Meet Neat Nealon aka Lauren Nealon. She hails from Dublin, Ireland and is Mum extraordinaire to 7 year old Harry. She now lives in Birmingham and is making the West Midlands gleam, sparkle and shine brighter, one house at a time. Lauren explains how she turned her OCD into her career, why she grew her business and the challenges she’s now facing during the pandemic. She also shares a few life changing and clever cleaning tips that you can try at home. Not alone that, she documents and shares her meticulous cleaning adventures on her Neat Nealon Instagram page.
When did you start your business and what inspired you to do so?
I started my business two years ago on 26 March 2018 to be precise. I was in a situation where Harry was starting school and it was impossible to find a 9 to 3 job or any flexible job to work around him. I have really bad OCD and love cleaning and I just thought, why not do something I love where I can work around Harry and that’s what I did. I set up my cleaning business called Neat Nealon and I’m now able to work around Harry and his school hours and when he’s not with me, I can work at weekends too. Before I set up Neat Nealon, I was a Store Manager at H&M and I tried to get back into retail but that wasn’t going to work for me.
What have you learned along the way?
My first year was a big learning curve. When I started out, I thought I had all the knowledge of cleaning. After a month or two, I did a cleaning course just to get to know different products and learn what to use and not what to use on certain surfaces. When I go into my clients’ homes, I don’t want to cause damage to anything. It’s so important to have knowledge when it comes to cleaning products. There are products out there that if mixed together can cause serious harm.
I also really get to know my clients and their house before I start a job as strange as that may sound. Each one is a different project. I am 110% with my standard and level of cleaning. Not every house is the same so I always explain to clients that it could take a few visits before I can really get into a routine and that’s one thing I always have to have, is a routine.
How have you grown Neat Nealon since 2018?
I had been looking for staff to take on for quite some time. Employing and trying to take people on is really scary when you’re trying to build and grow your business. In 2019, I employed my first member of staff as I couldn’t keep up with all my clients and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do it on my own. I was working every hour God sent. I wanted to spend more time with Harry and run my business at the same time. Things were going great with that but my first member of staff had only started a few weeks and then the Coronavirus hit.
What challenges are you now facing?
I am self-employed so not being able to earn any money at the moment is a real struggle. I’ve worked so hard for two years building up my business and client base. I felt I was in a really great place and the business was doing really well financially but now this has all come to a standstill. Business insurance and loans still need to be paid. We don’t know how long this current situation is going to last which is a real worry for me. Many of my clients have contacted me to say they’ve either been furloughed or let go so they may not want my services after all this is over. I really feel that my business is going to go back to the start.
What could people do to help your business?
It’s a tricky one really. I don’t have anything I can sell to people. Currently, I can’t go to work. I am trying to get my name Neat Nealon out there and share my page for anyone who may be interested in my services once this is all over. The dream would be to bring out my own products so maybe one day I will do that. I suppose I’m trying to get my name out there and would so appreciate anyone who shares what I do or my page, that would be a real support.
Where do you see Neat Nealon in the future?
I really want to do a book called, ‘OCD Made My Career.’ I suffer with really bad anxiety and I’m trying to use this to my advantage. In my book, I’d love to share simple tips people don’t already know about with products and things you’d already have in your house. Cocktails sticks for instance are game changes. Ever thought of putting your fridge on wheels so you can pull it out every week and clean behind it?. I’d love to share all the simple tips to make cleaning so much easier for everyone. I would like something out there that’s truthful and realistic for real life people on any budget.
Name a cleaning product you can’t live without?
Fabulosa was my first love. That’s a disinfectant. I came across The Pink Stuff in my second year and it’s great for making things new again. I don’t know what I did without it. And if I didn’t have it, I don’t think I’d reach standard of cleaning I want. I also can’t live without bleach.
Do you have any cleaning tips?
When I’m travelling, I make up my own bottle of Fabulosa and spray that everywhere especially on a plane. One thing I do weekly is hoover my mattress. Throw baking soda all over your mattress and leave it for as long as you can and then hoover it off. You won’t believe the difference it makes. My final tip would be for anyone who has pets. No matter how many times you hoover it just won’t pick up all the hairs. But a window squeegee will do the trick as it pulls up everything!
Follow Neat Nealon on Instagram @neatnealon
