Discover how simplicity and perseverance turned into a thriving business. In this Spark and Ignite Your Marketing episode, host Beverly Cornell chats with Brian Winch, the founder of Winch Enterprises and author of Clean Lots, America’s Simplest Business. Learn how Brian transformed his father’s litter cleanup idea into a scalable business and empowered others to follow his steps. Packed with insights, this episode is your blueprint for entrepreneurial success.
Three Key Topics Covered:
- Building a Business from Scratch: Brian Winch shares his journey of creating a successful business. Starting with his late father’s idea, Brian demonstrates how passion and persistence can transform a simple service into a legacy.
- The Power of Focus and Specialization: Brian discusses how staying true to one core service—litter cleanup—helped him scale his business while maintaining quality and consistency. He emphasizes the importance of clarity in business decisions and the ability to say no to distractions.
- The Entrepreneurial Mindset and Legacy: From understanding the “why” behind starting a business to teaching others how to replicate his success, Brian highlights the significance of passion, patience, and persistence. He also shares how his company has evolved over the past forty years, becoming a trusted resource for commercial property managers.
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Transcript:
Beverly:
Did you know that the global commercial property management market is projected to reach nearly 40 billion dollars in 2027? And behind the scenes of this industry lies a crucial service often overlooked, keeping these spaces clean and inviting. Today we’re exploring the fascinating world of litter cleanup and how one man’s unique six figure niche is transforming the way we think about entrepreneurship. Welcome to the Spark Ignite Your Marketing Podcast. I’m your host, Beverly Cornell. And today we’re chatting with Brian Winch, the founder of Winch Enterprises and the author of Clean Lots, America’s Simplest Business. Brian’s journey is an inspiring testament to the power of simplicity and perseverance. Starting back in 1981, Brian took a side gig from his late father, Cleaning litter from commercial properties and grew it into a thriving business that spans 150 plus properties citywide. Brian, I can’t wait to learn all about your journey and the insights you have for us today.
Brian:
Thanks for having me, Beverly. I couldn’t have said it better actually.
Beverly:
So you share your origin story, like how this all began, because it all began with a little job from your dad. That’s how it started.
Brian:
My dad was a janitor and he supplemented his income by doing a number of things on the side, like shoveling snow in the winter, cutting grass in the summer, but he also cleaned up litter. He had a contract with the property management company to clean up litter from a nearby shopping plaza, and he had taken me along with him a couple of times when I was maybe 12 or 13. And I thought, wow, this is easy, really easy to do. And we would show up early in the morning before the business is open. And obviously before my school started and we’d walk around with these unique hand tools that allowed us to clean up litter almost as easily as we could walk the property. And we would be done and I’d go to school and he’d go to work. And I thought, wow, I can’t believe he got paid to do this. That was when I was 12 or 13. And when I was 21, I was working a dead end job at a sporting goods company. I couldn’t see myself, doing this the rest of my life. What could I do that? I could start that would be simple, wouldn’t cost a lot of money to get into. And I thought why can’t I start my own parking lot litter cleanup business? I did that. Unfortunately, my dad passed away just months before I started the business. He died of a massive stroke at the age of 61. And if anything, it gave me more incentive to prove to people that he had a great idea here that could be turned into a very profitable business and I stuck with it, long story short my first year I did very well and continued to grow the business to the point where it’s routinely bringing in 650 to 700, 000 a year. And the only service we provide.
Beverly:
It’s so simple, but it’s so necessary and I love that your dad is like his essence is in it, which means it’s like such a passion. I was really good friends with our high school janitor. I loved him so much. He was so sweet. And I think doing that work and serving behind the scenes is really good work. He didn’t want any kind of recognition or anything like that. He just wanted to take care of things to look nice for everybody. Going to a shopping mall or to a place, If it doesn’t look clean, do I want to shop there? So it’s important work.
Brian:
It is. Property management companies, they understand that the very first impression people get of their properties is when they pull into the parking lot. How is the property being maintained? Is it full of litter? Is it clean? And then more so than that it’s imperative that our services provided because we help prevent, trip and falls or slip and falls, all these nuisance lawsuits where, people can trip on something in a parking lot and if it’s not cleaned up there’s a number of reasons why, our services is important to be provided.
