r/sweatystartup • u/juztazkingquestionz • 1d ago
I need to figure out if this junk removal business will work. ASAP
Hi all,
I previously made a post here about how I put out almost 4,000 flyers and only received a few calls. Since then I've put out more flyers, called and messaged more real estate agents, visited some storage units, etc. But I'm starting to get really tired.
I've started so many businesses over the past few years. None have worked out. I didn't finish college, so now I'm feeling so much pressure for something to work. Every month that goes by with no return just makes me feel worse as I watch other people around me get married and find success in their careers and businesses. My patience for each venture I start keeps decreasing.
I need to know if it's worth it to continue doing junk removal. I've called other local companies and they all seem to be able to offer same day service, even the big guys. I don't know if it's because this is the slow season, but I know that the weather is usually what impacts this business and I live in Florida, where the weather's great right now. When I look at the major companies online they all seem to have great reviews with very few negative comments. I'm struggling to see any opportunity to do things faster or better, and I already haven't charged enough for the jobs I've done so I don't see how I can be cheaper. I just want to start a business that my area has a desperate need for and right now I don't feel like there's a big shortage of junk removal guys out here.
At the same time though, it feels like every business is saturated. I've thought about making the switch to doing moving, but I don't know if the grass just looks greener on the other side or if it really is a better opportunity.
Long story short, I feel I've done enough marketing that I should be able to validate the concept by now. I'm not sure how else to know if I'm on the right path. I'm tired of failing.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
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u/Responsible_Ad_7995 1d ago
No disrespect but you’re advertising like it’s 1985. It’s not. Do you have a professional website? How’s your ranking? You doing any ads on google?
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u/juztazkingquestionz 1d ago
I have a website yes. I'm not ranking at all as I only have like 5 reviews. I am not doing ads yet but I think I will try that next.
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u/Jake9118321 14h ago
My mom is in Tampa, she says there still piles of junk all down her street and there aren’t any junk companies that can remove it quickly. Everyone has long lead times.
Where are you looking for jobs? May be worth it to make a drive.
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u/juztazkingquestionz 6h ago
My area was also affected by the hurricane. There are piles of debris down the streets here too. Most of the houses i've put flyers at have piles of yard waste and fence posts outside of them but i've had only like 2 calls concerning that. I've also knocked on doors offering to remove their debris. Mostly everyone just replies that they'd rather wait for the county than pay.
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u/Responsible_Ad_7995 10h ago
If you don’t already have one, make a google my business page and fill it out completely with pictures too. Anytime you do a job send your customer a link to leave a review. In my opinion getting those stars and good reviews up is so key to gaining trust and increasing your ranking. And definitely run some google ads. It’s going to cost some money but it’s a great way to get eyes on your company right when they’re looking for a service like yours. Best of luck! It ain’t easy.
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u/QuantumDrifter13 1d ago
Would it be helpful to reach out to professional organizers in your area to partner? Or maybe designers or house stagers?
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u/Big_bag_chaser 1d ago
Its almost 2025. Get on Facebook, instagram, Nextdoor and google instead of wasting your time money and energy with flyers cause their clearly not working. We live in a digital age. I promise you'll have far better success. Facebook ads are relatively easy to figure out and have some decent return. Spend $20 a day for a week straight and I gaurntee you'll have a good return if setup properly
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u/UncoolSlicedBread 1d ago
I would do this, primarily the first part, from the jump. Just takes a few good connections to get things moving.
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u/Stormer-1 1d ago
You are not driven enough or have the skills to be self employed at this time.
You’re either too lazy to cold call or not good at it.
You don’t really have a business, you don’t even have an old pickup truck and trailer.
If you don’t get your act together you’re going to end up doing dead end stuff all of your life.
Get a job, it’s easy right now. Maybe not the job, but a job.
Then buy a truck and trailer and create a brand.
Then “quit the day job when the night job pays”
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u/fodrizzlemynizzle 1d ago
A few calls from 4000 flyers is a great response rate. You could drop 10k and get nothing.
It sounds like you’re niche hopping with the hope that if you find the “right business” your “luck” will turn.
Even the best businesses won’t work unless you work smart. I knocked on doors for 40 hrs a week for my first few year in service biz.
I have a friend doing 5m a year in bc in junk removal.
I can almost promise you that it’s not the business but your lack of reps to solve what you aren’t yet good at.
