Carl Schilling wants your junk.
With three Isuzu trucks and a handful of uniformed, friendly employees, Schilling is out to clean up as the area franchisee for 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Schilling invested about $150,000, including two trucks at $45,000 each, and the money to buy the rights to five 125,000-population territories encompassing an area from Albany to Saratoga. He pays an 8 percent royalty annually to the franchiser.
The average 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchise investor spends about $75,000 to $90,000 to get started.
“I started a little more aggressive than some,” Schilling said.
Schilling began operating in September 2005. In March he bought another truck and a sixth territory, allowing him to pick up junk in Schenectady.
Happy with 96 percentSchilling, a 20-year veteran of construction-equipment sales, most recently worked for Albany’s Contractor Sales Co. Inc. He said that although he enjoyed his career, he’d always wanted to be his own boss. He had an opportunity about 10 years ago to get into a cell-phone business, but he had young children and his sales career was going well, so he decided not to take the risk.
But last year his self-imposed deadline to have a business by age 40 was coming up. His wife, Diane Schilling, a state attorney and East Greenbush town justice, was doing well in her career, so he felt it was the right time to strike out on his own.
He chose 1-800-GOT-JUNK? because he liked the system.
No comments yet.