Hidden Gems: Meet Carol Silveira of Benchmark Maid LLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carol Silveira.

Hi Carol, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m originally from Brazil. I moved here in 2006 when I was 24 years old to live closer to my mom and brother. I’m so glad my mom chose to live in Nashville, so I moved here. After learning a little about our community, I saw a need for good, trustworthy, consistent, and reliable cleaning services; I decided to start my own business. I did all the bureaucratic paperwork and started advertising my new business. It was slow at first, but after the first feel customers, they started telling their family, friends, and colleagues about our services and how happy they were, and that is how we started getting more customers. I believe that one happy customer is what you need to start acquiring new customers. Word of mouth marketing is a powerful tool. All it takes is one happy client. We have loyal customers who have been working with us since the begging of our business. I thank God daily for our wonderful customers; some became family to us. We also advertised with Angie’s List (they used to be Angie’s List). It was helpful as well. Benchmark Maid is a family business. All we do is for and to our family. We are proud to sponsor our older son – Owen, on the football team at Brentwood High School. We have always sponsored other schools, this year, it’s the first time we have had the opportunity to sponsor our son’s school, and we couldn’t be happier. In the begging, I was going out there meeting clients, looking at their homes, and also performing the cleaning; not long after, my husband Paulo Silveira started working with me. It was just my husband and me initially, but later we needed help and hired a couple of ladies. To our joy and appreciation, later on, we had over 24 ladies as part of our team. They are wonderful! My background was in Law, but I didn’t have any business background, so I decided to return to school. I started going to business school at Lipscomb University to be able to run a successful business. I needed to learn more and get a Master’s degree in Leadership at Lipscomb University. Nothing came easy.

Nevertheless, we worked hard for all of our clients. It is true that with hard work and effort, we can achieve anything. Our hard work paid off. We never thought that one day we would be given an interview about us, about our story. We are honored to be invited to share our American dream story.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As I mentioned, I’m from Brazil and moved here when I was 24. The first challenge was learning the language after moving here, so I could communicate with customers; I’m the face of Benchmark Maid; therefore, I had to be able to converse with our customers. Another challenge was starting a business with no capital and not taking any loans. We knew that we needed an effective marking plan to launch our business, the market is competitive, but we did not have much money to spend. When I learned about Angie’s List and started advertising with them, we ran extremely unprofitable deals at the beginning so we could get exposure. A big challenge was when the pandemic hinted. We had to adjust our cleaning practices to service our clients and make them feel safe by having the ladies clean for them. We lost a lot of business back then, but thank God our customers returned along with new ones.

We’ve been impressed with Benchmark LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We’re a family-owned and -operated business, always have been, always will be. We’ve made cleaning of every variety from residences to commercial sites our life’s work. Our team comprises well-trained members with a high level of professional skills. We are the most reliable, responsible, honest, and hardworking team you can find, always willing to help with a smile on our face, trying our best in any circumstance, and always improving customer satisfaction. We have been serving Nashville, TN, since 2006 and are licensed/Bonded/Insured. We offer free estimates, excellent references, and experience; our customers can customize their cleaning options based on their needs. We offer Commercial and Residential Cleaning.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check?
I find Scribd a great app for audiobooks. I also like the blue pill audios by limitless labs. I started with the Rekoshot to improve my memory for a week. Then I listen to Trakabene for unlimited money magnet. I like a couple of podcasts, school of greatness and Impact theory. The Alpha Female Bible – Michelle Martin, Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman, The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel, Problem perspective?! Mark Ackers, Richard Smith, Stuart Taylor, Rich Dad, Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki, The mountain is you – Brianna Wiest, The 48 Laws of Power – Robert Greene, How to win friends and influence people – Dale Carnegie, Who Moved my Cheese – Spencer Johnson, MD.

Contact Info:

• Website: benchmarkmaid.com
• Instagram: @benchmarkmaid
• Facebook: @benchmarkmaid

Image Credits
Sarah Lauren Jen Dixon