How Region Scoopers Grew Past 700 Recurring Pet Waste Clients in Northwest Indiana

How did Region Scoopers start in Northwest Indiana?

Region Scoopers started as a winter side job. John Noonan was in the laborers union, digging holes and installing gas lines about an hour from Chicago, when he was laid off for the winter. He had just bought a house, and unemployment would not cover the mortgage and bills.

He had been watching Erica Krupin’s YouTube videos about poop scooping, so he posted in Facebook buy and sell groups that he was doing it. He was embarrassed at first. “It was the best decision I’ve ever made,” he said. Within about two months he had around 20 clients, and he had 20 to 30 recurring clients when his boss called him back to work.

His dad took over the route. John left the house at 3 a.m. for construction, got home around 7 p.m., and showed up at the job site an hour early on purpose to schedule emails and answer leads. He ran the business that way for about two years.

What pushed John Noonan to go full time?

A robbery did. Around noon one day, in what he called a very nice neighborhood, three men with guns got out of a car and took everything from John, a co-worker and an inspector. He stayed away from work for about a month. His mom told him not to go back at all, because he had built the business for a reason.

“I think that was the push I needed to go full time,” he said. He had enough recurring clients for two technicians by then. Revenue almost doubled the next year: “We did like 125 for that year. The next year we did 245.”

Region Scoopers now has a little over 700 recurring clients and a team of nine. John hoped to reach about 850 by the end of the year.

Why does Region Scoopers make sure every call gets answered?

Because a caller who gets no answer calls the next company. “If no one answers the phone, I’m calling the next person,” John said.

When demand first took off after the snow melted, he had a waiting list of about 50 people, and his very first review was a one-star from someone he got back to two days later. He could not pick up with a dump truck backing up behind him, so he hired a virtual assistant company in Washington state that charges only for the minutes it spends on the phone. The team sent quotes in Jobber and scheduled jobs. He still uses them after hours.

Which Facebook ads and offers work for pet waste removal?

Simple ones, tested in volume. Early on John ran one picture with one caption at $20 a day and hoped it worked. Now the company launches 10 to 20 different ads on day one and kills the ones that do badly. When he ran the ads himself, he turned an ad off once its cost per lead reached about $50. Someone else runs them for him now.

What the testing showed:

• First scoop free beat every other offer. He also tried one month free and 50% off the first month.
• The free scoop comes with prepayment. New clients pay for four visits on the phone and get five.
• Raw beats polished. His best ad was a photo of him with his arms crossed, leaning on the wrapped truck beside a bucket and rake. Second best was a selfie video shot on his phone in front of the truck.

Why does Region Scoopers bill every four weeks?

Because the price is easier to explain and fewer cards decline. For its first few years the company charged on completion, which meant more fees and no revenue for a week that was skipped. Then it tested first-of-the-month billing.

John listens to his office’s sales calls and tracks where people drop off. In his example, a caller hears a $20 weekly rate, expects about $80 a month, and then hears a higher number, because the weekly rate is multiplied by 52 and divided by 12. To the caller it feels like being ripped off. The first of the month is also when the mortgage is due, so cards declined. Prepaid billing every four weeks eased both problems.

What numbers does John track to stay profitable?

Yards per hour, complaint rate, churn and take-home profit. His technicians average 2.5 to 3 yards an hour because yards in his area are bigger. The minimum price is $22 for a weekly visit, which includes hauling the waste away and a free return visit if anything is missed. The company also holds private events for clients only.

In his first two years payroll ran about 45% and he did not pay himself, because construction paid him over $100,000. Now a bookkeeper meets with him monthly on goals and budget. Take-home profit was 25% this year, down from 30% last year as he paid the team more and spent more on marketing. He called 20% a healthy target.

What would he tell another pet waste business owner?

Follow up, and do not stop. The first automation he would set up is quote follow-up by text and email, then seasonal offers to old leads and cancelled clients. Region Scoopers still markets to leads from 2021, the year it started. He uses ResponsiBid with Jobber for instant quotes and follow-up, and pointed owners without a system toward a CRM such as GoHighLevel.

He also credited Review Harvest for taking the company from around 120 to 130 Google reviews to nearly 800.

The rest is persistence. “Entrepreneurship is one of the most hardest things you can do, and it’s lonely,” he said. His advice to anyone in the middle of it was to keep pushing and to reach out to other scoopers, him included, when they get stuck.