Anthony Boyd with JDog Junk Removal & Hauling joins our “WiFi Studio” to talk about how he successfully manages his business and stays steady through adversity.
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Read the Full Interview Below
Sarah:
Hey, good morning everyone. Welcome to Business Talk, Biz Talk with Fusion One Marketing. We are so glad you are here joining us and let’s get this thing started.
Glyna:
Whoa, Sarah. That is awesome. Oh my gosh. Thank goodness for Sarah.
Yeah. Wow. That was awesome. Good morning everybody. I’m Glyna with Fusion One Marketing. For those of you who don’t know, I’m the president of the company and I’m going to go around the table here and let Sarah and Kelsi introduce their self, and then we have a very special guest that we’re really excited about this morning and we’ll introduce him. Sarah.
Sarah:
Hey, good morning everyone. I am Sarah. I’m the director of digital marketing with Fusion One.
Kelsi:
And I’m Kelsi, I’m a social media manager for Fusion One.
Glyna:
Awesome. And I feel like this guy needs no introduction because every place I see him, every place I see on social media, there he is. But we are so honored today to have our special guest, Anthony Boyd with JDog Junk Removal and Hauling. Good morning Anthony, how’s it going?
Anthony:
Hey. Good morning everybody. Doing good. Glad to be here.
Glyna:
Awesome. We are really excited, Anthony, you are our first official guest here on Biz Talk. So we chose you for many different reasons, but number one, you stand for what all small to medium-size businesses should be standing for, your integrity, your hard work, you’ve gotten to where you are just by hustling, and people see that and … Not hustling in a bad way … But we just wanted to kind of chat with you this morning and tell the world a little bit more about JDog and how they can get ahold of you and you can help them out. So if you don’t mind, let’s start off with your family life. People want to know it’s not just you. I know you have a beautiful family. If you’d like to tell us a little bit about them.
Anthony:
Yeah, absolutely. My family life, I have the world’s most amazing woman. Her name is Blake, and together we have three children total and two that are younger and much more wild. She definitely is an amazing mother. She works from home, from her home office and she’s my peace of mind.
Glyna:
Aw, wow. Cool. That’s really awesome.
Sarah:
Yeah, I’m like, hey husbands listen up. If you can start off with praising your wife, you’re in good hands.
Glyna:
Exactly. Oh wow, that was awesome. I do want to say one little housekeeping thing that I forgot to say about Kelsi. Kelsi is not going to be rude when she’s turned around typing on our computer, she is actually going to be answering questions that are coming in and keeping track of everything going on out in the social media world. So anyway, Sarah, I’ll let you take it.
Sarah:
Okay. All right. Well along with you were just talking about family life. So I want to know, because I have three kids as well, so my question is how has it been now working from home and having all of you together and are you coping okay or is it at all working?
Anthony:
It’s really chaotic at times, to be honest. Bailey and Kayla, Bailey’s five, Kayla is almost two-
Sarah:
Oh boy, yeah.
Anthony:
So high, super high energy. But we get along great. Everybody’s been doing what we need to do to keep the ball rolling. And the kids love playing outside, and fortunately for us, we like going out on the back deck and working while they’re playing. So it works out pretty well.
Glyna:
Yeah. That’s awesome. Yeah, we like to ask that because it makes everybody feel like we’re not alone, we’re dealing with husbands, wives, animals, it’s like how’s everybody coping with all of this stuff. Well let me ask you Anthony, how did you find out about JDog? How did that all come about? And just tell us a little bit about that.
Anthony:
I was about to pull my hair out in my day to day job. I mean I just got to searching just different business opportunities out there and ran across an article that talked about a veteran-owned, veteran operated business or a business for veterans and veteran families and pop up, requested some information about JDog and about two days later I received the phone call. We talked for a little bit and it’s been nothing but flourishing ever since and I don’t regret it.
Glyna:
Oh fantastic. Anthony has such a great story. I mean from the day you, as we say, opened to now, I mean it’s been a whirlwind hasn’t it?
Anthony:
It really has. It’s been absolutely, it’s a blessing, but it’s been a long ride too. I definitely credit BNI for helping my business grow and having some really great mentors that are experienced in the industry. They’ve been phenomenal to me.
