{"id":61919,"date":"2022-09-28T11:24:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T15:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=61919"},"modified":"2022-09-28T11:24:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T15:24:27","slug":"woman-entrepreneur-laura-spaulding-vc-woes-crime-scene-clean-up-biz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/woman-entrepreneur-laura-spaulding-vc-woes-crime-scene-clean-up-biz\/","title":{"rendered":"Her Crime Scene Clean-Up Biz is Facing the Same Old Sexist Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Laura Spaulding (center) is ready for any mess — and for some investors to get on board. (Credit: Spaulding Decon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Laura Spaulding<\/a>\u2019s days are often full \u2013 literally \u2013 of blood, gore, mold and mice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s the founder of Tampa-based franchise Spaulding Decon<\/a>, which offers what one might call extreme cleaning services: professional sanitation of grisly crime scenes, former drug kitchens, hoarders\u2019 dens and more. And over the years, she and her teams of biohazard technicians have seen it all \u2013 from the remnants of a gruesome murder-suicide<\/a> that left remains scattered in several rooms of one home, to the aftermath of a Christmas Day double homicide<\/a> in another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But no matter what the job may be \u2013 or how stomach-churning \u2013 the Spaulding Decon teams show up in heavy protective suits, gloves and goggles to try and make devastated places look and feel like new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not work for the faint of heart. Spaulding, a former cop, first came up with the idea following a fraught conversation with a murder victim\u2019s mother. The bereft parent asked Spaulding how she should handle the chaos \u2013 and the blood \u2013 left behind in her child\u2019s home after the investigation concluded. Spaulding didn\u2019t have an answer \u2013 distressed, she created one herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost 20 years on, Spaulding Decon is going strong. Though she declined to disclose specific revenue figures or employee counts, citing ongoing talks with investors, she did share that annual earnings are in the millions of dollars, and that she has opened dozens of franchise locations all over America. She and her business have been written about<\/a> by The Wall Street Journal, Inc. magazine, Business Insider and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But those ongoing VC pitches and bank meetings are what truly get Spaulding \u2013 who has personally dealt with human remains so deteriorated they resembled \u201ca puddle of soup<\/a>\u201d \u2013 worked up. And with good reason. The only loan she\u2019s been able to secure to date \u2013 for $3 million in 2020 \u2013 came with a major caveat, she says: put up $12 million in assets, or no deal.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\n \n Her Cleaning Hacks Have Won 1.7 Million Instagram Fans — and Fueled Her Business\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

Her past efforts to win cash infusions went even worse \u2013 leading Spaulding to conclude that sexism is largely to blame. In her business\u2019 early days, she reports being stonewalled by lenders and investors alike, who then easily approved a white male friend’s application. When she wanted to become a franchise later on, \u201cone bank \u2026 sent four old, white men to my office three times to grill me on our business practices \u2026 before ultimately denying the loan,\u201d she says. The others didn\u2019t even make that effort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while she’s gotten some interest from VCs, \u201cwhat they want is over 51% equity,” she says, which is a non-starter. “I built this myself, and you come in with a check to take it over?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s far from alone in her struggles. Research shows<\/a> that women receive, on average, 2% of all VC funding given out annually \u2013 with the amount slightly decreasing from year to year. They\u2019re not faring much better at the banks. As of 2020<\/a>, loans for women entrepreneurs were about 33% smaller than loans given to male business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making it Work<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Spaulding was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but moved often due to her father\u2019s work, living everywhere from Bolivia to Tampa. Her family encouraged her to follow a more traditional path \u2013 and initially, she did heed their advice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from the University of Tennessee in 1997 with a criminal justice degree, she joined the Kansas City Police Department. Spaulding stayed there for 7 years \u2013 and was miserable for three of them, after getting transferred to a department she referred to as \u201ca slow, boring boys\u2019 club.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She earned her MBA from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, at night as part of an exit strategy. Not long after finishing the program, she had the fateful conversation that led to starting up Spaulding Decon. When she first launched in 2005, \u201cit was bare bones [without startup funding on hand]. I was printing out my own business cards \u2013 those crappy, perforated ones,\u201d Spaulding recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the left is what Spaulding Decon found. On the right is what they left when the job was done. (Credit: Spaulding Decon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For 3 years, she poured any profits earned right back into the fledgling business and worked in medical sales by day to pay her bills. Then, the 2008 recession hit. For most entrepreneurs, this would be the \u201cstruggle\u201d portion of the story \u2013 for Spaulding, it\u2019s when her company truly took off. \u201cI was getting all the banks contacting us to handle homes in foreclosure\u201d she says. \u201cOur sales doubled, [and] we just kind of kept up momentum\u201d after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company began franchising in 2016, and now has locations<\/a> in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania and numerous other states in between \u2013 no thanks to the VCs or banks she\u2019s reached out to for assistance, of course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been other challenges as well \u2013 the company\u2019s high turnover rate, for example. The average technician lasts between 6 to 12 months on the job, Spaulding says. \u201cThere\u2019s a mental component\u201d to employee burnout, especially when dealing with grieving families or complicated hoarder situations on a regular basis. But \u201cit\u2019s more about the physical work,\u201d due to both the exertion of the deep cleaning itself, and the weighty, oppressively hot gear that\u2019s required to keep workers safe from all they\u2019re exposed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She knows the toll it takes firsthand. At age 48, she still does jobs herself, but admits that \u201cI\u2019m a lot slower.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slower, maybe \u2013 but certainly not stopping. That $3 million loan she got is being used to build new headquarters that will house a call center, work she outsources currently. She also wants to open more franchises in the U.S., and expand into Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. \u201cBut we\u2019re bootstrapping everything, so we have to [grow] strategically,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s a constant hustle, Spaulding is motivated, in part, by the very tangible, visible results of each completed job. \u201cI like to see change and progress, and I get to do that with every single client we have,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the biggest draw, Spaulding says, is owning a company that helps people move past \u201cthe worst events of their lives.\u201d It\u2019s enough to make each harrowing assignment feel \u201cso rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\n \n Meet the Fashion ‘Trash Nerd’ Who’s Won Money and Love from Vogue\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laura Spaulding\u2019s biohazard cleaning franchise, Spaulding Decon, is a multimillion-dollar venture with locations throughout the nation. VCs still won\u2019t play ball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":61920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[187],"tags":[21133,19996,19687],"class_list":["post-61919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-biohazard-cleaning-services","tag-funding-challenges","tag-women-entrepreneurship"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWoman Entrepreneur Laura Spaulding Faces VC Woes For Crime Scene Clean-Up Biz<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Laura Spaulding\u2019s biohazard cleaning franchise, Spaulding Decon, is a multimillion-dollar venture with locations throughout the nation. 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