Changing Careers and Building a Local Business with Jason Feller

Liam Dempsey: Welcome to Start Local where we talk with business owners, leaders of nonprofits, and other members of our community focused on doing business in and around Chester County, Pennsylvania. Each episode will provide insight into the local business scene and tell you about opportunities to connect with and support businesses and nonprofits in your local area.

Joe Casabona: The Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce promotes trade, commerce, industry, and sustainable economic development while supporting a diverse and growing marketplace. The Chamber is proud to partner with the Start Local podcast to raise the profile of businesses and nonprofits throughout Chester County. Learn more about the chamber at SCCCCC. That’s SCCCCC.com.

Liam Dempsey: Welcome to Start Local. I’m Liam Dempsey. Erik Gudmundson and I are gathered in the podcast studio this morning. Erik, how are you?

Erik Gudmundson: I am doing well. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Liam Dempsey: Look at that. Look at that. Folks, we are really excited to connect in person again with our local podcast community. Yep, yep, yep. We are going to gather again over good conversation, great food, and refreshing drinks.

Erik Gudmundson: That’s right. The venue will be Stolen Sun, which we’ve attended before, and that location is in Exton, and the date is Wednesday, September 24th, from 5 PM to 7 PM. Back by popular demand, I shall always say, because yeah, Stolen Sun always seems to treat the group pretty well. So we’re looking forward to seeing you all there.

Liam Dempsey: Yet right now, we are looking forward to our conversation with Jason Feller, entrepreneur and owner of Crystal Clean Cans. Jason, welcome.

Jason Feller: Thanks so much for having me. Liam and Erik.

Erik Gudmundson: Jason, I see you all the time around the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce, but it’s nice to have you here in the podcast studio so we can go a little bit more in-depth. I’m looking forward to this conversation with you.

Jason Feller: I’m looking forward to talking trash today.

Liam Dempsey: How long have you been waiting to say that for?

Jason Feller: Two years?

Liam Dempsey: That’s a canned line.

Jason Feller: Oh.

Liam Dempsey: Alrighty, folks. Well, let’s try to stop the buns and get into the questions. Jason, your business, Crystal Clean Cans, provides on-site trash cleaning services for commercial and residential customers in Southeast Pennsylvania and Northeast Maryland. That’s a unique business offer, but just to help give our customers a little bit of context for what we’re going to be chatting us about today, can you share your elevator pitch? How do you sell your business in 30 seconds or less?

Jason Feller: Sure. I’m the business that comes to you and your house and provides that feeling of clean, the all of your senses are touched with this by removing germs with 190-degree temperature water, which is hotter than your dishwasher. We take all that dirty water with us. We bring your trash can back to your house smelling fresh and sanitized, so you don’t have bugs and rodents in your house.

Erik Gudmundson: Well, prior to starting your own business and owning your own business, you had a successful career in country club and athletic club management. In our previous conversation, you made it clear that while you love that work and you needed a change. So tell us about that. Or very bluntly, in another way, why the heck did you decide to start your own business?

Jason Feller: That’s a great question. Jokingly, I say I lost a few screws and found it behind the dumpster. But ultimately, I spent 20 years in country club and private club management. I loved that world, sometimes too much, where I was working 60, 70, 80 plus hours a week, and ultimately got to a point where my wife came to me and said, Hey Jason, you realize you’ve taken 37 days off this year and 14 of those were our vacation. And it was kind of one of those “Oh, wow. moments. The oh, what am I doing with my life moments. And we talked about it. The country club world has a lot of entrepreneurialism in it, where you’re always trying to create new activities, events, and new operations in the country club world. And I said, Why not me? I’ve been doing this for other people now for 20 years. Why not me?

Liam Dempsey: Yeah, I like that. And that sets us up for our next question is, you’ve decided now that you want to work for yourself, you want your own business. How did you discern? How did you figure out what kind of business you wanted to own? And ultimately, then I guess the question really is, how did you decide that cleaning cans was the right opportunity for you, and as you said, for your family.

