After helping a friend move, mother-daughter duo Ann Lightfoot and Kate Pawlowski got the idea to turn their passion for home organization into a small business. In 2012, they launched Done & Done Home, which focused on improving women’s lives through organization.
Today, that small operation has grown into a multimillion-dollar business, offering in-person home organizing, a book, online courses, and more, with the help of a 13-person team.
For the pair, deciding who would handle what responsibilities came down to identifying one another’s strengths. Fully dedicated to their roles, tech-savvy Pawlowski handles social media and marketing responsibilities, along with the business financials including using Intuit QuickBooks for accounting. Lightfoot, who identifies as a people-person, handles sales calls and new client intakes. Their team manages everything from organizing and scheduling to creating content for the business's social media accounts.
[Read more: How to Grow a Successful Family Business]
How Done & Done has leveraged social media for continued growth
The use of social media has proven to be instrumental in the growth of Done & Done Home, with the company’s first home organization course, Love Your Home Again, bringing in over $100,000 almost exclusively through Facebook ads.
“Facebook ads have … helped us grow our newsletter list which aids us in selling more courses and books,” Pawlowski said. “We now have over 12,000 subscribers with an average open rate of 35% and click rate of 3%.”
In October 2023, the company launched another course, From Chaos to Calm: A Masterclass in Home Organizing, and once again used social media to share its story and promote its offerings. Pawlowski also shared that, in 2024, Done & Done will be introducing a new small business boot camp course called The Done & Done Mastermind to teach other female business owners how to grow their businesses.
“The Done & Done Mastermind is aimed at helping people take their passion for home organizing and create a six-figure, in-demand organizing business with our proven five-step ‘Done² System,’” she added. “Facebook ads will play a big role in marketing both of these courses."
We would be nowhere without the women who work for us.
Ann Lightfoot, Co-Founder of Done & Done Home
The right social media promotion can lead to higher engagement
On Instagram, promoting the company and the amazing transformations they do in clients' homes has done more than just boost visibility — it has established a portfolio that got the business noticed by their now–book agent, reached new clients and course subscribers, and increased company revenue.
“Before Reels, our niche on Instagram was primarily photos of gorgeous homes styled to perfection, but it didn't show the reality of how people actually live and how they got their homes to look Insta-worthy,” Pawlowski explained. “Reels has allowed people to be more ‘real’ and show the process behind professional organizing. This allows our clients to have a better understanding of what working with us will actually be like.”
Pawlowski believes Instagram Reels will be an important promotional tool in the coming months to reach new audiences and highlight the company’s projects, tips and tricks, and new courses.
[Read more: How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy in 6 Steps]
Leveraging your team to implement your social media strategy
While Pawlowski and Lightfoot have made great strides through the use of social media, they attribute much of their success to the help of their team.
“We would be nowhere without the women who work for us,” Lightfoot said. “Everyone on our team (with the exception of one) are mothers over the age of 45, which we believe is our secret sauce. If you want something done and you want it done quickly and perfectly, hire a bunch of mature women.”
To create a strong team of supportive and motivated employees, Lightfoot believes that employers should take time to understand their team’s needs and find ways to take care of employees, such as offering flexible working arrangements.
“We do everything we can to take care of our employees from flexible schedules, very high hourly rates, and unlimited time off,” Lightfoot said. “Because most of our employees still have responsibilities at home as well as aging parents, our priority is to allow them to care for their loved ones while having a meaningful, lucrative job.”
[Read more: 15 Resources for Women-Owned Businesses]
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