Glyna:
Fantastic.
Sarah:
Yeah. How long ago, when was it that you started Anthony or made this switch?
Anthony:
We opened the doors August 15th of 2019.
Sarah:
My gosh. Wow.
Glyna:
Yeah.
It is definitely [crosstalk 00:06:19]. And he definitely gets around because I know that every time I want to introduce him to someone, they already know him. That just shows you how much hard work and I’ve not heard one person say any, not even one negative thing about you or how you operate your company and that says so much about how successful you’ve been I think. You’re putting in the hard work and you’re doing it the right way. You mentioned veteran-owned and operated. What was your service career? Do you mind touching on that just a few minutes?
Anthony:
Yeah, no, absolutely. And thank you for saying that about how we do business. It means a lot to me. My time in the service, I was in the army, served 10 years altogether, was an infantry guy, had a blast, got to travel the world, meet all kinds of great people all over the Middle East. I decided about eight years in, you know what, I think I’m getting tired and I just want to call it quits and I’ve been going for the last two years and here we are. It’s literally flown by. That was in 2010 when I got out and it’s, wow, it’s scary to think in June of this year, it’ll be 10 years ago.
Glyna:
Wow. Time definitely flies.
Sarah:
So every business, this is what I was curious about, every business has been impacted in some way with this … We’re calling it the Corona crap.
Glyna:
That’s a Fusion One Marketing term.
Sarah:
Yeah, well with the Coronavirus, I mean we say that lightly, we know it’s been a real big situation for a lot of people, both personally and professionally. So my question would be, I saw a post that I loved about how your business is staying steady and that you’re pushing through. And I was curious to know if you’ve had to change how you’re operating your business or how operating your business has been affected by the Coronavirus.
Anthony:
Yeah, it’s kind of two-fold with the way the lockdown with everything and businesses are going, it has affected us to a small degree. We’ve had to cut back on some of our labor hours and that kind of thing and adjust from that. But we’ve been really blessed to be able to pick up more of our commercial side and change gears and focus that direction.
Anthony:
But also with people are being home more, they’re having more time around the house, they’re really getting tired of seeing the same old things laying around the house. So they pick up the phone or they shoot an email and they say, hey, do you take this, and we’re happy to do it. So that in itself is starting to pick up on the junk side.
Kelsi:
Now’s a great time to start cleaning out that garage, go through your closet, donate to people in need. And you do donate a lot of the materials you pick up, correct?
Anthony:
We absolutely do. If it does not have to go to the trash or the dump, it does not go there at all.
Kelsi:
Good.
Glyna:
That to me is huge. We worry about our landfills and trash, our dump places getting too full. Let’s back up a second. If somebody asks you what you did, how do you describe it to people as far as the services you offer and the most common things that you see or you help people with?
Anthony:
Yeah, it’s simple guys. What we do is anything that’s unwanted that you can think of possibly laying around your home or your business, whether it’s an appliance, old clothes, furniture, trash in the backyard, the old shed, the piano, it’s literally unlimited. If you don’t want it, we can either make it disappear or give it a brand new home.
Glyna:
Awesome. That is fantastic. So like Kelsi said, my gosh, you guys, you’re sitting at home, there can’t be too much to do. You can only watch so much Netflix.
Kelsi:
Brain rots.
Glyna:
Get up, clean out your house, and call Anthony because-
Sarah:
You said that you’ll pick up virtually anything. Does anybody ever say to you, can you pick up my spouse or kids.
Anthony:
Yeah, we laugh about it, but it’s like, hey, while you’re in the backyard, can you take him with. We can for a small fee, but no, we can’t.
Glyna:
Guess there’s no place to take him but home with you, right?
Anthony:
I can put him to work.
Glyna:
Oh my gosh. Well, I love the JDog brand is just, I think fantastic and very recognizable. In fact, that truck, you can see it coming from miles. Everybody comments, I’m sure, on your truck. Have you ever got business just by somebody seeing your truck? There’s some camouflage there.
