Melanie, Corlarni, Geraldton WA

Today we are introducing you to Melanie who has her own residential and commercial cleaning small business.

Melanie started off her business with residential and commercial cleaning but now has branched out into custom design products such as adding prints to shirts and labelling drink bottles. Melanie designed her small cleaning business to be reflective of her personal life and values.

“I named my business after my two granddaughters. One is named Cora and Malarni. I combined their names to create my business name, Corlani. The reason that I have the bright coloured shirt is because I am an Aboriginal person and they represent my culture and the stars represent my 5 grandchildren.”

Read more about Melanie’s cleaning business.

Meet Melanie

The first part of my business is residential and commercial cleaning. I prefer commercial. Recently, I started looking at custom designing products, such as adding names to drink bottles and adding prints to shirts. My business name is Corlarni and I have created it out of things that I love doing including being creative and cleaning.

I like to think that I am very independent, and I want to be able to do work when I want to. Being stuck on a 9-5 job just isn’t for me. I have dreams in life and I can’t do that if I am doing someone else’s work.  I want to leave something for my family.

Before getting in touch with Many Rivers, I was on Centrelink and looking for work. I was a stay-at-home mum with a 12-year-old son who lives with me. I have 4 kids in total and now 5 grandbabies as well!

Melanie’s Business Journey

I live in a small farming area in the country and I have created the business to reflect parts of my personal life that are important to me. I named my business after my two granddaughters. One is named Cora and Malarni. The reason that I have the bright coloured uniform shirt design because I am an Aboriginal person and this design represents my culture. The five stars represent my 5 grandchildren.

Being a business owner has been very rewarding so far. It is about your thoughts becoming a reality. It has showed me that anything is possible if you have the passion to do the things that you love. If you love what you are doing you never have to work another day in your life.

I went to an employment expo held by MEEDAand I met Michael my Many Rivers business coach there. That was before COVID-19, but it wasn’t until after things were starting to pick up again that I got back in touch with him and we went from there.

 

Working with Many Rivers to Corlarni

Michael helped me with everything in the background. Registering the business, bookkeeping and doing receipts and those kinds of things. He mentored me and helped me when I had to do my first quote for a client. It took me a while in the beginning to advertise the business and see if there was any interest. Turns out there is!

The best bit about working with Michael is the way that he explains things – he is very supportive. He cares and he is involved. If he thinks that something won’t work, he says so. He is an honest person. He is always a text message away. The support is outstanding. I probably would have given up a long time ago if it wasn’t for that support and mentoring.

Biggest Challenge

Having confidence in myself that I can do this and talking to people is a whole new skill. Being proud! Also getting my head around the fact that I am actually a small business owner.

Biggest Success

Securing a 12-month contract with the local shire. I never thought that I could go down that road or be offered this opportunity so quickly in my business journey.

Biggest Change

The freedom of having your own business. You can work when you want to work and then you can go and do what you need to do.

Future Goals for Melanie’s Small Cleaning Business

To get more contracts and to get the business bigger. I also would like to provide employment opportunities for the local Indigenous community.

Thanks Melanie

Thanks Melanie for sharing your story with us. We can’t wait to support you on this journey to achieving your future business goals. If you would like to stay updated on Melanie’s business journey, follow Corlani on Facebook. 

Are you ready to take the first steps towards making your business idea a reality? Our Many Rivers business coaches will be with you every step of the road, not matter where your journey takes you. 

CLICK HERE to see if Many Rivers is right for you

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