Jason Feller: Gosh. So, that decision. So the decision to say I’m going to look at something on my own prior to me leaving the country cup world there, and I say leaving, I don’t know if I’m fully ever gone from there, but prior to leaving it, it was probably a two year process of just finding out a little bit more about me and what I wanted. I’ve always wanted something where I dug in, and I’ve always been one of those hands-on leaders. I knew I only had so much money to invest. 

I was looking at the time, it was just after Covid, and I was struggling to hire line-level employees for those basic jobs, those I consider trash can cleaning, a very basic job. But nobody wanted to do the simple things, including dishwashing. So I was actually looking for dirty jobs to do and I said, How do I create a service out of a dirty job? Something that maybe is finding that, that hidden extra thing that most people aren’t choosing as an amenity right now, but it is a value add.

Erik Gudmundson: People in the trenches of traditional W2 work sometimes dream of being their own boss. You are a little different because you were a manager reporting to a board of directors. But I think this question about the quintessential American dream still applies. What was your biggest surprise in starting and running your own business? Because I suspect it didn’t go quite the way you had dreamed it would.

Jason Feller: Did not go quite the way I had dreamt it would. I think anybody who starts their own business has a little bit of a pipe dream, saying, Oh, yeah, I’m going to be turning a profit in year one. At the end of the year, I’m going to be writing myself checks and taking great vacations. What were the biggest surprises were I would say there’s a couple of things. In the country cup world, I had multiple people reporting to me. I was able to say, Oh, XYZ marketing or XYZ, you know, financials, why aren’t these numbers this way? Or, hey, we need to provide XYZ service. And now that comes to me.

And I did always say I wanted to wake up and look in the mirror and answer myself. But all of a sudden, you’re answering to yourself, and you have to have some honest conversations with yourself when you’re not getting a task done, when you’re not showing up for your family at that point in time. Because that’s what you said you would do when you’re not showing up for your customers, because you made a mistake in timing, putting marketing information out there. I had to do a lot of learning on even how to respond to Facebook. So I would say that was one of my biggest surprises. 

The other biggest surprise I had was operating cash that you do expect your business, you go in with an optimistic mindset and you do expect your business to be cash flow positive immediately. Well, you know, most businesses are not for three to five years. And I was like most other entrepreneurs, where I kind of said, oh, it’s going to make money, it’s going to make money. And so you starve your business in the beginning. I wish I had a little bit more cash going into that.

Liam Dempsey: So your point about answering yourself really resonated with me. I think one of the best things about owning your own business, and I do with LP design, is that there’s no one there to tell you what to do. But that’s also one of the worst things about owning your own business is there is no one there to tell you what to do. That accountability can be a challenge, depending on what other priorities are grabbing your attention.

Jason Feller: I am smiling on my end because accountability is a good word, and I feel it. Some days I’m good at it, and some days I’m bad at it.

Liam Dempsey: Welcome to life. Yeah. Your business, Crystal Clean Cans, you provide really a suite of related services, not just limited to trash can cleaning. So walk us through your services briefly again, what else do you clean, and what else are you doing?

Jason Feller: Sure. So my business started out with trash can cleaning and originally dumpster cleaning as well. I’m still doing the dumpster cleaning, but starting out with trash can and dumpster cleaning, and evolved based on my customers’ requests.

One of them came to me and said, Hey, can you do a house wash? And I said, I’ve never done a housewash before. Are you willing to allow me to try? And they said Sure. And next thing you know, two years later, I’ve done hundreds of house washes.

I’ve now also done commercial buildings and building washing, soft washing process. So I’ve now done six schools in that process as a number of other commercial buildings, pressure washing services like the surface cleaning, like your sidewalks, and things like that, and window washing.

So I’ve stepped into window washing, and then I’ve done some specialized items as well, including oxidation removal and aluminum paint bleed, and things like that that would fall into the pressure washing services. I think with any business that you create, you have to figure out that next step, that other opportunity to continue to keep your business going.

Erik Gudmundson: Well, talk about expanding your business. It’s not just the services you offer, but also your service area. You have some important considerations there because you’re a fleet-based business in some ways. So two questions for you. What’s your current service area, and how did you decide on the specifics of your service area?