Anthony:
Yeah, the truck itself, honestly, you get about three or four calls a month on just the truck. Hey, I’ve seen your truck, or hey, I’ve seen you at the red light the other day, hey, you were at Home Depot. So it’s definitely a conversation starter.
Glyna:
I love that because you see people wrap their vehicles and stuff and sometimes you’re like, you have to really study it to see what they’re even talking about or why it’s wrapped or what they do. But there is no denying what JDog does. So your branding is fantastic.
Anthony:
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Sarah:
Absolutely.
Kelsi:
viewers out there, I see Elise, Steven, Lavonne said hey a few minutes ago, if you guys have any questions for Anthony, feel free to comment those and I’ll relay them to him.
Glyna:
Yeah, we want to hear them.
Sarah:
Glyna have you got a question, or do you want me to go?
Glyna:
Go ahead. I’ve got [inaudible 00:12:41] questions, but go ahead.
Sarah:
So tell a little bit about, I know you work a lot with Grace Klein, correct? Is that accurate?
Anthony:
Yes it is.
Sarah:
So I wanted to ask, Kelsi had talked about what you do after you pick up the items. So do you have … How does your relationship work with Grace Klein?
Anthony:
Originally, Grace Klein, their community side, if we have the time, we’re definitely happy to haul whatever needs or supplies that they have as far as Grace Klein Community. Now we’ve only been able to do that once, but we look forward to helping out with them a lot more. Here recently we’ve worked on the construction side as far as construction and rig clean up, and it’s worked great, they’re wonderful people and absolutely love working with them.
Kelsi:
Cindy wants to know what other organizations some of your donations go to.
Anthony:
Alabaster Give Backers is a huge one. We give a lot and we’re happy to do so. We try to stay with organizations that turn around and want to give it back to others just the same as they received them.
Kelsi:
Elise wants to know what is the most unique item that you’ve been asked to pick up?
Glyna:
This should be-
Anthony:
I would say a piano bar.
Kelsi:
A bar and piano.
Anthony:
It’s an upright piano and the face of it opens up to a bar.
Glyna:
Where did you take that, your house?
Anthony:
Yeah. It actually has a very good home now, so we were able to reappropriate it the right way.
Glyna:
How fun.
Sarah:
Wow. That’s amazing. Well we were curious, we’re like, I wonder what the strangest thing is that you’ve ever-
Glyna:
Yeah, that’s what I was like, is that it?
Anthony:
I think so. There’s been a few others, but that was the best one.
Kelsi:
If I want to remodel my bathroom or my kitchen, you will come in and rip the cabinets out for me and stuff like that too, right?
Anthony:
Yeah. No issue. No issue. We’ll come in, and the only thing we don’t do is go back with it. It’s fast, it’s clean, we are insured, and we want to take care of it.
Glyna:
I’m sure that you run into a lot of messes in your … In other words, when you come up are you always holding your breath, wondering what you’re going to find when somebody says, come over and check this out.
Sarah:
Or they say I’ve got a few items and then.
Glyna:
A few items.
Anthony:
Yeah, I few items can turn into 12 garbage bags later.
Glyna:
What do you think has been the biggest mess that you’ve cleaned up? Because I’ve seen some amazing before and after pictures. And all of you, if you go to JDog’s Facebook page, some of those before and after pictures are amazing.
Anthony:
Biggest mess? I don’t know that I really gauge it by the messes.
Glyna:
Maybe mess isn’t the right word. Biggest job. How about the biggest job.
Anthony:
I would say eight trailers. Eight to nine trailers. The really awesome part of that was about five of those trailers were complete donations. The Foundry was able to come in and be a part of this. Multiple smaller businesses around the area were able to chime in and get to be a part of the situation and taking care of the customer and it worked out extremely well.
Kelsi:
Cindy commented, if you ever pick up another piano bar, you should deliver it to her house.
Sarah:
Is that what Cindy said?
Anthony:
I definitely will do that.
Kelsi:
And Kimberly Boyd said that Anthony and his crew are fantastic.
Anthony:
Thank you.
Glyna:
Who said that?
Kelsi:
Kimberly Boyd.
Glyna:
Aw.
