Ingenious, Enthusiastic, and Open for Business
The future is what you make it, and three bright, young entrepreneurs have applied this principle to their own career development. Although each of these professionals offer very different services (trash bin cleaning, gutter repair and pressure washing, and pet sitting), they all have several key factors in common: a strong work ethic, innovative ideas, and practical services available to the local community. Undoubtedly, the economic outlook of the Midlands is in good hands.
BINeficial
“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset,” said Dean Harper, owner of BINeficial, a trash bin cleaning service.
Starting at age 11, Harper began exploring different options for earning money, such as recycling cans and landscaping. Still after high school, “I started thinking of another way for a business idea, something unique that’s not oversaturated,” he said. When he recalled an article that he had previously read about a trash bin cleaning service headquartered in the Myrtle Beach area, he described this as his “light bulb moment.”
“I hadn’t seen or heard of anybody else doing that at all,” Harper said. “So, I started doing my research,” and he soon discovered that only one other company offered this kind of service in the greater Columbia area. At this point, Harper realized, “I didn’t have a lot of competition if I wanted to do this. It’s a needed service—no one really likes washing out their own trash bin.”
Without a lot of start-up funding, Harper searched the Internet for economical ways to launch the business. From Facebook, he learned how to construct a trash-bin cleaning rig, which he saved up for and built from scratch. Then, to drum up his first clients, he went door-to-door, passing out flyers in the neighborhood. To more effectively market his services, Harper returned to social media and began running Facebook ads and messaging the administrators of neighborhood associations. “That helped a lot, and then, a lot of times, the best way I would get clients would be just the Lord putting the right people in my path,” he shared.
Because his type of business is relatively unknown in this area, Harper developed a catchy sales pitch to describe his services: “When you hire us to clean your trash bins, you can say goodbye to flies and grime because we make bins smell good and shine.” His wife, Laura, also proposed the clever moniker “BINeficial” and created the company’s logo.
The services provided by BINeficial are both practical and efficient. “We like to come the day after garbage pick-up,” Harper explained, “and we bring a turnkey ready-to-go trailer.” The “Herby Curbies” are then cleaned on location with pressurized hot water; wastewater is collected within a reservoir on the trailer, which is later discarded at a dump station; and the bin is sprayed with an eco-friendly deodorizing formula that Harper simply calls “Smell Good.”
Currently, BINeficial’s services are offered throughout the greater Midlands area, Monday through Saturday from 7 am to 7 pm. Cleanings can be scheduled through BINeficial’s website, or Harper can be contacted directly at 803-414-4277. Information and other updates are posted on the website and his Facebook page.
Not Your Average Joe’s
“I love serving the Lexington/Midlands area—it’s where I was born and raised,” said Joey Shevchik, founder of the business: Not Your Average Joe’s. The services provided by his company include “commercial and residential pressure washing, anything from your normal home to gas stations, shopping centers, football stadiums, and even college campuses,” he explained. “We also do gutter services, from custom seamless gutters, gutter guards, gutter cleanings, and even copper gutters.”
Soon after graduating from the Citadel in 2022, Shevchik began working for a local building supply company. While in this position, he learned that there was a demand for mounting and maintaining gutter structures, so, “I did my research on how to install gutters and learned about gutter machines,” he said.
After purchasing a trailer and other needed equipment, he shadowed an installer on a few jobs before vacating his position with the supply company and launching his own business: Not Your Average Joe’s. “My first customers were people I worked for during the summers while in college, as well as family and friends,” he recalled. “Then, I started to run advertisements in Lexington Life and Irmo-Chapin Life Magazines, and it really helped get the name out there.”
Not Your Average Joe’s attempts to accommodate their customers’ schedules in every way possible. To that end, “We are open seven days a week,” Shevchik said. “Some jobs require us to work at night, and some are normal hours, but we work whatever hours we need to complete the task at hand.” Furthermore, although he shoulders much of the workload alone, Not Your Average Joe’s can also assemble a crew “for those bigger commercial jobs.”
Not surprisingly, Shevchik’s business base has increased since its inception in 2022, as he has been “more eager to tackle big commercial jobs and expand into another area of South Carolina,” he said. As a result, in addition to his clients within the Midlands, he now services two Dorchester County parks as well as the football stadium and barracks on The Citadel campus. “Yes, we have grown a lot over the last two years,” he affirmed, and according to Shevchik, to sustain this success, an entrepreneur must stay hungry, never be satisfied with the status quo, always want more, and be “obsessed with the dream.”
Because he intends to continue to thrive, his future plans include acquiring a few more commercial contracts for the spring and summer months ahead and hiring summer interns to assist in his expansion into the Charleston area. To schedule an appointment, Shevchik’s cell can be reached by calling 843-530-0902, and he also maintains a social media presence on Instagram and Facebook. “Please reach out for any exterior cleaning needs and gutter services,” Shevchik said. “I am trying to get everyone’s home and business looking so fresh and so clean!”
Sam’s Sit and Stay
“If you want your animals to be loved as you love them, I’m the person for you,” said Samantha Hunt, owner/operator of her microenterprise, Sam’s Sit and Stay Pet Sitting Services. “This is my life, this is my passion, and I love what I do!”
“I started pet sitting when I was 10 years old,” recalled Hunt, “when my neighbor asked me to look after her pets for a week. She had three dogs, three cats, and a hamster. That’s where it all truly began.” After graduating from college in Columbia in 2013, “I needed something to do while I found a job,” she continued. “I started pet sitting here and there for people from my college. Then it grew little by little over the years.”
Hunt eventually landed a traditional 40-hour-a-week job, and initially, Sam’s Sit and Stay was only a source of secondary income. Last year, however, she decided to go full-time with the pet-sitting business, and she says that she has “never turned back.” Sam’s Sit and Stay offers traditional pet-related assistance. “I board dogs in my home seven days a week,” Hunt explained. “I also provide drop-in visits for those who want to keep their babies at home and for those who have cats as well.”
When the business became a full-time venture, Hunt added dog-walking to the list of services that she offers. “I walk dogs Monday through Friday, sometimes on the weekends, if needed,” she said. In the spirit of tailoring her amenities to the pets’ and owners’ individual needs, “I try to be as flexible as possible,” she said. For example, she is available to stay with the animal during lunchtime, over short weekends, or throughout extended work trips or vacations. Hunt is also willing to travel within the greater Columbia, wherever the pet may reside. “I work all over,” she said. “I’m in Lexington, West Columbia, Columbia, Irmo, and Forest Acres.”
In conclusion, Hunt said, “My business has flourished over the last year. I have been blessed by God to have amazing people in my life and in my corner. I truthfully just want to say, I thank God for this opportunity. Without Him and His blessings, I would be nothing and have nothing. He’s opened all my doors and closed the ones that needed to be closed to get me here. I look forward to what’s in store for me next!” To reach Hunt about her services, she suggests texting her cell phone at 843-287-0261. Also, more information can be found on her website and on her Facebook page.