How she did it
As a lawyer, she originally worked for a firm that foreclosed on homes and businesses. It was after she changed her career to focus on offering legal advice to struggling home and business owners in the Washington, DC area that she received a call from a friend who needed help saving his small commercial bakery in Maryland.
The bakery was facing foreclosure, so Richardson used her legal skills to prevent this from happening, but the solution had a catch; She had to agree to take over the business and turn it around. So, she agreed.
Turning things around
Richardson started by changing the company name to DC Sweet Potato Cake. DC stands for "Delectable Cakery". Next, she brought in new employees, and partnered with retailers like Wegmans and Safeway grocery stores, Starbucks, Nordstrom and QVC to sell her cakes.
Her biggest achievement was landing a deal with retail giant Walmart to sell her cakes in 250 regional stores.
After years of struggling and almost going bankrupt, this woman-owned company now has a valuation of $1 million dollars.
Giving customers more choices
Another part of Richardson's strategy was to add new cake flavors to their menu. Now, DC Sweet Potato Cake offers more than 20 types of cakes and cupcakes. Their flavors include classic sweet potato, red velvet sweet potato, and chocolate sweet potato.
The bakery also sells lemon pound cakes, coconut layered cakes, pineapple upside down cakes, sweet potato pies, and parfaits. They also now allow customers to customize their own style of cakes.
To learn more about DC Sweet Potato Cake and/or to place an order online, visit www.dcsweetpotatocake.com or visit their location at 4806 Rhode Island Ave. 2nd Floor, Hyattsville, MD, 20781.
