☐ Sole proprietorship or LLC filed; EIN issued; business account open.
☐ City business license application submitted.
☐ Two insurance quotes pulled; general liability bound; commercial auto question answered in writing.
☐ Google Business Profile claimed and filled completely, with first photos (truck, trailer, clean garage).
☐ Nextdoor account joined for your neighborhoods.
☐ Ten door-magnet or decal quotes pulled; cheapest credible one ordered.
☐ Call one: city clerk on hauler licensing. Call two: transfer station on commercial accounts, current fee schedule, surcharges. Fee schedule in the glovebox.
Checkpoint (go/no-go): insurance bound, listing live, fee schedule in hand. No jobs yet, and that is correct.
Week two: build the rig and the ladder
☐ Core kit bought used: appliance dolly with straps, furniture dolly, blankets, gloves, pry bar, drill, tarps ($200-300 if you shopped like a tradesman).
☐ Zero-dollar test haul run: a real load, really carried, really weighed.
☐ Price card built against your truck's actual dimensions: minimum charge, quarter, half, full, heavy debris by weight, surcharge line items from your county's schedule.
☐ Three competitors called as a customer; your ladder slotted honestly.
☐ Driveway quote script rehearsed until it comes out without thinking.
Checkpoint: you can quote a photographed pile in one text message with a straight face.
Week three: open the phone
☐ First service post on Marketplace and Craigslist; first Nextdoor introduction.
☐ First ten realtor and property-manager messages sent.
☐ Two practice loads for neighbors at cost, in exchange for reviews (the review engine starts at two).
☐ Paid-channel trial started if budgeted, at the ceiling you can lose (LSA junk-removal average near $48/lead), and not one dollar more.
☐ Speed-to-lead held: fifteen minutes or less from inquiry to reply.
Checkpoint: first three paid jobs completed, three reviews requested at the door, disposal receipts logged next to every invoice.
Week four: read the numbers, then decide
☐ Job log's first month filled in. Four questions answered: average job net after disposal, fuel, marketing; best job type per hour; actual lead cost per booked job per channel; how your back feels (it prices the helper decision).
☐ Month-two decisions made: raise or hold the minimum; keep, pause, or kill each paid channel; first helper by the day or stay solo; winter pipeline started now if the season is turning.
The checkpoint that matters most: does the net line on your job log match the money actually in the account? If the two agree, you are running a business. If not, the log is fiction.
The thirty-day launch list
☐ Entity filed, EIN issued, business bank account open
☐ Business license application submitted
☐ General liability bound; commercial auto resolved in writing
☐ Transfer station commercial account and fee schedule in the glovebox
☐ Google Business Profile live with photos; Nextdoor joined; magnets ordered
☐ Core tool kit bought used; test haul completed
☐ Price card built against your truck, sanity-checked against three competitors
☐ Ten realtor or property manager messages out
☐ First three paid jobs done; reviews requested at the door; job log running
☐ Month-two decisions made: minimum, channels, helper, season pipeline