Scrap Monkey: One man’s junk is another man’s business
Ben Bautista has made a living disposing of other people’s junk. He saw a need and built a service up to meet the community’s demands, and now his business – Scrap Monkey Junk Removal – has grown to be so much more.
Scrap Monkey Junk Removal is a family owned and operated property service business for both residential and commercial properties. Services provided include junk removal, property cleanup, pressure washing, hot tub and appliance removal, light demolition, and gutter cleaning.
“We make your property shine,” Bautista said.
Areas the company services include Sutter, Yuba, Butte, Placer and Colusa counties.
Bautista started the business in 2016 as a weekend gig. The Yuba City native was working as a project estimator for a Marysville company. After his youngest daughter aged out of youth sports, he said he needed something to do with his spare time.
“I had always wanted to start a business, I just didn’t know what I wanted to do,” he said. “I did some research and I was finding that there weren’t many options around here in terms of junk removal.”
Utilizing a trailer he owned, Bautista and a friend started doing weekend gigs hauling junk away and other odd jobs.
Business steadily built over a few years before he ultimately quit his day job in August 2019 and took the leap of running his own business full time.
“I’d be lying if I said It wasn’t scary taking the leap, especially for my wife who works full time, we are all about having job security,” Bautista said. “For me, I just had to take the risk, and it’s been working out pretty well since.”
He’s even become somewhat of a collector over the years.
“We are always finding things, it’s funny because my wife and I were just talking about this. With summertime coming up, I was getting my backyard ready, and when I looked around, I saw like eight different barbeque grills and patio furniture, we’ve got decorations and some art that we’ve kept, and half of it came from junk removal,” Bautista said. “We also donate a lot to local charities and donation centers. If it can be reused, we will definitely make sure it finds a home.”
He and his three-man team have been staying busy, even through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My favorite part of the job is interacting with customers. We’ve had some pretty interesting projects where the customers aren’t even sure where they want us to start,” Bautista said. “When the job is all said and done, the best part is seeing the relief on the customers face.”
Bautista said anyone interested in the business’ services can go online to www.scrapmonkey.net or call 645-2018.