Beverly:
How has it evolved over the years? Sounds like you do one thing really well, but has it evolved or has there been major milestones along the way that have helped you grow to being as big as you are now?
Brian:
When I started the business, I just wanted it to, support myself. I just wanted, something that I enjoy doing that, had me outdoors as opposed to, being stuck in an office all day. And then, I started getting so good. My customers wanted more of me at places that I couldn’t be all at the same time. So I had no choice. I started hiring people, an army of cleaners throughout the city, doing these various properties for me. And then over the years, we continue to grow and continue to scale. I did at one point start offering a couple of other services. One of my clients said, Brian, do you offer, landscaping, do you do snow removal? And back at the time, I thought the customer is always right. And this is what he’s asking for. So I better do it. after, a few years, we hated doing the work. It just didn’t complement the litter pickup. There’s different hours involved. And we told our customer our decision to back out of it. And he said, no problem. I don’t have a problem with that. I’ll find somebody else. I just thought I was doing you a favor by asking you if there were some other things that you wanted to do for me. We would rather be seen as the specialists, the best at what we do, as opposed to trying to be a jack of all trades and winding up as a master of none.
Beverly:
Brian, that’s so important. Most of the clients that I work with focus and clarity is like their superpower. Once they get really clear and they’re focused, it becomes a more powerful business and brand and decision making. And sometimes it’s hard to say, no, I am guilty of that for 10 years. I said yes to everything. And then I wore myself. Completely out, was stressed out and had to make some changes. I realized what I was really good at, what I really wanted to do. And we focused on that particular thing When you’re really good at that one thing, it’s super easy to grow because everyone knows who you are and what you do.
Brian:
That’s right. And you have to remember everybody, why did I go into business? You do what you want to do as opposed to being dragged into doing some stuff that you don’t really want to do.
Beverly:
People forget that it’s their own business and they can decide. They forget this is my business, my choice, my decisions on this, and that you get to craft your own business. You don’t have to do it based on just because somebody asked you to do it. You can say I’d like to do that for you, but it’s not really where. My wheelhouse is, I do know somebody who can do it for you though, and make a really great connection and collaborative partnership with people who service the same kind of clientele and have complimentary services and really rock your networking in being intentional in that part of it too, I believe.
Brian:
Exactly. And over the years, we’ve developed a list of service vendors. So if one of our clients, contacts us and say, Brian, do you remove graffiti? We tell them no, but we steer them in the right direction. And so they really appreciate that.
Beverly:
And that provides so much value because they trust you. And because you have the relationship, there’s an inherent amount of trust for that as well. It’s just like a win in those situations. You get to do what you love. Somebody else gets to do what they love. And then the client’s happy, right?
Brian:
Exactly. And it’s almost doing a little bit more than what you say you’re going to do. And, I found that to be a key to our success is, we don’t just clean up parking lots. We help our clients like that, finding the appropriate service vendors for, if they’re struggling to find somebody to do it I’ll give you an example. We do more than clean, but when we’re at a property, if we happen to notice some. Property damage, a sign’s been run down, there’s fresh graffiti, somebody’s dumped off a couple of mattresses and a sofa at the back of the property, we take a picture of that, and we forward that image to our clients, and they really appreciate that, knowing or finding out about from us, as opposed to it’s sitting there for days. We don’t take the attitude. That’s not my job. I’m, somebody else is going to report that. It keeps that communication channel open between our clients and ourselves. There’s that regular communication and we’re basically making their job easier by doing that.
Beverly:
You become their eyes and ears when they can’t be there all the time. So it sounds like you use some special tools to do this. Tell me about the special tools. Did you develop your own tools or are these tools available?
Brian:
They’re pretty hard to find. I’m showing people how to start and operate this type of business in their own city. So I put together a book called Clean Lots America’s Simplest Business and in the book, there’s all sorts of resources, including where you can find these tools. You’re not forced to buy it from one, supplier. There’s other tools that are similar, but the point is you have to use the right tools in order to make the most money. And in order to clean the property in the least amount of time.
Beverly:
Every industry has the right tools. The tools that make your job a little bit easier and make you more productive. I had not thought about the specific tools. I have a grabber in my house, but I don’t have the amount of trash that you probably have to deal with at a really regular basis.
