The Full Tour
A Day In the Life of a Bin There Dump That Franchise Operator
James and Lori Spink get up every morning in their home in Indianapolis, IN., have breakfast with 18 month old Kanon and prepare for their day. They have been franchise operators in the Indianapolis area for about a year now and have built a great business in a short period of time. They started with one franchise territory, one truck and a dozen bins and have quickly built up to two active trucks on the road and approximately 60 bins out in Indianapolis driveways. They are currently in the process of adding two more Bin There Dump That territories to their business and plan to add 4 to 6 more trucks over the course of the next three years! Each truck will be able to manage 30 or so "residential friendly dumpsters".
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Before deciding to join the Bin There Dump That team, James had been with the same company for a number of years, managing events across the USA. That meant a lot of travel and time away from his family. Because he needed and wanted to spend more time at home, he started looking for a proven and established franchise business - one that would afford him an opportunity to get paid what he's worth for his efforts and spend more time with Lori and Kanon while doing it. Of course, James and Lori were also looking for a business that offered great support and they particularly didn't want to stock inventory or need an expensive retail store front. He did his due diligence, spoke with a number of existing Bin There Dump That franchise operators and met the key members of the management team. He looked at a few different businesses and decided that Bin There Dump That fit the bill.
James now handles the General Management and marketing responsibilities for his franchise and Lori handles the phones, books and administration. James also decided that he'd stay in his regular job in order to keep his health benefits and some income coming in and that is what he has done for the time being. It's a luxury that they can each spend their time in the business and Lori does her job with Kanon at her side for a good portion of the day. They employ a number of part time drivers who deliver and pick up bins. Neither James nor Lori likes surprises, so their drivers are responsible for refueling, cleaning and getting the trucks ready for work the night before and Lori has scheduled out the routes to start the day. The drivers head out around 7am and the phones will need to be answered from around that time as well. Lori loves the fact that she can answer the phone right in her own home, making it possible to do that from 7am to 6pm if she so chooses. Bin There Dump That also has a great phone answering supplier across North America that can answer the phone 24 hours a day if they need it as well! For now Lori knows that no one can describe the great Residential Friendly Dumpster service like her or James, so she answers all the calls to their business.
It's a very busy business, but they manage the routine effectively using all the tools and training they received prior to opening. Their drivers understand that it's just as important to deliver the Residential Friendly customer service experience as it is to deliver the bin itself. That residential friendly culture is ingrained in everything they do every day.
Each driver will deliver four to six bins every day and pick up another four or five to bring to the transfer station for dumping. On a busy day they'll be out on the road the whole time, returning to the yard by around 5:30 or so to get ready for the next morning's deliveries. Lori keeps them on schedule, maintaining constant contact via two way radio or cell phone. Most deliveries are scheduled at least 48 hours in advance of delivery, but sometimes people need a rush delivery or pick up and that's never a problem to fit in for the client. The vast majority of people are flexible.
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Both trucks are Ford 550 Super Duty with Multilift hook lift systems, as per the Bin There Dump That specification. Their fleet of "Residential Friendly Dumpsters" range in size from 4 yard to 20 yard. 10 yard bins are used primarily for roof shingles, while 14 and 20 yard bins are great for home remodel projects and cleanouts.
James doesn't need to worry about his drivers, as he has hired guys who are semi-retired and doing this because they want out of the house, not for the $15 an hour they get paid. He's also had great luck hiring fire fighters who work for Bin There Dump That part time on their off days. James and Lori have developed an excellent crew that's gelling quite nicely.
95% of all the bins they deliver are at people's homes, usually in a driveway. Today the first call comes in around 7:30 am and is from a woman whose husband is planning to tear down an old shed in the back yard on the weekend. Lori discusses the details of the delivery that Friday and books the job. They agree that the bin will be picked up Monday morning and Lori gets the customer's credit card details. About half the calls Lori takes are from home owners directly, looking to clean out a garage or dispose of some debris created by a home project.
The other half of the calls for deliveries come from contractors working at people's homes. Lori and James love that side of the business, as the contractors are regular customers and they can almost always expect that they will get lots of lead time on those orders, making them very easy and efficient to schedule.
James has two meetings scheduled with potential customers this day. The first is a presentation he's doing at the monthly sales meeting at one of the local Real Estate Broker office in the area. RE Agents love working with him, as their clients can use the Bin There Dump That service to help clean out their home and get the house listed quicker and easier - helping the agent get the house sold quicker! His second meeting is with a large contractor who does around 80 or 90 kitchen or bathroom renos per year, ordering about that number of Bin There Dump That bins to get rid of the debris. James also makes a note to himself that the Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting is the next morning at 7:30. These meetings are about once every 2 or three months and James has picked up 4 regular commercial customers in the last year just by showing up and networking.
Around 5pm the trucks arrive back at the yard to get ready for the next day's deliveries. Lori has worked from home, answering the phone, charging credit cards and inputting the books using their Bin There Dump That customized Quickbooks program.
Most nights James and Lori are cheering on one of either the Cincinnati Reds or Bengals, depending on the evening or the season. They are both diehard fans who make the trip to Cincy multiple weekends per year to see their teams in person. Even while running their Bin There Dump That business, they always have time for the Reds and Bengals! If they want to get away a bit early on Friday to make it to the game, James is happy to stay a bit later than usual on Tuesday or Wednesday to get things done. When it's required, Saturday mornings are handled by one of their drivers. Flexibility is one thing that James was looking for in a business and now that's the thing he loves most about being a Bin There Dump That franchise operator.
Tonight James and Lori are celebrating, having reached their first year sales goal at the 8th month mark. They head out around 6:30 for dinner at The Saint Elmo, their favourite steak house. Lori loves the famous shrimp cocktail and little Kanon is grinning from ear to ear while he watches his parents celebrate! Owning and operating Bin There Dump That Indianapolis has worked out pretty well. Oh, and by the way, James has a pocket full of business cards to give to the new people he meets while out on date night!
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