Leave the cleaning to them

Should I clean or study? Clean or party? Clean or do anything else? These are the questions students at IU answer every day, and as many messy apartments and dorm rooms will attest, cleaning usually is the loser in the decision. Sticky floors and empty pizza boxes do eventually need cleaning, and the entrepreneurs of www.afterpartycleaning.com are here to the rescue.\nSeniors Ryan Alovis, Evan Kanarek and Richard Maltz have solved the cleaning dilemma for IU students -- they have created a cleaning service, www.afterpartycleaning.com , to serve the student market at IU. With the slogan "Because that person you woke up next to ... isn't gonna clean your toilet," they know where their market is.\n"Since freshman year ... we couldn't find a cleaning service that a student can afford on a college budget," Maltz said. "And we also couldn't find one that accepts credit cards, so we knew this was a great idea."\nAlovis agreed. \n"We knew that we had a great idea and that the market was untapped," he said. "The biggest step we made was having a four-hour meeting the weekend we got home from school. It was in this meeting that we delegated jobs to each person and the ball started rolling."\nGetting the ball rolling involved elaborate market research to make sure the business would thrive in Bloomington. \n"We did extensive research for over one year," Kanarek said. "The research included studying local cleaning businesses, handing out over 500 surveys and talking with many people in the area."\nOnce the three entrepreneurs settled on a business plan, they took the summer to launch their Web site, accept credit cards and develop their marketing plan. \n"One of our most successful marketing strategies is through T-shirts that we designed and all of our friends have been wearing," Maltz said. "Our slogan on the back of the shirts reads 'Because that person you woke up next to ... isn't gonna clean your toilet.' As college students, we know what gets the attention of students and we have used this knowledge to tap into the untapped college market. Other marketing mediums range from flyers and refrigerator magnets to plastering the letters www.afterpartycleaning.com across our car windshields."\nBut the three entrepreneurs agree the best advertisement they receive is referrals from satisfied customers. One such customer is junior Adam Berger. \n"In the past, we had cleaned our apartment ourselves (and) with the stress of classes and other events here at IU, it is the last thing on our list," he said. "So last year we used two different cleaning services. They were both expensive and really didn't do such a good job. I figured that I would give After Party Cleaning a shot since many other college students were vouching for their quality. After using them once and seeing how easy and thorough the process was, I am more than satisfied."\nBerger said he is also satisfied with the cost of the services. \n"It is more than worth the cost. In the past we paid over $25 per person and now we pay less than $13 per person," he said. "They were very quick and very efficient with the service. I liked them so much, after the first cleaning, that I signed up for the weekly cleaning service, and they give me a discount."\nAfter Party Cleaning's are not limited to cleaning up the wreckage of last weekend's party -- services include regularly scheduled cleanings of apartments for $25 an hour and dorm cleaning from $28. The company cleans everything from fraternity houses to luxury apartments and can bill credit cards automatically, eliminating the need to enter credit card information every time. The cost of cleaning can also be split between credit cards.\nFor more information or a quote, call (812) 202-0241 or visit www.afterpartycleaning.com. \n-- Contact staff writer Brittany Ausmus at bausmus@indiana.edu .