$2.4M/Year Business You Could Start Tomorrow! ($174 Startup)

William Milliken has a background in digital marketing and spent much of his career focusing on home service businesses. As time progressed, however, he realized he could make more money if he were to start a home service business of his own. He’s now generating over $200K in monthly revenue by entering the dog waste removal industry.

Will discovered the niche business idea of waste scooping after watching YouTube videos that circled around the concept. With over 65 million households owning dogs in the U.S., he saw it as a profitable opportunity to enter into a business with little competition and high growth potential.

He first targeted larger cities, such as Seattle. He sets up yearly contracts with each dog owner to remove the waste in their yard—with some contracts ranging from $20-30K annually. With the help of tailored marketing resources, his number of weekly clients quickly snowballed to over 2,000.

In this episode, learn how to harness the power of Meta ads, Google, and word of mouth to grow and scale a small business. Will also explains how he set up the business to be self-sufficient enough to run on its own even if he goes traveling for over six months.

Resources:

Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
00:49 - Business built on dog poop
01:15 - Cost of service
01:44 - Tools of the trade
03:17 - Job completion time
03:42 - Full-service inclusions
04:49 - Revenue and profit margins
05:35 - Coming up with the idea
06:23 - A simple (but often overlooked) detail
06:55 - Final touches
07:23 - Monthly overhead
08:20 - Securing recurring clients
09:46 - Overcoming operational challenges
10:42 - Commercial vs Residential
11:30 - Difference in profit margins
13:38 - Systems and processes
14:40 - Refilling doggie bag stations
15:01 - Persuading clients
15:55 - Fan blitz
16:58 - Advertising tips for newbies
18:11 - Handling stressesful moments
18:45 - Workload
19:23 - Shattering perceptions
19:52 - Overcoming limiting beliefs
20:22 - Biggest mistakes
22:02 - Standing out from competition
22:38 - Headquarters
22:57 - Bagging 5-star reviews
23:42 - Monthly ad spend
24:41 - Service route overview
25:12 - Importance of uniforms
26:39 - Truck wrap
27:31 - Doing things differently
28:36 - Reaping hard-earned rewards
29:16 - Business startup myth
29:51 - A key metric (in any biz!)
30:55 - Onboarding and training
32:06 - Learning the ins and outs
33:25 - Cheap (but effective) marketing secrets
34:16 - Scaling the business
34:51 - Acquiring the fleet
35:42 - Why Seattle?
36:10 - Partnering for success
37:43 - Leadership style
38:29 - Value-based systems
39:18 - A standout industry
40:05 - Road to a $100K…fast!
41:07 - Running multiple locations
41:49 - Brand story vs Pricing
42:56 - Doomed to fail
43:34 - Staying motivated
44:13 - Success redefined
44:51 - Outro

#business #smallbusiness #startingabusiness

[Scoop-Start]

Thanks so much for having me on this episode! 💩

I’m excited to see more people get into the business and help turn scooping poop into a mainstream industry! 🚀

[kenjifugimoto]

This is blowing my mind, you can really make a business out of anything

[speedyscoop]

Thanks for representing our fellow scoopers🥳🥳🥳. We love this industry 🐶💩💪🏻

[evandiskett]

honestly best video in a while, long time fan need these random, odd, an whacky businesses

[ruggedrebel]

My buddy owns a multi-location version of this he started 2 years ago in North/South Carolina. It's going great!

[Nadeem-hb]

Thanks to YouTube that recommend me ur channel.. Valuable Content. ❤.. Love from India

[JAW]

I remember living in Idaho and a lady started this business and I laughed and then a couple years later after she was making over $1 million a year and another company came in and they still needed help. I got to really thinking this is a great idea now that I live in Texas and see the totally differentmanagement people and their pets especially the apartments. This is definitely something to not laugh about. I am considering.

[EthanNaresh]

I've seen these trucks all around my hometown of Spokane and CDA and wondered if they actually made enough money. I guess they do!

[annagornas]

Great video, lots of good questions and answers, which simplifies an already simple business even more.
This business owner really knows his stuff. I wish I had an idea like this - very straightforward, easy to start, easy to scale, risk-free, and not time-consuming. That's how you create a comfortable, quality life for your family while also helping others solve a problem.

[thisdadthing]

I'm actually in the process of acquiring a scoop business!! Super informative 👌

[Spiff]

And yet people will judge the simplicity of the business..while in overdraft in their personal accounts 🤔 😅

[javierdejesusramos]

Out of all the small business ideas, this is by the far the most surprised one I have ever seen. Watching this video and the one from last week of the kid in Texas picking up trash, is the ultimate proof that anything can make you money.

[Bob-lmg]

The host is having a hard time not clowning the entire episode, so funny.

[NSAKEY]

Curious about two things:

1. What do they pay their employees?
2. Any issues with aggressive dogs and how to deal with it?

Cheers.

[aclintonmsu]

I appreciate his leadership principles such as incentives for employees and keeping customers happy...

[oopsiescoops]

Putting pooper scoopers on the map! Good job Will!!

[ElReyCondoy]

I thought about doing that long time ago, however I'm open to start now.

[jeffreyvonstetten]

This was insightful, and you spoke clearer than usual. Well done Dierks!

[Mike_Wazowskii]

ok the ad segway, albeit a bit corny, was kinda funny and creative lol I'm all for it

[luislovepoems]

Are aggressive dogs locked up while cleaning is there a time to meet the dogs?