- Story by Tess Van Straaten Photography by Don Denton
Michael Sikorski鈥檚 introduction into the commercial cleaning industry came at a very early age.
鈥淪ome of my parents鈥� Polish friends picked up a cleaning contract for some extra money and my parents decided to do the same thing,鈥� says Michael, the vice-president of Fantastic Cleaning. 鈥淭hey used to bring me along鈥� I had this little pedal car and I would ride it around whatever location they were cleaning.鈥�
After seeing how successful they could be, Michael鈥檚 parents, Waldek and Elizabeth Sikorski, decided to start their own cleaning company in 1989. Polish immigrants, they were living in Regina at the time, after leaving their homeland for a better life.
鈥淢y father was a photojournalist, a photographer for a newspaper, and was doing quite well in Poland in those times,鈥� Michael explains. 鈥淟istening to Radio Free Europe, he became quite obsessed with Western values. He was fired from the newspaper during martial law in Poland after refusing to affirm commitment to the Communist party. It was quite a big deal given how well they were doing at the time.鈥�
When Waldek told his in-laws he wanted to move to America or Canada, Michael says, they were shocked and said, 鈥淲hy would you want to do that?鈥� But the young couple wasn鈥檛 going to be deterred.
鈥淢om and Dad packed their tiny car鈥攁 Polski Fiat鈥攚ith everything they could and said they were going to visit his dad in Germany. And they didn鈥檛 go back,鈥� Michael says. 鈥淭hey were given refugee status and I was born there.鈥�
But Waldek鈥檚 dream of going to the United States would soon be dashed.
鈥淢y dad went to the U.S. Embassy and the guy had his feet up on his desk and wasn鈥檛 very kind. He got denied to go to the States, and that was heartbreaking for him because that had been his life鈥檚 dream,鈥� Michael says. 鈥淗is next choice was to come to Canada.鈥�
With a reputation for a professional European approach to cleanliness, quality service and treating people well, the hard-working Sikorskis quickly grew Fantastic Cleaning in Regina to 35 employees. But then a trip to Victoria would once again change the trajectory of their lives. They fell in love with the city and decided to move here.
鈥淭hey sold the business and they looked to see if there was another business they could purchase here, but Dad decided to stick with what he knows,鈥� Michael says.
They launched Fantastic Cleaning in Victoria in 1996 and the business is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. They now have loyal commercial customers all the way to Qualicum, but those early years weren鈥檛 easy.
鈥淭he biggest challenge in Victoria early on was this insider mentality,鈥� says Michael. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 open to new people being here then鈥攖hat was the big difference from Regina, which was so welcoming鈥攁nd my dad was told, 鈥榃e have enough cleaning companies here; you should go back to Regina.鈥欌��
But Waldek wouldn鈥檛 give up. He went door-to-door, dropping off pamphlets that a 10-year-old Michael helped him to write, to 15 to 20 businesses a day.
鈥淗e wouldn鈥檛 let himself come home unless he had dropped off 15 introduction packages,鈥� Michael says. 鈥淭he biggest thing my dad taught me was to never give up and to embrace that immigrant mindset to build our enterprise.鈥�
From those humble beginnings, Fantastic Cleaning has grown to around 100 employees and now services more than 100 buildings on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. This includes numerous long-term customers and some that have been with them for more than two decades. Michael鈥檚 younger brother, Philip, is the company鈥檚 operations manager and they became equal partners with their parents a couple years ago. Both have worked in the company since they were kids, but they weren鈥檛 sure they鈥檇 go into the family business.
鈥淒ad told us he wanted us to do something else because it is a difficult business,鈥� says Michael, who went to business school at Camosun College and then did an entrepreneurship program at Royal Roads before coming to work for the company full-time.
鈥淚t was still being run as a mom-and-pop shop out of our garage then, and I came up with a restructuring plan that had a central office location and a warehouse, so we could become a more professional and efficient company with streamlined operations.鈥�
After making those changes, Michael says, the business started growing at a much more rapid rate鈥攁bout 20 per cent a year. But convincing his parents to do things differently wasn鈥檛 easy.
鈥淲e had some crazy fights,鈥� Michael laughs. 鈥淲e call them 鈥楶olish fights鈥� because they鈥檙e crazy loud! People often think we鈥檙e yelling when we鈥檙e talking because of our language. There was a lot of pushback because it鈥檚 hard for someone to let go of micromanaging when it鈥檚 their baby.鈥�
Michael also implemented quality control and employee-tracking systems. He admits, however, that his biggest mistake was trying to change things too quickly. Looking back, he thinks that if he鈥檇 introduced things more slowly and proved they work, it would have produced faster results in the end.
The COVID pandemic has been another hurdle to overcome, with decreased hours and some businesses temporarily shutting down.
鈥淚 learned that no matter how good things are going and it seems like it will be forever, everything is鈥攁t the end of the day鈥攙ery fragile and we shouldn鈥檛 take it for granted,鈥� Michael says.
The pandemic has also highlighted the critical importance of proper cleaning and sanitizing, and Michael and Philip have helped clients implement new cleaning protocols. Like their parents before them, they鈥檝e also invested in staff鈥攐ffering benefits and paying above minimum wage.
鈥淏uilding relationships with our staff has always been a staple for us,鈥� Michael explains. 鈥淭he cleaning industry is notorious for high turnover rates among employees because of lack of job satisfaction. Nobody likes to feel replaceable or that their work is undervalued. We made it a priority to approach this differently and that鈥檚 resulted in many long-term employees.鈥�
The brothers are now looking to grow the company, both internally and through acquisitions, and have started to expand to the Lower Mainland.
鈥淭he sky is the limit on what we can achieve,鈥� Michael says. 鈥淎nd I believe staying true to our values and harnessing that resilient immigrant mindset we learned from our parents, we鈥檒l be successful.鈥�
Fanstastic Cleaning can be found .
Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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