Clearing away self-doubt got our Junk Removal Business out of a rut!!
“ My Uncle created a business out of cleaning other people’s junk and after I graduated High School, I started to work for him. He soon became one of the biggest Junk Removal Companies in The State of New Jersey, “NJ JUNK”. While working and learning the business, I soon started Clutter Busters Junk Removal (and Then Became His Biggest Competition)
Hello and Welcome to Clutter Busters Junk Removal. We would like to introduce ourselves as Owner/Operators of Clutter Busters Junk Removal, Emily and myself Dennis Sharpe. I will start to explain how it all began almost 23 years ago and has grown statewide since!
In May of 1997, when I was 22 years old and still working for my Uncle, a friend called me up while I was working and asked if I’d be interested in making an extra $100 for the day after work REMOVING an old refrigerator. I realized after the removal that I could do the same thing I’m doing for my Uncle’s company, for myself. I went home, designed a flyer and the next day after work started handing out flyers in my hometown in Jersey City, New Jersey. Within a day or two my phone was ringing with side job’s I was setting up for the weekends to earn extra money. At first I removed the 2 rows of back seats and borrowed my mom’s van until I was able to purchase Old Betsy – a somewhat reliable pick-up truck that allowed me to expand from Hudson County, NJ and then eventually covering the entire State of New Jersey. The business grew quickly and soon I had to retire Old Betsy to purchase the bright green, white and black trucks we use today.
Stuck in a rut
Fast forward a few years: My wife, Emily and I were on vacation in Florida. I was 35 and now considered a SEASONED business owner. What should have been a relaxing GETAWAY from the daily hustle and bustle of the business was anything but. After reaching the ten-year mark, I was unhappy with where I was and where the business was going. Instead of focusing on the vacation with my wife, I could only think of the business and how unhappy it made me. I was very frustrated because other companies were expanding faster than mine, and that I had reached such a stagnant place. I was on the verge of a breakdown. Emily humored me when I grumbled about my unhappiness, offered me advice I didn’t take, and let me vent. It got to the point, however, where Rita could no longer take the complaints. We were leaving a CVS, when I said for what had to be the hundredth time, “I can’t do this anymore. “She looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Then don’t. Give up and find something else to do, or suck it up and fix whatever it is you’re dealing with. But you have to do something that isn’t complaining.” LOL
Clearing away my self-doubt
Hearing Emily’s advise to get over it or do something else was a bit of an eye-opener for me. For some reason, what she said resonated with me. I decided to shut up and make things happen, which is exactly what I’ve been doing since that very day expanding the business now into Florida, Las Vegas, Chicago, North Carolina, Virginia, Denver and still running strong side by side with my Uncle’s company in New Jersey! The story about doubting the business you created is not something most business owners want to share, but it’s a reality I faced. My self-doubt truly changed the company for the better because it made me challenge the status quo. If my wife’s comment hadn’t caused me to de-clutter my negative thoughts about my career path.