Brian:
If you can imagine, the grabber comes in handy every once in a while, if there’s a bottle inside this deep shrub, maybe it’s all thorny, it’s a rosebush, and you don’t want to stick your hand in there, you just grab, the grabber tool, and it works out great there, but if you come upon, 40 or 50 cigarette butts on the parking lot in front of a bar, you’re not going to use that grabber tool to pick up one at a time. You just simply sweep all of the material into our collection tool. And it’s simple to do.
Beverly:
Is there a sustainability factor to all of this? From an eco friendly perspective too, do you recycle the things that you grab and get?
Brian:
We used to do that. I found more and more maybe because of the state of the economy or whatever, and it’s quite interesting. The various ways people are making extra money. Every once in a while I will run into someone who is making their bottle picking routes. And they’ll pick up all the empties and it’s amazing how much extra money, they can make, just doing an hour or two every second night or whatever. I don’t really have to worry. I will clean up the odd can or bottle, but I won’t save it. Doesn’t really go into a special container. A lot of these shopping plazas do have litter containers that are designated for recycle material bottles, cans or just, waste or wet garbage. We will change those out. It all depends on the customer and they’ll want these certain bags put in into certain bins, maybe inside a garbage room. A lot of customers are different in a lot of cases, they think, you know what, it’s just rubbish, it’s trash, it’s litter debris, just clean it all up, get rid of it, put it in the same place in the waste dumpster.
Beverly:
What city are you in?
Brian:
I’m in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Beverly:
I’ve been there. I’ve been to Banff and I’ve been to, there’s like a Calgary tower, right? Calgary is a beautiful city.
Brian:
Thank you.
Beverly:
You’ve serviced over 150 properties. That’s got to be like a logistical feat of its own. How do you manage and keep quality consistent in that kind of a situation?
Brian:
We break the city down into areas where different people are working, so they’re not having a drive across the city to service, properties and spend so much time wasting driving. Like myself, I’ll focus on a certain part of the city and we’ve got, people that maybe do weekend work for us and they’ll service the Northeast quadrant or the Southwest or whatever the case is.
Beverly:
You’ve been in business for 40 years, tell me a story that really captures the essence of what you do.
Brian:
I’ve had this one consistent client and actually he is the nephew of his uncle that we started doing this one building. And I started doing that, probably 35 years ago. And now I’m working for the the original owner’s nephew. And it’s the same property. And, every time I’m there, I know it all like the back of my hand, but I can’t help but thinking, geez, I remember when I was 24 25 years old, walking this property and here I am going to be 65 in February. It’s amazing how buildings change over the years too, because, building owners they have to, do the occasional facelift. You can imagine. There’s not too many buildings that look identical to the way they were when they were first constructed and like in the early 1980s. Things change over the years, but I really get a kick out of still doing that same property.
Beverly:
The longevity and seeing things change and being still part of it. It’s almost like you’re like part of living history in some way. You’ve been a part of the city for so long and helping to keep it clean. I don’t think people realize at night what happens or in the early mornings when we’re sleeping or we’re not there, all that’s happening around our city is to keep our areas clean and safe, like you said and you’re one of the elves making it happen. Tell me about. How some of the marketing you’ve done and if there’s been a big mistake you’ve made and what has lesson has it taught you? I love the mistakes because I think we learn the most from them.
Brian:
Yeah. I just graduated high school. I didn’t go to college. I don’t have a business degree. So everything I’ve learned is from trial and error. For making mistakes and learning from them. And it’s amazing how business has changed in 40 years. When I started, there wasn’t an internet and it was at the very beginning of cell phones. The internet back then was the yellow pages, the telephone book, let your fingers do the walking.
Beverly:
Yeah. Yeah. I was around then.
