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Start-Up Diaries:Time to Celebrate Going from $0 to $280,000 in Two Years
1 Apr, 2008 By: Peter F. Schopen Jr. Pest Management ProfessionalAlot can happen in two years: You can fall in love and get married. Bear Stearns can rise, fall and rise again. MC Hammer can make and lose a career. A relatively unknown state senator from Illinois can rise all the way to becoming a presidential candidate. And Schopen Pest Solutions can go from $0 to more than $280,000 in combined sales in two years.
 Peter F. Schopen Jr. |
This month, I will have officially been in business for myself for two years. I truly cannot believe that two years have gone by. When I first started these Start-Up Diaries, the Miami Heat was getting ready to win its first NBA title, Anna Nicole Smith was still alive, gas prices were less than $2 per gallon, and Pluto was still a planet.
Looking back, here are some of the more interesting aspects of Schopen Pest Solutions' first two years in business:
- My very first customer, Lynn in Burlington, Wis., is still a customer. So are clients No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 6, No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, and No. 10.
- August has been, by far, my-most productive month. I broke the $10,000 barrier for the first time in August 2006, and hit nearly $20,000 in August 2007. August has earned me more than 10 percent of my total company receipts.
- My worst month has been February. I saw less than $8,000 in February 2007 and only 13 new customers in February 2008.
- Outside of payroll, the four most expensive costs that I have incurred during my two years have been:
 SCHOPEN'S OPEN BOOK |
Gas — Approximately $750 per month.
Vehicles — Two work trucks equate to approximately $900 per month.
Chemicals — Approximately $1,500 per month.
Advertising — Approximately $1,600 per month.
- Contrary to popular belief, my wife was with me in New York last May, so there is no way I could be Client No. 10.
- I have one police station, two chiropractors, three churches, four pizzerias, five cousins and six Smiths as clients.
- Because I have been so busy with my business, this is the first time in 19 years that I was not involved in an NCAA tourney bracket. Next year, will somebody please invite me into one? I feel as left out as Sammy Hagar at a Van Halen reunion show.
- I now have more quarterlies (200+) than all of my quarterly, bi-monthly and monthly customers combined from one year ago.
- During the winter of 2006-2007, I had $3,100 in prepaid summer exterior services. In December, January, February and March 2008, Schopen Pest Solutions sold more than $18,700 in prepaid summer exterior services.
There are so many more anniversary tidbits I would love to divulge, but time doesn't permit me to celebrate too long.
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As my trusty B&G, Wilson, and I prepare for our third year in business together, we'll be looking at many different aspects for Start-Up Diaries, including workers' compensation insurance, hiring part-time versus full-time, and carving out family time while running a successful small business.
Thanks for following my successes and failures during the past two years. I look forward to the next two!
Schopen is owner of McHenry, Ill.-based Schopen Pest Solutions. You can reach him at 847-529-BUGS or
pete@schopenpest.com.
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