How Scoopy Doo Reached 115 Recurring Customers and $100K a Year in About 8 Months
Brandon Carter, Owner and co-founder ·Scoopy Doo · Chattanooga, TN
Built Local Podcast with Clay Lawrence · · 15 min episode
The short version
Brandon Carter started Scoopy Doo, a pet waste removal company in Southeast Tennessee, after his 13-year-old daughter asked why they could not own a business together. They launched on July 15, 2025, and about eight months later had 115 recurring customers and over $100,000 a year in recurring revenue. Brandon says he bought his way into the market with Facebook and Google ads run by an agency, then added technicians and five commercial properties.
What other owners can take from Scoopy Doo
- 1
Pick a service with little local competition and almost no equipment cost. Scoopy Doo had what it needed for a couple hundred dollars.
- 2
If you have capital, spend it on ads from day one. Brandon ranks Facebook first and Google a close second for pet waste removal, and says print did little.
- 3
Expect to spend the first few months teaching your area that the service exists. Negative comments on ads are part of it.
- 4
Hire your first technician at around 70 customers, and expect one technician to handle at least 100 residential yards a week.
- 5
After you land one commercial property, find out what else that management company runs and ask for it.
- 6
Put profit back into the business instead of spending what you see in the bank account.
- 7
Know your numbers: profit and loss, customer lifetime value and churn.
How did Scoopy Doo start?
Scoopy Doo started with a question from Brandon Carter’s daughter. Brandon already owned three other businesses, and in December 2024 she asked him, “Daddy, you own all these other businesses, why can’t we own one together?” She was 13 at the time of the interview.
They went through ideas and landed on pet waste removal in Southeast Tennessee. Brandon looked at it from every angle, asking how they could get it wrong, and liked what he found: almost no competition in the area, easy to rank for, and no real equipment to buy. “For a couple hundred bucks we had everything we needed to do.”
They had the LLC and the website ready and “pushed go” on marketing on July 15, 2025.
How did Scoopy Doo get to 115 customers and $100,000 a year so fast?
Brandon paid for it. “I literally bought my way into the market,” he said. He had access to capital and put it into ads from the start.
About eight months after launch, Scoopy Doo had 115 recurring customers and was grossing over $100,000 a year in annual recurring revenue.
What he said about each channel:
- Facebook ads. “Facebook is the king of ads for this industry.”
- Google Ads. A close second.
- Print ads. They did not do much.
He was planning to run the ads himself, but a newer agency approached him through the Poop Scoop Millionaire group on Skool and offered a special deal for a shot at the work. He had time and money and nothing to lose, signed a contract three or four days later, and called them awesome.
He also noted that the business can be started with no money at all, using organic Facebook posts and local networking groups.
What was harder than expected?
Educating the public. Brandon expected the market to be easier to get into, and it took a few months to build traction. Nobody in his area had advertised the service the way he did, so many people did not know it existed. Every new ad still draws comments calling customers lazy for not picking up after their own dogs.
Now he gets referral business. On the morning of the interview, in the spring rush, he had turned the ads off because he could not handle more work.
When should a pet waste removal company hire?
Brandon hired his first technician at about 70 customers and a second a week before the interview, with 115. He plans to wait until he is past 200 to hire again. His benchmark: one technician should handle at least 100 residential yards a week, plus one or two commercial properties.
Quality has been the hard part of growing. He lost two customers in one week because a scooper missed some waste, and he fired that employee. The company guarantees it will come right back for anything it misses, but he said customers of a luxury service expect it to be perfect every time.
“It is really tough to get people to care about your business as much as you care about it.”
He recorded the interview from the road, covering for a technician who had to leave early.
How did Scoopy Doo land commercial contracts?
They came to him. Scoopy Doo services pet waste stations and scoops the common areas at five commercial properties, all run by the same management company. Once he was in at one property, he researched the company’s other properties and approached one, and the rest called him. Commercial stops take the most time, he said, but that is where the profit is.
What is his daughter’s role, and what is next?
She has moved into a social media manager role, designing the company’s Facebook posts. She sometimes scoops with him too, “mainly because I make her do it,” as a lesson in work ethic. He is also teaching her profit and loss statements, customer lifetime value and churn rate. “If you don’t know your numbers, you can’t be profitable.”
The plan is at least three more locations within a one or two hour drive, and he expects revenue to be in the millions within two or three years. He puts everything back into the business.
His advice to anyone thinking about starting: “Start. S-T-A-R-T. Just do it.” Analysis paralysis, he said, kills more people starting something on their own.
In Brandon's words
“I literally bought my way into the market.”
“It is really tough to get people to care about your business as much as you care about it.”
“If you don't know your numbers, you can't be profitable.”
“Start. S-T-A-R-T. Just do it.”
Review Harvest Client
What Scoopy Doo says about Review Harvest
Brandon says Scoopy Doo has used Review Harvest since almost the very beginning. He recalled starting at maybe 30 Google reviews and reaching 73, while Clay's numbers put it at around 11 when he signed up and 72 a few months later. Brandon says he had so many reviews that he tried to cancel, then thought better of it, and that requests now go out on their own instead of him copying the review link and sending it to every customer.
“It's awesome to have somebody doing that for me where I don't have to go in and consciously go into my Google My Business and copy that link and send it to everybody. It just happens on its own now, and I like that a lot.”
Questions this episode answers
How fast can a pet waste removal business grow?
Scoopy Doo in Southeast Tennessee started marketing on July 15, 2025. About eight months later, owner Brandon Carter said it had 115 recurring customers and was grossing over $100,000 a year in recurring revenue. He says he got there by spending on Facebook and Google ads from the start, and that the same business can be started with no money but will grow more slowly.
What marketing works best for a poop scooping business?
Brandon Carter of Scoopy Doo says Facebook is the king of ads for this industry and Google is a close second. He tried print ads and says they did not do much. He hired a marketing agency he met through the Poop Scoop Millionaire group on Skool to run the ads.
How many yards can one pet waste removal technician handle?
Brandon Carter of Scoopy Doo says one technician should be able to do at least 100 residential yards a week, plus one or two commercial properties. He hired his first technician when he had about 70 customers, a second at 115, and plans to wait until he is past 200 to hire again.
How do you get commercial pet waste removal contracts?
Brandon Carter says Scoopy Doo's commercial customers came to him. The company services pet waste stations and scoops common areas at five properties that are all run by the same management company. After getting in at one property, he researched the company's other properties and approached one, and the rest called him.
How much does it cost to start a poop scooping business?
Very little for equipment. Brandon Carter says Scoopy Doo had everything it needed for a couple hundred dollars, and that someone could start with no money by using organic Facebook posts and local networking groups. He chose to spend heavily on ads to grow faster.
Need pet waste removal in Chattanooga? Visit Scoopy Doo at scoopychatt.com.
