Mainebiz

V O L . X X X I I N O. X I S M A L L B U S I N E S S F O C U S 22 gas-powered trucks and six pickup trucks as well as two flatbed trucks and two guardrail pounding rigs that run on diesel. Loaders, forklifts and other machines are also powered by diesel. "It's been a bit of a rollercoaster for us with all the different global head- winds and supply chain challenges," says Andy Leconte, manager of Main Line Fence. Balancing act While there's little small businesses can do to combat political trade tensions, Leconte says that Main Line Fence has tweaked its ordering approach in the wake of rising fuel prices. Instead of placing one order of steel guardrail materials at a time, for exam- ple, the company now places orders for at least two full truckloads every quarter, though the volume varies based on the types of jobs and work backlog. "It's challenging from a scheduling perspective because jobs happen at differ- ent times … so we are finding ourselves sitting on material here on the ground longer in some cases," he says. Employee costs have also gone up. "When entry-level wages grow, we feel the need to increase the wages of our current staff," he says. Juggling market rates, the cost of living, cost of benefits and overall labor rates "is a deli- cate balance." Optimistic about future growth on the heels of investments in employees, equip- ment and facilities during boom periods, Leconte said the company is nevertheless "realistic to the fact that market condi- tions may change for the worse." Service firms shift gears Firms offering services from cleaning to insurance are also adapting. Even with a contract workforce rather than in-house staff, labor is the biggest expense for Cleaners Joy, a Portland-based business that cleans private homes, Airbnb vacation rentals and businesses. "e cost naturally scales with the business," says Hussein Adan, who founded the agency in 2022 after graduating from the University of Southern Maine with a market- ing degree and some entrepreneurial experience. "e larger the home or job, the more staff is required." He prefers the independent- contractor business model because of fewer administrative hurdles than direct hires. "It functions like a partnership where we and the cleaners complement each other's businesses," says Adan, who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp during the height of the Somali Civil War and grew up in Lewiston. e 27-year-old runs the Portland- based business from Richmond, Va., working with 20 to 30 cleaners in Maine and about 15 in New Hampshire who clean homes and offices. e team includes fellow immigrants who were arrested in federal enforcement raids earlier this year. While Cleaners Joy charges cus- tomers a premium over the standard $25 to $40 hourly fee charged by solo cleaners, the agency recently added a $10 "convenience fee" to pay for higher software costs sparked by tariffs. ough some customers complained about the price hike, Adan says the majority have been understanding. With yearly billing rather than month to month, Adan saves around $200 annually on software to power his website, run background checks on contractors and to process payroll. But he still pays performance-based bonuses to cleaners, even though that cuts his 30% profit margin to 10% to 20% by the end of the month. Keeping abreast of the broader economy is a must for Adan in run- ning his business. "Residential cleaning is essentially a luxury service, so any decrease in consumer spending on luxury goods directly affects our business," he says. Payroll pressure is also weighing on Chalmers Insurance Group, a Bridgton- based agency with 94 employees and planning to hire more. To attract and retain commercial lines account man- agers, the family-owned firm recently raised the minimum compensation rate for that role by 22.5%. Even as insurance premiums rise, the company is leaning into technology and process improve- ments to streamline workflows and reduce manual tasks, according to Dottie Chalmers Cutter, a fourth-generation owner and chief operating officer who says her teenage daughter has an interest in becoming CEO one day. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M PA G E 2 4 Residential cleaning is essentially a luxury service, so any decrease in consumer spending on luxury goods directly affects our business. — Hussein Adan Cleaners Joy M AY 1 8 , 2 0 2 6 26 F I L E P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R Hussein Adan, founder of Portland- based Cleaners Joy, works with independent contractors in Maine and New Hampshire.

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