While unmarried women, in accordance with the Civil Code of 1734, were legal minors under the guardianship of their closest male relative for life, they had the right to petition for legal majority to the monarch, which was a common procedure for unmarried businesswomen.
Richardy had herself declared of legal majority by a petition to Gustav III of Sweden in 1786 and, being now free to manage her own affairs, engaged in business.
The King refused to meddle in the affair, but Richardy eventually won the conflict and managed to win membership in the Halmstad city guild.
Richardy took over the old contract of the Vallen Castle manufacture to provide woolen stockings and boots for the Swedish Army, which had belonged to the family of Birgitta Durell for over a century prior.
She is regarded a pioneer in the region, were following textile factory owners continued to hire peasantry to work from home after her example.