Jason Feller: So my service area runs down to roughly Havard Grace, MD, along the Delaware border. I stay in Pennsylvania up to 202 out to Exton and Route 30, and I run all the way back down to the Susquehanna there. So a little bit of Lancaster County, Chester County. And this year we expanded back into Maryland based on requests. 

The service area was determined based on time. So time and miles are actually my biggest expenses in this business. If I can keep my route tight, I can keep my costs low. We feel we try and be as affordable as possible to our customers. We recognize our amenity, but we also need to keep that amenity at an appropriate price. 

So we stay in Pennsylvania partly because we have a great counterpart in Delaware who helped us get into this business and also still continues to advise and offer networking support. And I value relationships. So again, we’ve stayed out of that area even though it’s close to us. But it’s mostly based on time and travel time, and it costs $5 to go 10 miles. So, we will stick to our routing as tightly as possible.

Liam Dempsey: Can I ask a clarifying question on that? Do you mean 10 miles on the road or 10 miles as the bird flies?

Jason Feller: Flies 10 miles on the road. So every 10 miles I drive costs roughly $5.

Liam Dempsey: So you’ve chatted about how you’re supporting both commercial and residential customers. Can you tell us a little bit about what your customer breakdown is? What percentage of customers are commercial and what are residential? How does that play out for you?

Jason Feller: Of the trash can cleaning business? It is different than what I originally intended. I thought I was going to be roughly 60, 40 for residential trash can cleaning to commercial customers. I’m actually roughly 90% residential trash can cleaning customers. Of those, I have just shy of 400 recurring customers or maintenance plan subscribers. And of those customers, roughly 80% are on a quarterly cleaning, maintenance cleaning.

The dumpster and commercial cleaning for the trash cans, most of them are on a quarterly or, excuse me, twice or every other month, bi-monthly process there.

Erik Gudmundson: Careful, we might call it fortnightly, I’m not sure.

Jason Feller: Oh. Fortnightly cleaning process.

Liam Dempsey: Hey now.

Erik Gudmundson: Regular listeners of the podcast will know exactly what I’m referring to there, but that little inside joke for our listeners. But I have a question for you, Jason. As you’ve diversified your business, I’d also like to understand how that has affected your revenue breakdown. So what’s your biggest revenue stream? Is it still trash can cleaning, or has it become power washing of homes or those commercial customers? Sounds like residential customers are certainly the bulk of your business.

Jason Feller: So it’s actually now it’s relatively evenly split as far as where my revenue streams are coming from, which is good and bad. So I’m bringing in roughly 40% of my revenues from trash can cleaning, and the remainder of 60% comes between residential and commercial pressure washing opportunities there.

Liam Dempsey: You bought your business. What was that approach there? I did not buy mine. I started it. So I’m always curious to hear from folks who took a different route, and you know, kind of accountability. Did I take the wrong route, kind of thing? So what, what, what did buying your business? Why did buying the business make more sense than building it from the ground up?

Jason Feller: That’s a great question. And, to your point, I don’t know if anyone ever knows the right answer to how to buy your business or how to start your business.

For us, me and my wife, who are partners in the business, when we were finally deciding on what we were going to do. We had looked at buying a trailer and relabeling it and, you know, coming up with our own name and all those things. But we end up buying the trailer, a used trailer off of some of the networking groups there, and they were based out of Pittsburgh, so we couldn’t buy their business and customers, and client base. 

But when looking at the finances of things, cash is king. And we decided to go the easy route and say we’ll buy your business name. That way, we don’t have to rebrand the trailer, we don’t have to rebrand a website, we don’t have to create new Facebook marketing. We can take the email address. And when it came to speed of delivery and overall cost, we said let’s just buy the business as it is, and we’ll just move it over here to eastern Pennsylvania. Which is part of the reason I have a Western Pennsylvania area code there. So our phone number starts with 724. And it has worked in our favor and against us at times, where people don’t think we’re local to Southeast Pennsylvania. Uh, and there are other times people have called us because they said they remembered our number was different than everyone else’s number.

