ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The pandemic is taking a toll on many business owners, including some cleaning services.  

“We were 40 plus hours a week, cut down 50 percent of that and it’s really been a struggle,” said Tiffany Edmonson, who owns Peachy Clean Homes Cleaning Service in St. Petersburg.  

Edmonson said she’s lost 50 percent of her clients since COVID-19 hit.

“The clients that I did have before - they’re too nervous. They tell me that maybe when school picks up and the children are not in the home that they’ll have us come back,” she said.  

And that’s not all - her staff has also grown smaller for similar reasons. 

“Before the pandemic started, we had four employees. And basically, some of the employees got nervous - they didn’t really want to be involved in going into people’s homes,” she said.  

Her business has pivoted from using eco-friendly, organic products to virucidal cleaning products to keep homes as sanitary as possible during the pandemic. 

In the meantime, she’s hoping to attract clients with giveaways and discounts on social media—anything to make it through this difficult time as a small business owner.  

“We are extra, extra careful. Safety is our number one. We glove up, every house we use medical grade masks and gloves. We’re changing it out with each house we’re going into,” she said.