Brian:
You just adapt and evolve. As times change and, sometimes for me that’s tough. I get dragged kicking and screaming, cause I get used to doing things a certain way and using a certain technology. Oh, that’s changed update, and I hate that. You learned who your customers are, where they are and where you can find them. And in my case, they are on LinkedIn. They’re not going to be on Facebook. I’m not talking about residential property managers. I’m talking about commercial property, management companies, and commercial property managers. It’s easy to communicate with them and form relationships through LinkedIn. And then of course, as I mentioned earlier we regularly communicate with our customers. We build relationships there and we get plenty of referral business. Some of the mistakes I made early on was thinking I’m going to place a big display ad in the yellow pages and, businesses, everyone’s going to see it and they’re going to come calling and that, that wasn’t the case at all, so you just learn, where your customers are and. I don’t want to oversimplify it, but really it is almost that simple. Who are your customers? Where are they? And reach out to them and, sell the benefits, nobody likes to be sold, but if you come at it from the angle that, here’s how I can help you and I’d like to share more information, they’re more receptive to hearing that.
Beverly:
Being in service is a whole different mindset if you really come from being in service as opposed to selling, it makes a big difference, Brian. This is how I can genuinely help you. And if you know you can help them and the results that you can have, it’s a no brainer in many ways. I have a lightning round where I asked some rapid fire questions that are a little bit more gut answers. Are you ready, Brian?
Brian:
I’ll take a shot.
Beverly:
Okay. If your business was a movie, who would be the hero? What would be the main conflict and how would you solve it?
Brian:
Oh, my business was a movie. Nobody’s asked me that question before. I’d be a superhero. It would be superhero and and I’m trying to save my city and my community, my neighborhood from the bad effects and the negative effects litter debris can have on the community.
Beverly:
Who’s going to play you, Brian?
Brian:
Oh I’m Antonio Banderas.
Beverly:
I love that. I have quite the visual in my head right now. Okay. That’s so fun. I love that question. So what is the three most important ingredients for your recipe for success?
Brian:
Passion, patience, persistence. I call them the three P’s and I think passion, you have to at least enjoy like what you’re doing. Don’t get, don’t chase the dollars and just chase something. I can make a lot of money. If you don’t like what you’re doing, if you, when you come across a couple of roadblocks or some problems you’re more likely to give up and, move on to the next. Next best thing. Patience. It doesn’t happen overnight. Sometimes when we’re contacted by a client, for example it might take several emails, maybe several weeks, even a few months before, we sign them up and begin work for them. And persistence is just, Stick with it. You run into problems. There’s always a solution. If you can’t handle it, find somebody who can but just stick with it and don’t give up. I find that there’s some people that just want things to happen like right away. And if you stick with those three P’s. At some point, and don’t give up, you will be successful.
Beverly:
How do you keep that entrepreneurial spirit alive? What do you feed it?
Brian:
I just remind myself how lucky I am to be doing what I enjoy doing. I have my own hours. I can, Turn down work if I want. I’m always looking for ways to help the people who buy my book. I’ve got a number of products besides my book. Create a digital product that makes their tasks a bit easier and finding customers, things like that. It’s my creative outlet, marketing my book and courses as opposed to just going out and cleaning up litter. But you know what? I get paid to go for walks, so it’s not bad.
Beverly:
What made you decide to start doing podcasts?
Brian:
The content’s evergreen. It’s not like a magazine or a newspaper story. It’s printed one day and it’s gone. And it’s a great way to meet people develop connections. It’s a growing industry. People are, starving for content and people will listen to the podcast, watch them, and especially some podcasts are even released on YouTube as well.
Beverly:
Our podcast is also on YouTube, so there’s like all kinds of ways you can listen to it, watch it, and then we break it out. We break out quotes, we do all kinds of things. There’s so many opportunities to use that content and in really interesting ways that I think are really authentic as well.
Brian:
It works because I don’t know how many times people have, phoned me up and say, Brian, it’s a pleasure to talk to you. I just bought your book and, I have to tell you, I watched every single one of your YouTube videos and I’m thinking, wow they obviously work.
Beverly:
It’s so good to hear that people are watching those things and getting the value out of them. And I don’t know about you, but I, when I’m cleaning or I’m doing something, I put it in my ear and I’m listening to podcasts. So I’m learning all the time from people and I love this conversational element of it. It’s not like you’re being taught like at a lecture, it’s really organic and natural and powerful for people. You’re literally in their ear. It’s a very powerful medium. If your business was an animal, what animal would it be? And why?
