Have you every wondered who cleans up after a homicide or suicide? Does the police department take care of that? Who cleans up after a drug bust in a meth lab? Somebody has to do it, right? Truth is, clean up is the responsibility of the property owner. So, where would someone turn to clean up a contaminated mess? There are people specially trained to clean up a scene like this.
Laura Spaulding Koppel is our guest today and she is that specialist! Laura is the Founder of Spaulding Decon. After serving in both the Army and law enforcement, she has cornered the market in a recession proof industry. Laura has seen things we have only seen in movies. In 2005, she opened the first nationally franchised company to offers decontamination services, which includes crime scene, hoarding, and meth lab cleanup throughout the United States. Let's listen and learn how Laura thrives on bringing order to chaos.
What you'll hear in this episode:
What inspired Laura to launch this unusual business. Why Laura was forced to get creative about a start-up loan. How did Laura gain the expertise to even start this business? As the only employee for the first year, how did Laura physically manage the tasks involved in this business? By what means did Laura get the word out to potential customers. What is guerrilla marketing? What is it that Laura has in her make-up that made her stick with it. Looking back, what would Laura have done differently in the beginning. When and how Laura decided to franchise. Pitfalls to avoid when franchising.
* Thoroughly vetting potential franchisees
* Personal, in-house training
How did Laura branch out from crime scene clean-up to hoarding and meth lab clean-up? How to prepare yourself to go into one of these scenes. Do hoarders themselves call and ask for clean-up help? What is Laura's career highlight? What does Laura consider to be her greatest professional mistake? What business goals does Laura have for 2017? What one thing does Laura want to stop doing in her professional life? Laura wants to start writing a book in 2017. Laura plans to continue to find great franchisees this year. What does a great franchisee candidate look like? What is an emerging brand? What is in Laura's favorite hack?
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