Continued: Here is what happened, my version.
Greg scoured the local ads for a warehouse that would fit our needs. He came across the perfect warehouse space, with the use of a forklift and loading dock. 500 square feet of open space. After the purchase of a small scale, a few pallets and Gaylord boxes, we were in business.
Me? I always knew there was money in trash, waste, scrap, whatever you want to call it. I like to call it recycling. It just sounds more sophisticated. I am ready to hit the road and tell everyone what we have to offer. I was selling insurance at the time, but I was building a website and going around to other businesses during lunch break.
Things took off fast. In fact, I hardly remember those first months, they were so busy. I am spending my nights searching for a domain name, putting up a website and researching local competition.
Greg was working from early morning until evening and half the day Saturday. Word got out that he was fair and accurate for pricing electronic scrap. To my knowledge, we have not lost a customer, at least one we wanted to keep.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but in less than a year, we had to lease five times the space, purchase a commercial truck, two forklifts, two large scales and employ help.
Our computer scrap company has developed into a business solution for local companies to get rid of the electronic scrap.
Evidently, it is something that is badly needed and much appreciated.
We hold to our promise which is, we never charged for picking up end-of-life electronics from local business. Evidently, it was something that was badly needed and appreciated.
What’s next? Maybe branching out to another related business. We started Asset Recovery of Tampa, concentrating on re-marketing usable computers and office electronics for the best return on investment. We are hoping to help businesses nationwide, to find monetary relief for the IT equipment purchases of the past.
Asset Recovery of Tampa wasn’t a good idea at the time. We hired someone that made promises that were never kept. Lesson learned, don’t hire somebody on their word. Do your due diligence.
The picture is of 3 men that worked for us in 2014. Two are still with us.