Brian:
I guess it’d be an anteater and I’d be going around sniffing up all of the pieces of litter.
Beverly:
You have such good answers. So I’m sitting over here thinking from a marketer’s perspective, this is what happens when you’re a marketer. You can never turn it off. The superhero comes up. Like, how do you make a marketing campaign out of this? Out of the superhero concept and do a whole fun, social thing about being the superhero of cleanup. I’m over here building the campaign in my brain, just so you know, but the anteater is also really great visual of like just taking things. I was thinking kabuchin monkeys who like steal stuff, hoard it and but not stealing, per se, but like they just go and they take it, the anteater is such a great answer and no one has ever said that Brian. That is a first on the list of animals. Was there a moment that you realized your business was successful? Was there an actual moment where you said, Oh, like I’ve done it.
Brian:
Not really. I guess that moment came after my first year when I thought, okay, you know what I’m supporting myself, I’ve got, six figure income coming in doing what I’m doing. And it was really simple at that point. The business continued to grow and it’s been great provided for me. But yeah, I would probably say that would be the best answer, after the first year.
Beverly:
That is remarkable. Most entrepreneurs do not realize they’re successful for years and if they ever actually Consider themselves, successful.
Brian:
That’s why I hesitated because your business is always evolving. It’s changing, you’re updating, there’s new technology. So it’s never boring. It’s never become boring for me. I understand that point of view, the, when I first started out, it was I felt so good about doing what I did after the first year, like my dad had passed away that previous year. And I only had a high school education. I didn’t know I could ever start and operate a successful business. I had that sense of accomplishment after that first year.
Beverly:
We’re so good at moving the goalposts on ourselves. So it’s just good that you can look back and say that was a really defining moment for you. Is there a book or a podcast or an entrepreneur that has left their mark on your journey? Like you follow it, quote from it, like that helps structure your business in some way or was really instrumental and maybe a mindset shift for you?
Brian:
I can give two answers to that. One book that I found really useful for me was Mastering Marketing by John H. Watson. So many people start a business and then They don’t really have a road map and they spend a little bit of money here. They throw a little bit of money there and hopefully something’s going to work. And but John provides a blueprint. It might take you a little bit longer to get there, but you’re, you’re going to get there Without having spent as much money or wasting so much money an entrepreneur I follow when I like, and actually I was on his podcast a few years ago Nick Loper from side hustle nation. He started a little side hustle himself and grew it from there. And now he’s got this huge community on Facebook. He interviews all sorts of people. It’s just amazing how many different ways people are making money, whether it be as a side hustle or they turn it into a full time business.
Beverly:
Great recommendations. A lot of our clients come to us feeling really scattered and not sure where to go with marketing. And if you at least have a blueprint or a roadmap or the next step, it’s so helpful if you could speed up the time up to your success, By having a plan is always going to help you for sure. So you survived the lightning round. Brian did great.
Brian:
Oh yeah.
Beverly:
Take a deep breath. It’s all good. I have been called a fairy godmother before and that I do magical marketing. And so I actually have a magical wand and I’m going to wave my magical wand and I’m going to take us back in time. We’re going to go back to the little kid who wanted to be something when he grew up, what did you want to be when you were little, what was the thing you wanted to be?
Brian:
Oh I guess a lot of little boys back then in the sixties growing up, at one point I wanted to be a firefighter, another time I wanted to be a doctor. I remember getting a doctor’s kit with those little candy pills in it for Christmas one year. And then, at some point I wanted to be a hockey player, but I guess I was about probably six years old and every kid back then in the summer months would have a lemonade stand, but I thought I was going to do something different. I got in a big trouble for doing this, but I went out and I got the card table from the basement, set it up in front of the house and I’ve got two brothers that are twins that are a year younger than me. I went and took some of their toys, put it on the table and started selling their toys to the neighborhood kids. And my brothers were not happy. They got mom to come out and mom put a stop to it. Later on, she said I appreciate it. She complimented me on my initiative, but she said, next time you plan on selling something that doesn’t belong to you better come ask.
Beverly:
So you were an entrepreneur way back in the day.