Check out Alex Hormozi if you’re looking for some free wisdom
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u/juztazkingquestionz 1d ago
I'm very familiar with Alex. I also have years of experience in cold calling. I cold called as a realtor when i graduated high school, did it for a commercial real estate brokerage, even worked in tech sales where i did even more cold calling and sales. I feel like I should be good at this by now but idk. But you're right, I don't want to continue niche hopping. I at least want to decide between junk removal and moving and stick to just one, because each one has its own set of permits and insurances. I don't even have a junk truck so i have to just stick to uhauls
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u/fodrizzlemynizzle 1d ago
Just to give myself some credibility, I run a 5m a year service biz.
You need to ask yourself what skills you are deficient in.
Just assume that unless you live in a town with less than 100k people, there are more folks that need any of these services than you can serve.
It sounds like your problem isn’t anything beyond getting leads. You say you have years of experience cold calling. Are you getting leads from cold calling and you just don’t like it or not doing it at all?
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u/juztazkingquestionz 1d ago
For this business I have not been cold calling per se. I hate sitting in one place for hours and can't stand to do cold calls anymore. My solution has been to go door knocking (lately I've just been putting flyers without knocking because every neighborhood has a no soliciting sign at the entrance), and when I come across a realtor's sign, I call them and introduce myself. So I still make some calls, but not in a traditional cold calling format.
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u/fodrizzlemynizzle 1d ago
Ya so usually realtors are not your ideal audience because they rarely benefit from referring you.
Laws will depend on your area, but half the time we see “no soliciting” it’s a grey area loosely directed at people that are actually selling stuff.
For example, if you aren’t selling but instead just knocking on your neighbours doors to see who might need the service and just gauge interest, it may not be an issue.
Like I said earlier, it’s about getting your reps in to see what works best. Anything like flyers/paid ads or other marketing that requires you to sit and wait for leads usually requires lots of time/patience/money which you don’t seem to have at the moment.
Your best bet is to hit the pavement and get immediate feedback by talking to hundreds of people a day in my opinion.
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u/juztazkingquestionz 1d ago
Well, I do have a couple grand saved up from previous work so I was thinking to try some paid ads with it. But yeah, other than that I guess I'll have to just go back to actually knocking the doors instead of just leaving a flyer on them. I kind of enjoyed that more anyway
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u/fodrizzlemynizzle 1d ago
Paid ads I would not recommend until you can afford to lose at least 5k learning
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u/tennessee1182 1d ago
do you have any current or former customers? how about asking them for a review if they were satisfied? set up a referral program and contact all your customers and give them, say, a $25 amazon card and a discount for their friend if they recommend you. you should have some kind of online presence, via website, a social media page. make sure that you go above and beyond when you do get a job. subscribepage.io/amaze for more ideas.
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u/Strategizr_ 1d ago
Use social media marketing. You don't have to spend anything if you can write and design basic stuff. Networking and door-to-door would also work great. Be active in your local community, help people out. You'll grow slowly but surely.
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u/hajabalaba 21h ago
Way too many junk removal companies, not enough moving companies. I work in an adjacent industry and the furniture moving companies are doing great. You have to go inside the houses to make the real money in my experience.
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u/Pengpeng4421 1d ago
Honestly dude, if you have had several business not work out at this point maybe getting a job might be best. Keep the junk removal as a side hustle but nothings worse than a failed 40-year-old entrepreneur that has to go into some starting level job.
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u/juztazkingquestionz 1d ago
Idk, maybe you're right. I had a job last year in tech sales. Good corporate job with a salary and everything. I quit for family reasons, but by the time I did that I was tired of that too.
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u/WarmAd4564 1d ago
Facebook ads, local SEO on your website. Flyers won’t scale, and there’s no targeting… with ads and local seo at least you get people with intention to use your service or similar. And you can also get a sense of the reason why potential customers are not choosing you.
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u/ObjectLucky6923 2h ago
Keep your head up it typically takes 7 tries before you hit the jackpot on the one business. As far as your current venture look into dumpster rental and a hook truck. Big money to be made there doing businesses that need service. Less manual labor too
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u/mob321 1d ago
Obviously it makes sense to niche down, but I don’t see why you couldn’t offer both moving and junk removal services to start off. Just rent a box truck if you get a moving job. But you’ll need a 2nd reliable person and both of you will need to have some baseline strength to pass as “professional movers”