What does it take to grow a company from one client to 100? For Joe Alvarez and Erick Casillas, founders of iCareClean in Montebello, CA, the answer was a lot of hard work—and a little help from free Verizon courses.

When Alvarez and Casillas launched their commercial cleaning service in 2016, they knocked on doors and relied on word-of-mouth referrals to build up their client base. But when the pandemic hit, their marketing plan floundered. “We had to change our way of thinking,” Alvarez says.

By taking free online courses with Verizon Small Business Digital Ready, Alvarez learned new ways to market the business digitally, with targeted, location-based strategies for online ads. “I started doing things outside of my comfort zone,” he says. The entrepreneurs also made use of a $10,000 Verizon Small Business grant to further those marketing goals, as well as to fund new equipment and employee payroll.

Verizon Small Business Digital Ready is a part of Citizen Verizon, the company’s responsible business plan to move the world forward for all. Sign up for the free courses at verizon.com/smallbusinessdigitalready