Brian:
And I know, and that’s one thing a lot of people, they think when they’re going to start a business, they have to invent something, they have to come up with something new. You don’t, you just have to tweak it, make it better than, what your competitors are doing. And I guess that’s what I learned back then is that I’m not just going to sell lemonade. I’m going to sell some toys. I’ve never seen anyone selling toys.
Beverly:
You made it your own. It’s so good. If you could go back and talk to that little kid, that six year old. What advice would you give him that would have helped him?
Brian:
Oh I would say, what you forget the toys. Maybe instead of lemonade sell some soda pop or something that’s a bit different. But it’s still, you’re selling drinks on a hot afternoon. That’s what people want. Give them, give people what they want.
Beverly:
Yeah. Now I’m gonna wave the wand again, and we’re going to go all the way forward to when you retire. What’s your longterm vision for Winch? How are things changed by then?
Brian:
Because I’m doing something I enjoy doing and I’m self employed, I don’t really have a date on the calendar where I’m counting the days down to when I’m retiring. I’m having too much fun. I can always cut back in the number of hours that I’m still going out and getting paid for going for walks. But I enjoy my morning walks. It keeps me active. And I enjoy, teaching other people how to start a simple parking lot litter cleanup business. Like I said, I’m having too much fun. But I guess at some point there will be a day where I will, cut back. Maybe I don’t want to get up in the morning anymore and go do my cleaning. I want to sleep in, but, I think as long as I have my health I really enjoy, teaching and showing other people, how to duplicate my success in their own city.
Beverly:
What do you think is going to be your most significant legacy or impact on the industry?
Brian:
just that it can be enjoyable. There is a there’s a better way to, to clean parking lots than showing up during the middle of the day and trying to do it for, obvious reasons. How can you possibly provide a good service that way. And, I get a kick as to, how many people across the country. Build really good, successful businesses and how it’s providing for their families. My most successful student to date was a teacher and, he grew it into a business that I think he’s operating in 38 States now. So he’s doing better than I am. But you know what, this isn’t a franchise. I like to keep things simple and I operate my own city. He’s got more headaches, operating that way, more power to him. That’s what he’s doing. And he’s successful. And like I say I provide the blueprint, but I’m not telling people this is what you have to do. And you have to work so many hours and you can’t operate in this city More power to people if they can take my idea and grow it into something bigger and better than mine, like I say, good for you.
Beverly:
That’s a pretty significant legacy that you’re helping people build their own businesses and have their own independence and be able to live their life the way they want to as well. That’s a wonderful legacy. Lastly, Brian, what practical advice would you offer to somebody who wants to start a business or somebody who maybe is at a crossroads in their own business? What’s one action they can take today that you think would help them?
Brian:
Remember why you got into business to begin with and provide a solution to someone’s problems, whether it’s a service or a product and, just focus on the benefits that you can provide. As opposed to getting too wrapped up in sales, I’ve got to make sales and things like that. Just remember your customers, your prospects, they’re people too. And they want to know how you can help them.
Beverly:
Yeah, you’re right. So good. Your passion. You, everyone started a business because they wanted to help someone. I feel like, so remember that. Before we wrap up, please share with our listeners where they can learn more about you and your business. How can they find you, Brian?
Brian:
The best way is just to go to my website at cleanlots.com And I’ve got all sorts of material there. I’ve got a brief video where you can actually see me walking a parking lot, cleaning it up and using, the tools that I use. I’ve got a free download report is this the right opportunity for you? And of course, there’s the contact page where you can reach out to me, all the information you need to either go ahead and order the book or to learn more about the opportunity is on my website.
Beverly:
Wonderful. Thank you so much, Brian, for sharing your story and your insights with us today.
Brian:
Thank you. I had a great time.
Beverly:
So our listeners, I hope you found today’s conversation as fun and inspiring as I did. And Brian, I’m really looking forward to that campaign with the superhero and you contacting Antonio Banderas and making that happen. Please remember that the Tips and insights Brian shared today can ignite positive change in your own entrepreneurial journey. And please don’t hesitate to reach out to Brian or myself if you’re looking for more guidance and support in relation to the Clean Lots or with marketing. Stay tuned for more inspiring conversations and actionable marketing tips on future episodes of the Spark and Ignite Your Marketing podcast. Until next time, keep sparking and igniting.
