White Hat Services LLC

Christopher Johnson always had a desire to own a business. While earning his degree in social work, he worked in water damage restoration, working his way up to crew leader. He transitioned into social work after college but still felt the pull to have the freedom of being his own boss.

In September 2014, he launched White Hat Services LLC, which provides asbestos and mold testing, while continuing to work part-time as a social worker. In 2015, Christopher decided to fulfill his dream and go full-time into his business, operating as a one-man shop.

As he took on larger projects and was a subcontractor for 95% of his work, he started to face cashflow challenges. The larger projects took more time and, therefore, Christopher experienced a lag in payments, but he still needed to cover regular expenses and payroll. Through B:Side Fund, Christopher obtained a $100,0000 CLIMBER loan that enabled him to purchase additional equipment and fill the gap between paying employee wage.He then decided to  diversify his clientele, flipping the ratio so that 95% of his business are smaller jobs with faster payment collection.

In 2022, Christopher hired his first employee and business continues to grow with hundreds of testing jobs completed for both residential and commercial projects. He now has three full-time employees and plans to add another division. His reliable timelines and work ethic have earned him dozens of repeat clients.