New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Recent Foran High grads cash in on Milford's trash
MILFORD — It’s not usually a compliment to say someone’s business plan is junk. But for a team of recent Foran High graduates, expanding their business to include junk removal has been a sound business decision.
Travis Gentley, Dilahn Isaku, Tyler Borer, Shawn Gaul and Alex Moreno, all 2020 graduates of Foran High, first opened TDG AutoDetailing, a mobile auto detailing small business, some two years ago to answer what was a need in the community. Now the team has moved to junk removal.
“When people see our van, they ask us if we could move things for them,” said Borer. “They would want other tasks done than just detailing their car.”
The grads figured there was money to be made in different types of businesses, so Borer said they started their second business, JunkGone, LLC.
“After we had the business made, we decided to make a post on Facebook, and it jumped,” he said. “Once I posted, we started receiving multiple calls, emails, and messages to come to their houses and remove different things for them. We found this business is in demand.”
“Angie’s List also reached out to me, and they want me to be one of their vendors,” added Borer.
The group has had an entrepreneurial spirit since they were young, but they said it took hold during high school, especially in one class they took at Foran.
“School definitely sparked the interest, specifically Louise Brown,” said Moreno. “She was the business teacher at the time in Foran and is responsible for much of the entrepreneurial spirit we have acquired.”
“I’m pretty sure everyone’s been to her business classes at Foran, but it definitely sparked something in us,” Borer said.
Moreno pointed out that as entrepreneurs, it is essential to have multiple income streams.
“We are planning on opening a couple of other businesses,” he said. “This is the first step to doing something new rather than just car detailing.”
The plan for the group is to split the work among themselves, with some picking up junk while others detail cars.
“It also depends on when they want their cars detailed and how much junk we have to pick up,” said Borer.
“There are five of us, which makes it easier,” added Isaku.
Moreno said once the temperature reaches a point, they cannot do much car detailing, which is when they’ll shift to fulltime junk removal.
“We acquired a couple of new vehicles and a trailer to be ready for those larger jobs,” he said.
Many of the people who have reached out to them to remove junk are people with whom they have previous experience because they detailed their car,
pointed out Moreno.
“Some of them own construction companies and others have businesses that produce a lot of garbage that needs to be removed,” he said. “Without realizing it, we had already built a clientele for junk removal through our detailing
business.”
One of those established relationships they have is with Bridges Healthcare.
“We started dealing cars for Bridges, and while we were there, they would ask us to do other odd jobs we could help them with,” said Borer.
“We have moved thousands of boxes for them with files and taken them to be shredded. We’ve also moved exercise equipment for them,” said Moreno. “That’s like our way of supporting the community because they help many people.”