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During his senior year at George Washington University, Stef-anTriandafilou needed some extra cash. Forgoing the usual, andperhaps easier, route of getting a job, he instead founded a smallcleaning service-using a mere $250 (the cost of two vacuums). Soonafter start-up, he recruited college soccer teammate AndrewDrykerman as his partner. What started out as a vehicle for makinga few extra bucks quickly grew into Bethesda, Maryland-basedMarathon Cleaning, a 50-employee commercial and constructioncleaning company with annual sales of $2 million.
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 Make TheCall Earth-Clean.com, (800) 571-5422, www.earth-clean.com | |||||
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In 1999, hot on the heels of Marathon Cleaning's success,Triandafilou and Drykerman (27 and 24, respectively) turned theiryouthful vigor toward the residential market, creating the pressurewashing franchise Earth-Clean.com. In addition to commercial andconstruction work, Earth-Clean.com franchisees service the decks,siding, gutters and awnings of residential homes and commercialreal estate. The ".com" of the company's nametranslates into online scheduling, billing and collecting.
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