10 years! Where Did the Time Go?

It’s incredibly hard to believe that 10 years ago today, Roland Pearson, founder of Poooh Busters entered his very first client in the customer database on April 1, 2004!

I think back to where it all started and I can’t believe how far we’ve come since that infamous day.

Roland Pearson - 2013

I have to admit I was one of the many people that thought Roland was a bit crazy for quitting his job and endeavoured to pursue this business. I just said to myself, “Good luck buddy” and wondered how long it would be until he was back working another day job like the rest of us schmucks.

10 years later, I couldn't be happier and I myself am a whole lot better off for being a part of it all this time. I’ll get more into that later.

We had our good times and our bad times. We made plenty of mistakes and we learned a ton of stuff about so many different things.

Roland learned pretty much everything there is to know about pet waste removal. You’d think scooping poop would be a basic job but there is ton of things to consider and many challenges that come with this seemingly simple task. There are so many variables to consider that can affect how well each day goes out there in the field. Weather, yards with long grass, yards with no grass, good gates, bad gates, locked gates, gates that won’t open, gates that won’t close, dog runs with big rocks and little rocks, every kind of dog barking and growling at him, truck maintenance, and disposal methods. On and on I could go.

Our first booth at the 2006 Calgary Pet Expo

Besides all that Roland had to learn all about running a business. It was not a big deal at first but once things got going after the first three or four years, all of a sudden he had to deal with collecting GST, hiring and firing staff, dealing with all kinds of different customers, the tax man and accountants!
Thank goodness Erin finally came along and took a lot of that pressure off Roland. She started handling all the customer service and office operations. Roland could again concentrate on the thing he was a master at, sales.

Calgary Humane Society's Dog Jog 2011

We became the dream team of the pet waste removal industry. I got the phones ringing with my constant efforts online learning Google SEO, writing blogs and growing our social media. Roland would take those incoming calls and sell the service even more to the caller; he would get them to sign up almost every time. Erin would then take excellent care of our clients with her superior customer service. Not to mention, our staff was top notch too in how they approached the job with enthusiasm and care.

For me, what did I get out of the last 10 years with Poooh Busters? In a nutshell, I learned so many skills that I would have never normally learned without this company forcing me to figure things out. I was challenged to build our very first website without any prior knowledge. I was completely self-taught! I had to find ways to ensure our website could be found through a basic Google search, I had come up with ways to make it easier for our clients to pay, I had to figure this whole new Facebook and Twitter thing, and I had to constantly come up with fresh material for our blog and newsletters.

But for all three of us, I think the best part of working and growing Poooh Busters has been all the wonderful friends we have made along the way. We have exposed ourselves to Calgary’s pet industry and met so many incredibly wonderful people.

All the dedicated folks that run the animal rescues have been an inspiration to each and every one of us and make us proud to be part of such an awesome, caring and loving industry.

The last 10 years truly have been a blessing and I can’t wait to see what the next 10 bring!