Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie

E314: From Casual Conversation to Business Innovation | Jesse Roberts' Journey with Precision Disposal of South Florida

• Benjamin John & Precision Disposal of South Florida • Episode 314

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What makes Jesse Roberts with Precision Disposal of South Florida a good neighbor?

Discover the inspiring journey of Jesse Roberts, the entrepreneur shaking up the dumpster rental industry with Precision Disposal of South Florida. Ever wonder how a casual conversation with a friend could lead to a booming business? Jesse's story is all about spotting a gap in customer service and filling it with "white glove" dedication, particularly for roofers. Moving from Massachusetts to the sunny climes of Florida wasn't just a change of scenery; it was the catalyst for an innovative approach that defies traditional industry norms. Whether you're curious about entrepreneurship, or you're just intrigued by the notion of customer service in unexpected places, Jesse's account offers a refreshing perspective.

Beyond business, Jesse opens the door to his personal life, sharing how the loss of his father fuels his ambition and how his beloved wife Brittany became an indispensable partner in their venture, even juggling truck driving with family duties. The episode takes you into the heart of a family's resilience and the role of teamwork in building success. Jesse also sheds light on the charitable side of Precision Disposal, emphasizing community ties, and invites listeners to connect via social media to stay updated on their initiatives. Get inspired by a story where family, passion, and business converge in powerful and meaningful ways.

To learn more about Precision Disposal of South Florida go to: 

https://www.treasurecoastdumpsterrental.com/

Precision Disposal of South Florida
772-201-8482

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Benjamin John.

Speaker 2:

Welcome back to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Hey, are you looking for a reliable company to help you dispose of whatever it is you need to dispose of? Well, we're going to talk with Jesse Roberts today and listen to what he has to say about his business and get to know his company a little bit more. Jesse, welcome to the show. How are you?

Speaker 3:

I'm great Thanks for having me on.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for making the time. Well, I'm interested to know a little bit more about the company and also let the community know a little bit more about your business. So let's start with that. Can you tell us a little bit more about it?

Speaker 3:

Sure, yeah. So we started in 2021, essentially was a little bit of an accidental start of a business with a friend of mine and we just kind of started talking about some areas of the trades that were lacking customer service, and one of the areas that we highlighted right off the rip was dumpster rentals, and that was because we had gotten plenty of them over our course of working in the trades for 20 years. We were like this is an area where people do not get the service they need. There is not really a client focus, it's more of a stamp you need this size dumpster, we will be there on this day, that is it. And then here are your additional charges and we just decided that we could. We felt confident that we could bring a level of customer service to this industry that wasn't really present prior very cool, I like that.

Speaker 2:

So you seen that there was a gap that needed to be filled and you knew you could fill.

Speaker 3:

It sounds like yeah, we felt confident that we could, um, just from doing a lot of market research and calling different companies and finding out how they do their pricing and things like that, we just felt like there was just nothing there. And we knew some different niches of the needs for dumpsters that we felt like they need that level of customer service, one in particular being roofers of customer service, one in particular being roofers. So we just kind of went with that and we started out with that. We're going to provide a white glove type service that focuses more on repeating business with these clients rather than just going to the next one and going to the next one.

Speaker 2:

Nice, I like that. Well, you kind of answered my next question, but maybe I'll ask it anyways because there might be some other information involving that. I was going to ask how you got into the business. So, other than the explanation, is there any other thing that kind of played a factor as far as you getting into that industry?

Speaker 3:

Well, you know, essentially I was working with a. I'm from, born and raised in Massachusetts, lived here for six years and I worked at a great company up in Massachusetts totally different industry and I worked with a guy who had a kind of like a hobby background in digital marketing. And when I announced that I was leaving that company to move to Florida, he said look, I'm going to go too. I don't want to stay if you're not going to be here. He reported to me. We were good friends. He wanted to do something different. He said I'm going to go all in with my marketing business.

Speaker 3:

So, long story short, he built out a briefcase dumpster rental company and he presented it to an existing dumpster company and said look, this digital age of advertising and generating business is something you're not touching. You've been in business for a long time. Would you like an opportunity to tap into these customers that you don't have? Just, I guess, to keep it short, he wasn't interested. He's more of an old school person and he decided he was going to pass on the opportunity. So then my partner had already started to generate leads. This is in another state, not Florida, for this type of business and he said well, you know what? I'll just start farming out these leads. Next thing you know he was farming out so many leads. He started a dumpster company and I just happened to see it one day on my way home from work on Facebook sitting in traffic on the turnpike, 45 minute conversation later, walking in the door telling my wife we're starting a dumpster company. She's looking at me like I had eight heads.

Speaker 2:

Here we are, though. I like that. It sounds like it was meant to be. So can you tell me a myth or a misconception in that industry that you found typically?

Speaker 3:

Oh well, I would say A misconception would be that the hauler is not going to care about your property. I think that that's somewhere that we're trying to break the mold. You know, most companies are going to have you sign an ironclad contract that's going to say that, no matter what happens on the property, it's not our fault. It's understandable to have that approach, because you don't know what you're walking into and you don't know what could happen. We're in Florida. These driveways are made out of concrete. We don't know what's under them. We don't have x-ray vision. Things can happen.

