We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nichole Richardson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nichole below.

Nichole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today

If I were to start completely over, there are so many things that I would do differently. First, I would have become and LLC right away. It was a lot of back end work trying to transition everything from a DBA to an LLC 3 years in. Second, I would have signed up with my mentor as soon as my LLC was file and accepted. Get a business mentor in your industry, if possibly. They’ve been where you are, they know what you’re going through and can walk you through every step of the journey and help. If you don’t hire a business mentor, at the lease, surround yourself with people that are smarter than you so that when you have questions, you have people that you can turn to. Third, I would have increased my marketing and gotten out of the field and cleaning a lot sooner and hired and trained people to do that sooner.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I actually started cleaning for people when I was 18. My first “client” was my mother and father in law. I stayed home so they would pay me to clean their house. I cleaned for a few friends over the years as well but when I became a single mom, I started cleaning houses as a 3rd job to support my 3 children. In February 2018, I decided to take cleaning full time because I continued to gain more and more clients. I started Creasey Cleaning Co on April 1, 2018. I hired my first part time help the first month. I I began hiring people additional employees at the end of 2018 and was able to stop cleaning and start running and growing the business in September 2021. There have been a lot of ups and downs through the years but I have learned so much in the process. As of today, we serve around 50 clients and I have 4 full time cleaners with 3 more starting over the next 2 weeks. Creasey Cleaning’s main goal is to give people back some of their time to enjoy their family and the things that they enjoy and to provide a stable, steady jobs to people in my community, primarily single moms. I know the struggle of raising children in a 1 parent household and I want Creasey Cleaning to help alleviate some of that stress by providing a great work/life balance and paying well above minimum wage.

We also partner with Cleaning for a Reason to give men and women going through cancer treatments free house cleanings. We strive to alleviate stress in one seemingly small way by taking the stress of house cleaning. So far we have served 10 Cleaning for a Reason patients so far and look forward to providing clean homes to even more cancer patients in the future.
We have also donated free house cleaning to Innerfaith Disciple House and taught the men in the house how to properly deep clean and maintenance clean a home.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

Oh the close calls!! From starting this business to where I am today, I have had so many close calls, almost missing payroll, near death experiences that it’s hard to pinpoint just one. My business mentor says that between $100K-$50K is called the Valley of Despair. It’s called that for a reason!! This revenue range is where you’re learning ALL the things that you had no idea about before and it’s overwhelming. It’s frustrating and at times you just want to give up. I’ve been there many times, even recently. I have been $15,000 behind is paying sales tax, $5,000 behind in paying payroll taxes. I took out a $60,000 SBA Loan during covid. And I have struggled to juggle money to pay it all back and still make payroll and my current bills. There have been months where I’ve gone without a paycheck. But I’ve put people around me that have helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel. These people have been there. They know what it’s like. It’s not easy but by buckling down and being vigilant on what’s coming in and what’s going out, I can pay payroll without worrying that a check will bounce or a direct deposit get returned. It’s scary but it’s also learning curves. You make mistakes and you keep going. You find the problem areas and you learn from others how to fix it.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My competition is my enemy! This is one that I had to unlearn over the last couple of years. I didn’t want to meet them. I have had to change my mindset of the last few years and realize that my competition is not actually my competition. There are enough clients for everyone and we can actually become friends and learn from each other. I not have a “competitor” that I try to meet up with every 4-6 weeks and we discuss our marketing strategy and what is and isn’t working and boosting company moral, etc. And there are others in my area that we meet up once a month and discuss a different industry specific topics and bring a different view to situations and economic times.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.creaseycleaningco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creaseycleaningco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreaseyCleaning/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/creasey-cleaning-co-llc/?viewAsMember=true