From Pharmacy Tech to Nearly 130 Poop Scooping Customers: Scoop It Dude in Tulsa

How did a pharmacy technician end up starting Scoop It Dude?

David Treadwell wanted to be his own boss and kept landing on the same idea. He was working as a pharmacy technician in Tulsa during the pandemic, wanted more money and more time with his family, and searched “what businesses can I start for cheap” about a dozen times. Poop scooping was always on the list. He joked about it in group texts with friends, then found YouTube videos from people doing it and started to take it seriously.

The push came by accident. He left the pharmacy to work under a friend’s business, it did not work out, and he could not go back. With a small nest egg behind him, he went all in. He formed the LLC, made a logo and a Facebook page, printed about 2,000 flyers and ran a couple of ads.

Two weeks later he had no customers. “Did I make a huge freaking mistake?” he remembered thinking.

What turned it around?

A post in a local Facebook group. David first went back over what he had put out. His flyers had about 20 pricing options and said nothing about who he was, so there was no reason for anyone to call. He rebuilt the flyer and the ad, joined a networking group, and found a Facebook page set up to support local businesses during the pandemic.

There he introduced himself: his name, that this was his first business, that he had lived in Tulsa all his life. Someone called within 10 minutes. He scooped their yard that day, and four or five more people signed up before the day ended. Within a couple of months he had 30 or 40 customers.

How did Scoop It Dude grow to almost 130 customers?

Through Facebook ads, referrals and a long stretch of patience. Early on, a scooper a few towns over sent him customers outside his own area, and networking groups and word of mouth added more.

Then he stalled. For several years he could not get past about 80 clients. Five or six would sign up and as many would drop off. The mistake he names is getting comfortable: posting less, making less content and leaning on organic growth. Last year’s winter rush added about 40 clients and broke the plateau.

The market changed too. When he started, Tulsa had two franchises and a few small companies. He now guesses there are 20 to 30. Since every one of them scoops, disinfects and photographs the gate, he competes on who he is. “You have to become the personality of your brand,” he said. His ads show him, his wife or his kids, not the logo.

What does the money look like?

David shared his revenue by year because he knows new owners struggle to see the end of the tunnel:

• Year one: $27,000
• Year two: $48,000
• Year three: $68,000
• Year four: $89,000
• Year five: $82,000 so far, heading for about $120,000 to $130,000

Before this, he said, he had never earned more than about $35,000 a year. Right now the route is just David and his wife, and they are usually done by 1 or 2 in the afternoon, in time to get their kids from school.

What is the plan to pass 200 customers?

More advertising, denser routes and a first employee. David held his ad budget back over the summer and built up content for the fall, winter and spring rushes. The plan he laid out:

• Run ads all month, with the budget raised on weekends.
• Do five-arounds. For each client, put a flyer or door hanger next door on both sides and at three houses across the street. “Route density is key in this business,” he said.
• Consider a door knocker, someone who can sell, since he does not have the time.
• Email past clients. There are hundreds of them, and they already know the service.
• Hire. He and his wife can handle the current route, but not much more.

What would he tell someone just starting?

Be kind to yourself and stop comparing. Some owners reach 200 clients in a year and others have 20 or 30, and measuring yourself against them leads to imposter syndrome. It took him years, and it added $20,000 to $30,000 every one of them.

His other piece of advice is simpler. Answer your phone, and say your business name when you do. Customers have told him they called five other companies and he was the first to pick up. When he does miss a call, he calls back within minutes.