We've Found Independence... With a Small Town Garbage Route!
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[4] We find it much easier to handle all our expenses (such as daily landfill fees and gasoline bills) on a daily "pay as we go" basis, instead of letting them build up on monthly charge cards or charge accounts. This keeps us on an extremely rigid "we know exactly where we stand at all times" budget that has been invaluable in keeping us debt-free.
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HARD WORK DOES THE JOB
Once Larry and I had agreed on our four basic, inflexible rules . .. we began. And, folks, all I can say is: Starting up our own business was HARD WORK (which, in the end, was worth every ounce of the effort we put into it).
Each morning—as soon as Nubie, our big boy, was off to school—we piled little Andrew into the truck with an assortment of snacks and toys, and began recruiting accounts throughout all the small towns and rural areas within a 40-mile radius of our home. Needless to say, we quickly learned to deal with county boards, village councils, hauling permits, licenses, bonds, inspections, and all the other small details that our business required us to cope with. Larry and I found that these bits of red tape were relatively easy to handle when we took them on one by one . . . instead of trying to tackle 'em all in a single humongous lump.
Many of the people we approached, being "small-towners", had never had a regular garbage service offered to them before and were delighted that someone was taking on the job. (In all the recruiting we've done, we've never once been met with a hostile attitude. When you meet people with a friendly and sincere proposition, you're bound to get a positive reaction.) And a substantial portion of the folks who initially turned us down, soon got so used to seeing us make our rounds every week . . . that they eventually signed up with us on their own.
Within three months of our start, we had 150 regular accounts. That tally had climbed to 230 by the end of our first year in business ... and we reached our self-imposed "limit" of 300 customers long before the second year was over. We then stopped knocking on doors and cut our advertising down to one small ad in the local weekly newspaper. And believe it or not, folks, right now—as we complete our third year of operation—we're servicing 450 regular patrons, spread out over eight small towns, and we're busy all the time!
OUR PRIDE AND JOY
Now, as you probably can imagine, hauling that much garbage in an old farm truck (without a hoist yet) is out of the question for two people. So, as our business mushroomed (and, once again, with Dad Pace's help), we made a deal on a 1970 International, 13-yard, side-loaded, "real" garbage truck. The vehicle had been declared a "total loss" by an insurance company and we were able to buy it for only $1,000. Then we invested another $489 in a rebuilt transmission for the truck and looked forward to the day when we'd be able to repair the side-loader and put it into service.
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