Speaker 3:

I think that what we found was again going back to the relationships that look, if you're doing 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 dumpsters a month with us and we break something, we're just going to fix it. Number one we have insurance. Number two the relationship matters more. So we've seen other competitors walk away from those type of volume relationships over a $1,500 repair to a driveway and when we do the math and we look at it, we say you know what, $1,500 to keep a $20,000 a month client, I think it's worth it. Let's fix the driveway.

Speaker 3:

So I would say that's probably the best thing I could give you on that.

Speaker 2:

Nice, Okay. So outside of work, what do you like to do for fun?

Speaker 3:

So for fun. What I do for fun is I race dirt bikes. I race trail races in the florida trail riders association, all over florida and the southeast of the country. Um, but more than that, I am an avid cheer dad. So I have three daughters that do competition cheerleading. They've been doing it for nine years and we travel all over the country. We just got back from Atlanta last night, so I'm an avid cheer dad. I'm the loudest one out there. I'm screaming and yelling and having a blast watching my daughters, you know, perfect their craft and they're so passionate about it. It's means more to me than even things I do for myself, obviously, just watching them be passionate and happy and successful.

Speaker 2:

Very cool. I can relate. I got a 12 year old daughter of my own, so I respect that. Yeah, all right, I'm going to switch gears on you real quick here. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you went through and has made you stronger?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely, I would say it's something that drives me every single day and has since that day. And it was the passing of my father at a young age. So when I was 13 years old, I lost my father to a heart attack. He had no previous history of any heart issues or anything like that. It was completely out of the blue and obviously, as a 13 year old boy only child, by the way you know, that's kind of the time in life where you're you're needing that positive male role model.

Speaker 3:

And you know, since that day I have used that, like it was yesterday, and I just make sure that every decision I make, every action I have whether it's business or being a father or being a good spouse that he would be proud of me if I acted the way that I act and of course it doesn't happen every time, but I use that as my measuring stick to go through life and make sure that would he be proud of me on this decision? Would he be proud of me on this reaction? And that's just kind of the way that I drive myself. So that's the way I use it and it was a massive challenge. Losing a parent is something that you deal with for the rest of your life, so being able to use it as a as a way to drive myself to do positive things and continue to be constantly pushing for success is what I try to do with it.

Speaker 2:

Wow yeah, that's a powerful story and I like hearing that you uh. Through such a tragic event, you found a way to keep your dad uh in your life and turn that into something as positive as possible. I like that.

Speaker 3:

Tell our listeners one thing they should remember about precision disposal of South Florida thing that this business has to share with the public would be the fact that when we started this business, my wife Brittany drove the truck for six months. She had zero experience. But again, having a large family, I couldn't walk away from my real job quote, unquote to just deliver four or five dumpsters a day and not know if we're going to be able to pay the bills with that. So when my partner and I were just kind of like talking out that like me coming home at seven o'clock at night and delivering dumpsters until midnight every night during the week and then running all day Saturday and Sunday probably didn't make sense, we were just like, well, but we need to hire a part time driver and we don't want to hire somebody and not give them consistent work. So what do we do? And my wife literally was walking by and was like I'll do it. And I was like, well, okay, you'll do it, okay, brittany's going to do it.

Speaker 3:

So that's what we ended up doing. She got in the truck, we gave her literally three days of training, we produced the standard of work, a 12 page manual that we give all of our drivers and train everyone with now. Because it turned out to be successful and we sent her out the door and she did that job for six months, along with picking up my kids and dropping off my kids to school and cheer every day, and we never had a complaint or an issue until I was able to step away from my real job and then get in the truck and start as a one man band myself about six months in. But we don't talk about that a lot because Brittany is not a big in front of the camera, in front of the public, type of person and I just think that it matters because not only just for people to give our business respect, but for anyone else who's trying to start their own business, like those types of sacrifices are what it takes and never forget what it took to get you going.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's a lot of strong messages in that and, yeah, hats off to Brittany for rolling her sleeves up and applying that all hands on deck, teamwork mentality to do what needed to be done. That's yeah, that's powerful, all right. And last thing here, jesse, how can our listeners learn more about precision disposal of South Florida?

Speaker 3:

I would say, just stay up on our Facebook feed. For the most part, we're participating in a lot of different events. In 2024, we donated over $7,000 to local charities, so we're always involved in something that's going on. So, in particular, tomorrow we're sponsoring a realtor's luncheon at Bonefish Max in Port St Lucie. So there's always something going on. So if you just keep an eye on our Facebook, that's where you'll find pretty much what we're up to our website links and everything else there and we're always looking for new members for our team and anybody who's got any good charities or looking for some assistance. Feel free to reach out.

Speaker 2:

Very good. Well, jesse, I appreciate you jumping on the show here and sharing some of your story and letting people know, uh, how you guys operate your business and how they can get a hold of you if they need to utilize your services. So that's it for today. I wish you and the company moving forward. All right, wish you guys the best. Moving forward, rather. Thank you so much. Best moving forward rather.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much. We appreciate the opportunity.

Speaker 1:

You bet. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPPortStLucycom. That's GNPPortStLucycom, or call 772-303-1036.