Erik Gudmundson: That’s an interesting perspective. And I know with, in the world of voiceover IP, it doesn’t really matter where your phone number is. There’s no such thing as a local, truly local number anymore. And a lot of the 610 numbers are out. You can’t buy a 610 number unless you acquire it from somebody else or a broker, or something like that. But you can’t exactly call a telephone number and our telephone company and get a six one zero number. So it’s interesting to hear that people just remember it because it’s different. That’s different to me.

Jason Feller: I did an analysis of what area codes I had in my system, and I’ve, you know, I said before,  I’ve got almost 400 maintenance customers there, and I think I’ve got like 60 different area codes there. It’s absolutely mind-boggling to me. You think everyone would be local, but it is a lot of different area codes.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. And I suppose with our mobile phones. Right. You know, we spent a couple of years in Chicago for work, we spent a couple of years in Houston, we moved up to Minneapolis, we moved to Chester County. We just keep the same mobile phone. And so, yeah, that’s so interesting. So interesting.

Jason Feller: I don’t care what phone number I text, as long as I get the money in once, once I provide my service.

Erik Gudmundson: Oh, you speaking about money. You previously shared that you went into this business ownership, you know, expecting your business to grow over time and be cash flow positive very quickly. And, you know, I think that’s a very optimistic approach. So, I think you opened, if I remember correctly, in February 2023, and as we’re recording this, it’s now the third quarter of 2025. Have your growth expectations played out in that relatively long run, you know, and how’s your profitability going in general, if I may ask?

Jason Feller:  It’s a little bit of a loaded question there. So, Yes. Yes, and no. We knew that it would take time to truly make a profitable business. And what do they say is three to five years before businesses turn a profit? 

At the end of year two, we were break-even. And this is my third year. This is the first time I’ve paid myself in two years, which is a great feeling to write a check with your own name on it. And it’s not a lot, it’s just enough to keep us going, keep food on our table for our family.

So that makes me happy. I think in my wildest dreams I would have loved this to be a runaway success, and I’d have my vacation home in the islands already, but I’m still working my way there. It is a good growing business, and understanding that it takes time to build a customer base. And ultimately, I do need a lot of customers. I jokingly call it the Walmart philosophy. I am looking for a lot of customers, and I have, you know, a smaller margin on that, and just keep growing that customer base. I hope I answered your question there.

Erik Gudmundson: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. It’s just. And the reason I ask it isn’t so much to dive into your personal finances or anything. It’s more just to help business owners gain some perspective on what they could expect and what they should at least be prepared to accept if they really want to get into this, the small business ownership arena.

Jason Feller: You need to learn to ride the wave, is one of the biggest things is ride the wave. There’s some months you were extremely successful and you’re feeling that high, high. And then there’s some months you’re questioning, why am I doing this? What was going through my head when I chose to walk away from that W2 job where you had a paycheck coming in every other week? And I’ve had both of those experiences in this role.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. And I suppose in an age of social media, where I spend 20 minutes a day and I make $60,000 a month recurring revenue on only 20 minutes a day, here’s my fantastic home on the shore. And here’s my fantastic home in New York City. Yeah, no, thank you.

Jason Feller: Please don’t sign up for those people. Please don’t give them another dollar of your money. It is not real.

Liam Dempsey: So, perhaps in part because of the influence of private equity, many businesses, regardless of sector, are focusing on recurring revenue streams instead of a one-off transaction. So this shift places more emphasis on keeping a consistent client base. Very enthusiastic about services, about your services, and requiring good old-fashioned customer service. You really got to take it to new heights. Yet some consumers are actively pushing back on these recurring revenue models. And apparently, there are even apps designed to help people identify those recurring charges and cancel the services. But on a side note, I understand that those apps also charge a recurring revenue. So take that for what it is.

But Jason, back to you. How do you handle recurring services with your customer? What does that look like for your business?

Jason Feller: Actually, I really like your lead-up there to that, Liam. And that was actually one of the ideas that we had was creating a simplified recurring revenue stream. I was not looking for a business where I was chasing a big dollar. I wanted to create a customer service-based business. And yes, trash can cleaning is customer service-based. I wanted to create a business that was falling within what I knew was how to take care of the customer.

