LaTerese Mathews

Van Dyke Norris Cleaning

Despite the fact that LaTerese Matthews, Owner/Operator of Van Dyke Norris Cleaning Services LLC, has only been in business for three years, she has many qualities that make her an excellent entrepreneur. She understands the importance of client relationships, she puts her heart into her work, she cares about paying her employees well, and she takes the time to make sure jobs are well done.

LaTerese recalls not having a typical childhood because her mother was diagnosed with Cancer when LaTerese was just two years old. Although her mother would live another thirteen years, her mother ’ s diagnosis meant that LaTerese had to help out a lot. She took on the responsibility of taking care of the house and paying bills. Her mother would get her up on Saturday mornings and say “Come on LaTerese, let’ s clean the house. ” She always did, and in a way, it helped her. “Cleaning would soothe me. It was a way to get out everything that I was feeling. It was a way to take my worries away. ” And it made her mother happy too. She was always so impressed by how LaTerese had cleaned.

The quality that most shines through, though, is her intuition. According to LaTerese, it’ s always been there. “It comes from my childhood. I follow my intuition. I always knew things, I never knew how I knew, but I just did. I trust my instinct. I lead with that. ”

Her intuition guided her in caring for her mother even when she was at her weakest. On one occasion, LaTerese knew her mother wasn’t well just by looking at her, so she followed her instinct and called her mother’s doctor. They asked if she could get her to the office the following day. At the age of just eight or nine, LaTerese drove her mother to the doctor the next day. It turned out that her mother had a Staph infection and the doctor said that had she not brought her in, her mother would have died.

Fast forward many years, and LaTerese had hit a rough spot in her life. “I had hit a downward spiral with my life and job and I was financially illiterate. I called my dad and told him my car got impounded and he needed to pay for it. He said ‘You don’t have your finances in order. You can’t afford that car. You need to think.

Let them keep the car. You need to think about your life decisions, reeducate yourself. ’”

He told her to read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad. He reminded her of the saying “If you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he’ll eat forever. ” LaTerese listened to her father, and learned. “My father was my biggest push and inspiration. ” She also tapped into her intuition. “I was working at Crouse Hospital at the time and I started asking myself, ‘What do you know how to do? What do you love to do? What can you give to people that they would pay for but at the same time you’re providing them something they would need?

Then it came to me. The only thing that I’ve done since childhood was clean. It made my mother so happy when she was sick. And if that made my mother happy, imagine what I can do for other people.

And so, in 2019, Van Dyke Norris Cleaning Services was born. LaTerese named the company in honor of her parents by combining their last names. The company provides residential and commercial cleaning (including carpet cleaning and hardwood floors), as well as construction clean-up.

When she first set out, LaTerese rented a car every week to get jobs done. After a while, she followed her intuition and asked an employee at the car rental business if she paid someone to clean her house and if she was satisfied with the work. The person said they were happy with their current cleaning service. Soon after though, that same person called LaTerese and asked her to clean her house. “It skyrocketed from there. Word of mouth is the biggest marketing ever. That one client gave me her whole neighborhood. A lot of marketing my clients did for me. Then I started branching out to real estate companies to offer my services before they put houses on the market. Hunt Real estate became one of my biggest clients.

Those client relationships have been an important part of LaTerese’s success so far. “Some people say it’s all about the money. For me, it’s about the relationship. The relationship can take you farther than money ever could. Many of my clients are entrepreneurs themselves, so without them I wouldn’t have been able to do what I do. I’m really proud of how fast I have grown without marketing.

The challenges in growing so fast have been there as well.

“The challenge I have is having to be everything: the owner-operator, the accountant, the payroll person, all these different roles and trying to sustain all that. When you’re small like me, you don’t have the funds to source it out right away. And I’m still a mother. My children still have needs and I have to fulfill them at the same time.

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Despite any challenges, LaTerese is setting her business up for success. She attained MWBE certification from the City of Syracuse and is currently seeking New York State MWBE certification. She has been invited to bid on projects and has made great connections with people through the process. She also now does contract work with the recently-opened Salt City Market and with a daycare operating out of a school in Fayetteville. There’s joy in it too! “Making other people happy and cleaning brings me the most joy. I love seeing or hearing how people react to my work and knowing that I can help others.

Van Dyke Norris Cleaning

Her advice to other entrepreneurs

LaTerese sees her business growing in the future in many ways. She plans to hire more employees from the community and pay them a fair wage. She’d also like to network with other women-owned businesses. “I see myself growing and expanding my services for commercial and residential businesses. I want to provide opportunities to help serve others in the community. I’m here if you need my services. Her advice for potential MWBEs? “I would say get the certification because there are a lot of opportunities like the Joint Construction School Board, for example. Also, I landed my first commercial contract with the Central New York Community Foundation (CNYCF) by being a woman-owned business. CNYCF specifically wanted to do business with a minority and woman-owned business. Do it. Even if you don’t know the way, you’ll learn as you go. I knew nothing at first.

Want to learn more about LaTerese and Van Dyke Norris Cleaning Services LLC? Click here to watch her feature on the Virtual Rent Party.

Written by: Diana Clark