'Junk Teens,' Norwood brothers growing successful junk removal business
NORWOOD - Teenagers are often accused of being lazy, but two brothers from Norwood are shattering that stereotype.
Kirk and Jacob McKinney launched their successful company "Junk Teens" while still in high school. Their junk removal business started when Kirk got his first job at a grocery store.
"That was around the time when I discovered the dump and I was going to the dump every single weekend and finding stuff. And then around that time is when I was basically forced into having to sell the junk that I had collected at my house because my parents were like, 'This is enough!'" Kirk told WBZ-TV. "My brain really started to think-what can I do? So I thought, why not go on Facebook and sell some of these things?"
So, that's exactly what he did.
"The moment I made my first sale, I think it was like $50 for a radio that I had found. Sometimes I would make $50 on a whole day of working at the grocery store. So, I was like, 'I love doing this and I'm making just as much as working at the grocery store. So, why not continue doing this?" Kirk said.
After doing it on the side, while working at the grocery store for 3-4 weeks to gauge the consistency of his sales, he took the next step.
"I realized I'm going to go all in on selling junk from the dump," said Kirk.
He invested his money back into the business and bought a truck. That's when he discovered hauling away junk was more lucrative than selling it! He also got his brother to help out.
"We just thought it was so much fun, it was really enjoyable for us. It was really slow in the beginning, maybe doing one job a week, just because it was just getting started. It just picked up from there," Jacob told WBZ.
They started sharing that fun on Tik Tok. Now they have more than 140,000 followers watching them haul away hot tubs and cashing in on scrap metal.
The brothers said most of the business comes from Facebook, Google and word-of-mouth.
As for the craziest thing they've found so far?
"I think the most unique thing I may have found may honestly be the Elvis Pressley cardboard cutout that we have," Kirk said.
"The pinball machine was pretty great, hot tubs. We've removed a boat, I think it was last year some time. That was pretty cool," Jacob said.
Their goal is to keep as much out of landfills as possible, collecting household goods and furniture to donate to charities and resellers.
With two full time teenage drivers and 20 part-timers, they are job creators. They even hired an artist to deck out their rented warehouse!
Jacob, who is 18, held down the fort while Kirk started at Babson College, but the pair hopes to keep the business and The Tik Tok account going.
"We want to show young people that going out and working with your hands is not really all work. It can be fun, too!" Kirk said.
You can learn more about Junk Teens on their website.