And the best way I learned was through preventative maintenance. Just like you would go and take a shower every day, or wash your dishes, or change your oil. What we looked at was how good people felt on a consistent basis when they kept those spaces around their home clean. 

And for me, it was keeping the trash can clean. And I’ve had very, very little negative feedback in the fashion of people dropping recurring plans. You know, I have a 98% retention rate right now, which is absolutely amazing for these businesses. 

And ultimately, the model of recurring revenue is typically only looked at negatively when it’s forced upon people. So, I ask people to sign up on my website. People will call me and say, Well, which plan do you recommend? And I say, you know, I recommend what’s right for you. You know, if it were me, I’d probably choose quarterly. In all honesty. I wouldn’t choose monthly. 

But some people really want that feeling of being clean on a regular basis. And the moment there’s a, you know, something in their can, they’re calling me, saying, Can I get an extra cleaning? And I know I’m going on a long-winded answer here for a recurring revenue stream, but it’s one of those things that I want someone to feel comfortable with the decision they make. No buyer’s remorse. I am asking for your value-added dollars. And ultimately, I will work with you on that decision.

Erik Gudmundson: I’m just imagining someone who needs to get their trash cans cleaned every single month, and they must generate a lot of trash. I tend to be a pretty clean person myself, and I feel like my cans personally don’t get that dirty after months. 

So it leads me to just a little follow-up. Would you say that as you’re a bellwether or a canary for what the economy is doing? Like, do people view this as more of a luxury expense, or is it more of, like. No, it really makes me feel good, and it’s a nice return to stability. Knowing that my trash cans are clean that helps me sleep at night. Where do your clients see this service?

Jason Feller: I am certainly viewed as an amenity to the majority of my customers. I have some people who have signed up because children are sick or somebody is sick in the home, and they say, Why bring that one extra touch with germs into my yard or my house? Why should I do that? But I’m certainly an amenity, and I recognize that. 

And so maybe my signups haven’t been, you know, they ebb and flow with how the economy is looking. I don’t know if I can truly pinpoint that just yet. I don’t know if I’ve got a large enough of customer base to do that. 

What I find interesting is it does transcend economic status. So on the same day, I had one customer who was in a multimillion-dollar mansion in Chester Springs. He chose to cancel his membership or his maintenance plan because, you know, it was too much for him.

The same day, someone who, who lives in a mobile home park signed up for it, and you say, Wow, those are two different people from an economic status. But their value is really what I was looking at. And the person who’s living in the mobile home park said, I value everything around me to be clean and pristine. And they weren’t seeing the Value in the multimillion-dollar mansion. And that’s okay.

Erik Gudmundson: In that multimillion-dollar mansion, I imagine the trash cans might be sort of swept around out back. They’re in a box somewhere. Maybe nobody’s having to experience them. Whereas if you’re in a smaller house, you have to walk past that trash can every day, and you don’t want it to smell.

Jason Feller: That’s actually really perceptive because that is exactly how those two houses operate. You light it up directly.

Erik Gudmundson: I feel like there are a lot of little subtle insights you could get, Jason, about society from just watching the trends within your business as you grow. I bet in an economist, particularly a behavioral economics behavioral economist. Excuse me, would love to dive into your numbers someday.

Jason Feller: If I were smart enough, I’d go back to school for that. I love that idea.

Erik Gudmundson: Starting a business can be scary, especially when you have a family with children, you mentioned that earlier. And so I want to go back to that. If I could talk to myself about making that leap from the successful club manager to a business owner, from the perspective of being a father and a husband.

Jason Feller: It is certainly a leap. And there are so many, so many things that come into play when you make that leap in that transition and change. And there’s so many things that sometimes you see, you don’t see. 

One of the biggest changes is just getting to connect differently with your family. I’m certainly around a lot more, and I was around a lot more, and I think that was uncomfortable for everybody in that process, whether it’s myself or my wife or my kids. And we had some real heart-to-heart conversations in that process of, you know, dad, why are you around right now? Or, you know, this isn’t how we ran the household when you weren’t here. 

