Bright Side Services
“You don’t know what you don’t know” is a saying that many of the smartest entrepreneurs and small business owners take to heart. By recognizing that there is a lot to learn and understand when starting or running a business, a sharp business leader can prepare themselves for greater success by being open to advice and counsel from experienced and tested experts. Michelle Krueger, the founder and owner of Bright Side Services, a leading provider of house cleaning and other services in Tavares, FL, was savvy enough to know she would benefit from help with her business and turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida’s (FSBDC at UCF) office in Lake County. She’s glad she did.
Proudly in business for more than 17 years, Bright Side Services specializes in residential house cleaning, window washing, and house watching. The emphasis is on quality, friendly service, and professionalism with a guarantee to make it right for its clientele. “What makes us unique and special for our customers is our ‘old school’ approach,” highlights Krueger. “We believe in training our employees from Day One, giving them a really good foundation. We believe that our employees are the real VIPs of our company and realize that without them, we couldn’t do this business, we couldn’t be in business, and we couldn’t be successful.”
Krueger first came to the FSBDC in Lake County with a worker’s compensation insurance problem. After an employee broke her elbow, Krueger approached her insurance company and was told that she didn’t have a workers’ comp policy. She had not been sold one because she was too small when she first started with them, and they hadn’t informed her when her company became large enough. “I relied on them to be professionals but now I was really stuck,” recalls Krueger. It was then that she contacted her local SBDC office. “They walked me through everything and helped me find a new insurance company and get the insurance.”
“Shortly after my first interaction with the FSBDC, I realized that they had resources that would be of real assistance to small businesses,” Krueger explains today. “I found John Doramus (an FSBDC-Lake County consultant) who has been my consultant now for many, many years and it has just been a blessing. Anything I need I can call him up and say, ‘Hey John, can you help me out with this?’ and he does.”
Krueger especially appreciated Doramus’ advice to ‘know your numbers’. “It was pretty scary for me because I don’t have an accounting brain,” she states. “But John has, on countless occasions, taken the time to help me understand what is a balance sheet, what is a P&L, what should I be looking for. I have now incorporated that learning into my business and it has made it ultimately a very healthy, financially successful business.”
How healthy? “Since I started working with the FSBDC approximately 12 years ago, our business has grown eightfold (8X) which is pretty amazing for a small business that was started with one person,” Krueger declares happily. “What I’ve learned in these last 17 years is ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’ and when you go to the FSBDC, you’re working with people who’ve been there, done that. They probably do know what you don’t know so one of the smartest things you can do is use them as a resource,” she concluded.
For information about Bright Side Services, please visit https://brightsideservicesinc.com/ .
