How Poo Patrol Grew From 18 to About 180 Weekly Customers After One Facebook Post

How did Poo Patrol start?

Poo Patrol started as a side hustle in April 2020, after Derek was laid off at the start of COVID. He had spent 26 years in the automotive service industry, mostly as a service writer, and had never run a business.

The idea came from a friend with a junk hauling business. The two were driving a boat down to Kentucky at 6:30 in the morning when the friend told him he should start a dog poop scooping business. Derek’s reaction: “Pay me to scoop dog crap, man? That’s nutty.” The friend said that if Derek did not start it, he would, and then he would hire Derek to run it.

So Derek looked it up from the passenger seat. There were plenty of scoopers in Florida, Arizona and Southern California. Around Evansville, Wisconsin there was nobody.

What did the first Facebook post do?

It filled his first season. Back home at the end of the winter thaw, Derek posted in the Evansville community page and asked whether anyone would be interested if someone offered dog waste removal for spring cleanups.

He thinks he cleaned 40 yards right off the bat. People then shared the post into pages for Janesville, Madison, Oregon and other nearby towns, and he finished the season with about 65 spring cleanups.

Weekly service was the customers’ idea. “That didn’t even register to me at that point,” he said. “I’m just taking cash for doing spring cleanups.” He started with 18 weekly clients, and recently found the list while going through paperwork. Today Poo Patrol has just about 180.

How did a side hustle become a real business?

Slowly at first. In 2020 Derek still needed other income, so he worked for his friend and cleaned beer lines. That December he suspended service for the winter. Then another owner in a poop scooping group, which had only about 200 members at the time, pointed out that dogs poop all winter long. Derek was back at his weekly clients in January.

The second spring he advertised and thinks he did about 100 cleanups, with his wife, kids and friend helping. Weekly clients doubled to about 36. By January 2025 he had about 75 and was wondering whether to hire someone for five to ten hours a week.

What happened when he was hit by a car?

He found out the business could not run without him. One night that February, Derek was crossing with the walk signal when a car hit him. He tore his MCL and had deep bruising, but broke nothing and did not hit his head.

In the back of the ambulance his first thought was the route. “I don’t have anybody to scoop the yards. What are we going to do tomorrow?” His customers had already paid for the month.

What he did next:

• Wednesday morning he messaged every customer to say he would not be out and needed a couple of days.
• By Friday he was interviewing his first helper. A friend with a power washing business lent him a worker until April.
• Family and friends covered yards in the meantime, all as 1099 help.
• The following week he had two hires, who stayed about a year.

He was back at work by July. The business grew from about 75 clients to about 110 that year and to its current size this spring. His two current technicians had just been moved onto payroll, with their first paychecks due the day after the recording.

Where do Poo Patrol’s customers come from?

Mostly from consistent Facebook posting and referrals. This spring, for the first time, the business had money left after the bills, so Derek started putting it into paid ads.

When a lead comes in he replies within 30 minutes, but not instantly. He waits at least five to ten minutes so it does not look automated. “I hate automated responses and I hate AI responses,” he said. His message thanks the person and asks what their most significant issue is with picking up dog waste: time, work, too much going on. Then he builds from the answer.

How does he keep customers as the route grows?

By doing what he promised and telling people what is happening. Derek listed what his customers respond to:

• An on-the-way text before each visit
• A heads-up when the crew will be late or the service day has to change
• Notice ahead of route or billing changes
• Automatic payments through the CRM, so nobody is chased for money
• A photo of the locked gate after the visit
• Technicians with enough personality to talk with the customer

That goodwill had not turned into reviews, though. Customers would promise a review and forget, and the count sat in the mid-30s until he automated the request.