The Journey to Junk Removal, an Unexpected Story of Entrepreneurship

Some of the best ideas begin by being questioned, and that’s exactly what happened to Matt and Jake in the early stages of GI Junk Removal.  Their early ambitions to finance a truck and a trailer in order to begin hauling junk outside their 9-5s were skeptically received by their significant others and friends.  Junk removal certainly carries a negative connotation, and these men were college educated property managers.  The idea of the two of them leaving the office to throw on gloves and pick up water soaked mattresses seemed absurd.  Add on the risk of financing equipment for this idea, and skepticism turned to fear.  But, what Matt and Jake epitomize are the “resilience and energy” that are cited in Forbes Magazine as the qualities needed for “aspiring entrepreneurs [to] end up going the distance.”

BEFORE THE JOURNEY:

Starting the story of GI without addressing the backgrounds and upbringings of Jake and Matt is counterintuitive.  Despite living very different lives, both men unknowingly were learning the traits that would lead to their successful business endeavor.  Hard work, discipline, drive, and teamwork defined both of their upbringings, albeit in different ways.  For Jake, the son of a Navy veteran, those values defined his childhood and led him to the soccer field where he was able to use those values to take him to the D1 pitch at the University of Nebraska.  For Matt, learning those values led him through a tumultuous childhood on the West Coast and through the doors of Fort Campbell.  It would be those values that characterized his young adulthood as a proud member of the 101st Airborne serving numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Matt’s service to his country would lead him to combat and land him back in the States in the Midwest.  And, that’s where life would lead both men to the same company and job title: commercial property manager. 

THE CALL TO ADVENTURE:

As property managers, the same values from their upbringing came into play along with ambition.  Jake and Matt bonded over their ambition and ideas.  However, isn’t the old adage that you fall before you walk?  That was the case with the first two ideas the men had: cleaning and power washing.  Both avenues were seemingly lucrative business ventures, but neither idea panned out to longevity.  Those two seemingly “failed” ideas led them to the third time’s a charm - junk removal.  Videos from their first job would have been worth their weight in gold.  Matt had financed a truck, and they filled it with a sweet woman’s items.  When the truck was full, they packed Jake’s Passat, even the rotten meat from a broken refrigerator.  Ironically, that job began the adventure.  They realized junk removal was their niche.

THE BEGINNING OF THE JOURNEY:

Labeling the first year a whirlwind would be fitting.  Within the first two months, the men drove off the lot with a utility trailer.  Neither knew how to operate the truck and trailer, but they were determined.  A few months after that, they hired their first employees: two former students of Matt’s.  Shortly thereafter, a dump trailer followed.  Another truck.  Another trailer.  More employees.  By May of the following year, they needed someone to manage the business.  Katie left teaching and moved into that role.  Over the course of the first year, they would find that keeping a small business afloat is an ever-changing conglomerate of people and scenarios.  Often, Matt and Jake would tell each other they’d made it - they had reached the sweet spot of small business - whether it was the purchase of new equipment or a new commercial contract.  It wasn’t until they realized that “going the distance” in entrepreneurship meant acknowledging that for everything they know there are three things they have to learn.  Junk removal presents a new challenge every day, so resilience and energy has become the foundation of the business: resilience to persevere and energy to try again.

Rist, Kjartan. “The Entrepreneurship Journey – When the Romance Ends.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 27 Jan. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kjartanrist/2022/01/26/the-entrepreneurship-journey--when-the-romance-ends/?sh=9d2e6bf263ef.