Senior Trey Pearce started his trash can-cleaning business, Trash Bros., on June 19, 2020

Seth I. Pickens 

Features Editor

 

Senior Trey Pearce started his trash can-cleaning business, Trash Bros., on June 19, 2020. He and his business partner, senior Jack Nammack, have been consistently growing the company since then and have amassed a number of employees. 

“Our mission was simple,” Pearce said. “Provide people with a service that takes care of the one thing most people don’t want anything to do with, cleaning their dirty trash cans. Our customers get quality service at an affordable price.” 

Pearce first started advertising his business by using Nextdoor, an app for buying and selling goods and services in the community. The growth in customers that came from promoting his company left Nammack without enough manpower to meet the demand. This led Pearce to begin hiring employees. 

“I couldn’t work on the business all by myself,” Pearce said. “We quickly realized we could make more money by expanding our business. [So] we employed motivated high schoolers to give us the scale we need to stay competitive against the larger trash cleaning businesses who charge up to four times our rate.” 

Pearce hired his friends, seniors Adam Barks and Nick Lundy, as well as his brother, freshman Luke Pearce. According to Barks, Trash Bros. employees have had great experiences working with the business. Being able to make his own money on a flexible schedule has made Barks more motivated to work. 

“I have learned to put [the] maximum amount of effort into whatever job or task I am assigned,” Barks said. “That is my mindset for cleaning the cans, and that is the main thing this opportunity has taught me.” 

When Trash Bros. first started, Pearce struggled to get new customers. He resolved this by posting on Nextdoor. When new customers began to come less frequently, he turned to his old ones. 

“I have a system where I cycle through previous customers,” Pearce said. “After a couple months your trash can is going to get dirtier, so we’ll come in again and clean it. This model has led to a more steady flow of cash.” 

Pearce wants to continue to be as involved as possible in the business when he goes to college. He knows that he won’t be able to operate the business forever, so he intends to pass the company onto his younger brother. 

“I’m going off to college next year, but I plan to keep the business going,” Pearce said. “I am going to do that by hiring more high school students so they can learn the values of hard work like I have.”