equipment, so they got to work on finding the best cleaning solution available.
He said they spent the last eight weeks learning as much as possible about pathogens and safe solutions that would disinfect and protect against Covid-19.
"It turns out we were already using a lot of the right stuff," he said.
The commercial spaces are cleaned using hypochlorous acid, a naturally-occurring chemical often used as a disinfectant in medical procedures, tattoo healing and pet care; and an antimicrobial called GS-75 that provides a protective coating against bacteria and viruses for up to 90 days, Wright said.
The cleaner and antimicrobial shield are applied using disinfection fogging, which Wright said sprays the chemicals at a high flow, low particle rate. This allows the solution to settle on every surface, including areas where a person may not be able to reach.
He said they researched independent studies from the manufacturer and conducted their own ATP testing to determine how much virus or bacteria is growing once a space is treated.
"After testing days and weeks in a row, we consistently saw that the amount of biomatter was significantly lower than if you were just cleaning with a regular disinfectant," he said.
Wright said thanks to contracts with eight local businesses in the greater Charlotte region, Whystle has been able to build back close to 65 percent of the money lost due to the pandemic and expects to recoup the rest very soon.
"We have a couple contracts out now that will make up for the rest of that," he said.