Sarah:
I have to say, you have so many good reviews, five-star reviews every single week. It’s incredible. I mean, that’s something that speaks for itself, that people-
Anthony:
I don’t want to ruin it.
Sarah:
I love it when people recognize your hard work.
Kelsi:
I think it’s a big testament because a lot of people aren’t really willing to spend the time to make those reviews, or write those reviews, and so the fact that you’re having an impact on these people enough for them to turn around and voice their satisfaction is really good. We have a lot of … Times it’s hard to get people to leave reviews, so you’re doing really great in that regard.
Anthony:
Well thank you. We take a lot of pride in just going the extra mile, man, doing the right thing, cleaning up after yourself. We take a lot of pride in just hauling junk, just cleaning up the trash out of the yard, you do what you can do and hope that it’s good enough.
Kelsi:
Loves that. Everybody loves to live in a clean area.
Glyna:
Anthony if we were going to help you out, us and people that are going to be watching this, whether they’re watching it now or on the replay, what types of people can we introduce you to that could help you generate more business? I know realtors might be a good fit for you because maybe they run into people when they’re selling houses that need a big clean-out.
Anthony:
Yeah. Real estate agents, property managers, any friends and family that need that help either one picking up, cleaning up or just removing any unwanted items, whether it be from their home or other small business owners. That is a fantastic way to start. A lot of small business owners, they need help too.
Glyna:
Yeah, true. That is definitely true.
Anthony:
Any apartment managers will work great.
Glyna:
Okay, perfect. Awesome. Sarah got anything?
Sarah:
Well I was just looking on your website too and I love the term transparent pricing. I mean I just love that and I wanted to see if you could sort of expand on that, because I just think that’s such a strong message that you come out with the transparent pricing. So what exactly is that?
Anthony:
So transparent pricing. We come out and do all pricing on site. It’s in person. We charge by volume. So when we come out and we say, hey, you know what, we’re going to do this job for X, Y, or Z, it is what it is. There is no hidden costs. When it comes time to pay up after the services are done, it’s exactly the cost that we quoted originally for the job that we quoted to do, and a lot of times we can do a little extra for the same price and still be timely and efficient and take care of our customers the right way. And we take a lot of pride in that.
Glyna:
Talking about, well we’re all dealing with this, I’ll use the correct term, COVID-19, I mean people are a little bit afraid right now to meet someone face to face, to be involved in anybody coming to their house. Can you put people’s minds at ease as far as how you’re operating? I know we kind of covered it at, but how do you accept payment without having to hand somebody a cheque or how do you give them a price without having to meet with them face to face? How are you working in these guidelines when people are real gun shy about meeting face to face these days?
Anthony:
No, it’s really simple. Right now everybody’s thinking outside of the box. Everybody’s doing social distancing. Everybody’s concerned about having the right PPE for the right situation and rightly so. So with each situation where it’s very unique, we can obviously do our social distancing, we can wear the right PPE if need be. If the situation permits, we can take payment over the phone. There are endless options, absolutely endless options. So we want the best for our customers and obviously we want them to be very healthy too.
Glyna:
Perfect. Okay. Anything else coming in Kelsi? Any other questions we need to before we get going?
Sarah:
Anthony, what is the best way to get in touch with you, for people to reach out to you?
Anthony:
Oh yeah, you can call me directly. My cell phone number … I mean can I give that right now, I don’t know-
Glyna:
Sure.
Anthony:
You can call 844- GET-JDOG. You can reach us at jdogjunkremoval.com. We’re everywhere. Hit us on Facebook.
Glyna:
Yeah, you are everywhere. I will give you that. So, well, we really want to thank you for coming on today and I hope you pick up some more customers just from us being on and sharing all this info. Is there anything you want to share that maybe we didn’t cover last?
Anthony:
No, I just want to say thank you. It’s more than a pleasure being with you guys this morning, working with you, and finally getting to see the faces that do all these amazing things behind the scenes. That’s pretty awesome.
Glyna:
Well, great. Well we think you’re awesome and I know everybody else does too. So I want to just thank you for coming on and just let us know if there’s anything else we can do for you.
Anthony:
Thank you very much.
Glyna:
Thank you. Have a great day everybody. Bye.