Childhood friends and graduates of Kempsville High School, Glick, 44, and Vaid, 45, were already successful business owners. Glick is president and owner of Coastal Lightscapes in Virginia Beach and Vaid runs Vaid Associates Sales Agency. But they were looking for another business avenue, as Glick explained, to create passive and reoccurring revenue.
A chance viewing of a YouTube video highlighting the advantages of a bin cleaning business set the wheels in motion. Glick said the business would accomplish their goal and solve a problem for homeowners.
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“No one likes thinking about, much less doing the dirty work of cleaning and disinfecting their trash bins … made worse during warmer weather, ” Glick said.
Growing Inventory Of Bin Wash Equipment
Sensing the demand and need, Glick and Vaid contacted Sparkling Bins in Florida, set up a meeting with the manufacturer of the truck and flew down to talk through the business. Glick said they learned the startup process and truck design.
It took the partners about six months to customize a truck and organize other logistical aspects of the business so that, in October 2021, Clean Bins was ready to hit the streets. It’s been full speed ever since. The business offers curbside trash and recycle bin cleaning and disinfecting that takes just a few minutes.
Using a specially outfitted Clean Bins truck, water at more than 200 degrees, high speed 360-degree pressure washing and an eco-friendly cleaning solution, each bin is lifted onto the vehicle where the inside is cleaned in less than 30 seconds. The operator then cleans the exterior of the bin with a disinfecting wash and fresh scent spray. The truck takes away debris and all grey water, leaving no mess behind.
Garbage Can Cleaning
Clean Bins hopes to grow from one truck and three employees to multiple trucks capable of servicing southside Hampton Roads and maybe the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Eventually, Glick said, they would like to clean larger dumpsters like those at apartment complexes and restaurants. Currently, they offer monthly, quarterly and one-time service throughout Virginia Beach.
“We really love the idea of being able to create a healthier, safer and cleaner living environment for our communities, neighborhoods and the place we call home, ” Glick said.Brannon and Mary Ann Fowler, along with their business partners Brandon and Lisa Brzozowski, startedThe Trash Can Cleanerstogether two years ago and have since seen incredible success.
The team has equipment that they manufacture themselves, an ability to easily upsell other services, and a willingness to share their formula with other entrepreneurs, which means that this business is only going to continue to thrive.
Couple Founds Local Trash Can Cleaning Business
“There was a need, ” says Brannon. “We created the business, created the equipment, launched it in San Antonio, and here we are two years later. We have over 1, 000 clients in Jobber, are running the business consistently, and helping other people get started.”
The inspiration for the new venture came to the two couples based off of a common pain point — the smell left behind in their bins after the trash had been picked up.
“At one point we, altogether, had four kids in diapers at the same time, ” says Brannon. “And when you throw diapers in the trash can, even after they’ve been dumped, that trash can smells terrible.”
Tidy Trash Bins
They realized that it wasn’t only people with kids that had the issue and it wasn’t just the smell that was a problem, there were also other concerns.
“A lot of people who live in these larger communities, a typical neighbourhood, or an area that has a homeowners association, have requirements to keep their trash cans out of sight. It’s easiest to keep the trash can in the garage. So, it smells terrible, and you put it in your garage… and now you have this attractor of pests, and this thing creating a terrible smell, right there in your house. Putting it in your backyard isn’t any better, because you end up grilling beside your trash.”
Brannon and team realized that they were keeping everything in their house clean — their kitchens, bathrooms, their car — but not their trash bins.
Six Handy Trash Bin Cleaning Services
Brannon and his partners also run a mechanical equipment business, so having that background made it possible for them to build their own equipment for this type of business, rather than having to outsource it to another company.
“We realized there was an opportunity in the market. [Trash bin cleaning] wasn’t being done anywhere in San Antonio, and when we evaluated the equipment that existed, we realized that because of our mechanical background we could build something that was an enhancement over what else was out there.”
Once they had the idea and the equipment, Brannon knew the key to making the new venture successful wasgetting the right softwarein place.
Garbage Can Cleaning Service Start Your Business With Us
With a background in software sales for small to medium sized businesses, Brannon understood the questions that he needed to ask in order to find what would work best for his company. The most important thing for him was finding software that would scale as his company grew.
“I knew it was important was to find software that could handle a huge workload. A lot of software that is developed for smaller companies may be able to accommodate five or six stops in a day, but not more than that. We had some of Jobber’s competitors tell us they would do everything we needed, but when we asked what would happen if we ended up having 100 stops in a day or 200 stops in a day, they would tell us that their system was not made for that, but would look into it. When I asked the people at Jobber, their answer was ‘no problem’.”
“We started with Jobber before we even got the first truck on the road, ” says Brannon. “And we are now at the point where we have over 1, 000 customers in Jobber and it still runs as smooth as it did on day one. To us, that is a sign that Jobber will continue to provide what we need as we continue to grow.”
Trash Can Cleaning
When Brannon started the business, he knew that the equipment was going to be very versatile and could be leveraged in multiple different ways.
“It’s what made the risk of starting this business so low — we knew that the equipment could be used for other things. To wash houses, driveways, fences — we started the business with the focus of residential trash bins, but knew that potential was there to expand into other services.”
“All we have to do is send out an email blast to our existing customers and remind them that we can wash their driveway, roof, fence, cars, etc. with the same equipment, and it’s not unusual for us to book thousands of extra dollars in revenue witha pressure washing add-on. They trust us and know we are consistent; we are going to be at their house anyway to clean their bins — it’s an easy sell. And, on our end, because they are already set up in Jobber it’s easy — their credit card and all of their information is already on file.”
Garbage Bin Cleaners
“There are so many customers that thescheduling and routingis critical. Being able to put routes together that are efficient is huge, and something that Jobber allows us to do quickly and easily.”
“We take advantage of pretty much everything that Jobber offers to help us be more efficient. I’m planning on replacing all the forms on our website with theJobber work requestsso it’s a smoother workflow with customers signing up within Jobber itself.”
Being able to remind customers when they are coming is also a key feature for Brannon. “The client reminders are huge because we offer three recurring cleaning options—once a month, once every other month or once a quarter. We can’t expect a client to remember to put their trash can out one day in a month, so we really take advantage of theclient notification featureto remind our clients that we are going to be coming in the next day. That way it also ensures that our drivers aren’t showing up for no reason or having to reschedule and it also gives the client a chance to cancel or change their appointment if they are going to be out of town.”
A Mobile Trash Can Cleaning Service Has Hit San Antonio's Streets
Brannon also regularly uses theGPS waypoint featurewhen he needs to look up job histories, and loves being able to add images to job notes so that the driver can quickly and easily document any concerns.
“The driver of our truck also has the ability to document any damage to cans when he arrives and upload it into Jobber so that we can protect ourselves in case customers blame us for damage.”
Brannon and team have expanded the mechanical side of their business by building and selling their equipment nationally and internationally (into Canada), and have also started mentoring those interested in starting a bin cleaning business of their own.
Hampton Roads Entrepreneurs Launch Trash Bin Cleaning Business To 'stop The Stink'
“I am very open to sharing information with people and having conversations with potential new business owners, ” says Brannon. “We educate them, at no charge, on how to start the business — marketing, finance,
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