And so there were certain leaps that we all had to accept and review, and challenge ourselves on outcomes. And I’m trying to be as, you know, as emotionally connective here, but also, also make sure, make sure there’s some privacy to that process.

And I think any family that goes through that leap, you know, to a certain point, my connectivity was with who I was as a business manager. So I had to realize, wait a second, I’m not the country club manager anymore. I am Jason, and who’s Jason still. So as I lay down on the therapist couch that you just set out for me, I got a lot to unpack, still two years later. But the leap is also not without knowing some of the risks. And I would say that many entrepreneurs aren’t always risk takers; we just identify where the risks are and how we move through those risks. And for me, I identified that the risk, one of the risks I had was if I stayed in club management, I might lose that connectivity with my family. If I come home and work from home, then I might also have some challenges with that connectivity with my family, but I identified that risk was worth at least starting out and trying first.

Erik Gudmundson: You raise a really valuable point there that I’ve observed over the years, time and time again, which is that entrepreneurs tend to have this reputation of being big gamblers, risk takers, and in my experience, they’re absolutely not. They are excellent at calculating risk, and they take many, many, many calculated risks time and time again, but they’re always calculated risks. It’s not a random walk.

Jason Feller: It has not been a random walk. At the same time, I will say it again, is you have to be able to ride the wave. And when you look at that calculated risk, you have to know that it’s not always that high. There is the up and there’s a down, and then it flattens out, and then you can ride the wave a little bit smoother.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. Jason, as a guy who’s worked for himself for a long time and worked from home for more than two decades, finding that balance of when you know your home office, you don’t have a 20-minute or an hour-long commute. You know, your workday may, especially when our children are younger, your workday kind of ends, or at least gets radically interrupted when the school bus stops outside the house and everybody comes tearing in. And it’s wonderful and it’s exciting and it’s a joy. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. But to Erik’s point around risks, there’s a risk there. Right? The client says, I need this by five. And you know darn well you’re losing some time from a work perspective. You’re gaining as a, you know, as a family guy. But it’s. It’s. Yeah. I feel like you and I could start our own podcast about families and businesses, and working from home. But let’s move on. Let’s move on. Before we agree to start that podcast. 

Jason Feller: Erik’s got 20 questions lined up already. I see it. 

Liam Dempsey: I think he does. I think he does. I think he does. Let’s swing back around to how you bought your business. You talked about that, and I’m curious about how you funded that. And the reason I’m asking is because in a previous conversation, we talked with Tony Poluch from Univest bank, and he explained very quickly and succinctly all sorts of different lending options that I had no idea existed. So folks listening, definitely go back and check that out. You can do all sorts of lending, and I can’t even remember the different types. Its assets and its accounts receivable and it’s all different things. But it’s worth having a listen to. And with that context, Jason, because you’ve been through the process, talk us through what sort of loan worked for you and how you decided how to fund that?

Jason Feller: So we got into the process of figuring out where our money came from, a couple of different ways. We had originally, back in 2019, we had actually put a bid in on another business, as, again, this is something we’ve kind of been thinking about for a number of years, how to start our own business, things like that. We lost that bid. We were in the process of going through an SBA loan, and we could do that because there was already a business in place and, you know, a revenue stream already in place, and they were looking to do a loan or able to do a loan on that and transitioning to.

When we started the trash can cleaning business, we didn’t have a model to a financial model to say, hey, here’s what’s going on. And I came up with the best, the best budget that I could and projections that I could. And ultimately, we weren’t actually able to find a lender that was appropriate for us at the right interest rates. If I had heard about Tony’s no-money-down loan there, the equipment loan, that’s probably what I should have done.

Instead, we chose to take out a line of equity, retain whatever savings we have in our savings account. In that way, if we needed to pay or if there was, you know, financially difficult times, we could dip into the savings account and pay off the loans over time. 

And that was a process we went through on thinking, do I recommend the line of equity on our home? Yes and no. It gives us some flexibility. It certainly gave me, you know, times when I was not meeting my numbers to just pay interest only on it. And I didn’t have a fixed rate or a fixed loan to pay. That in my business, is capital-intensive. So if I starve my business because I’m having to pay down a loan, then I’m literally starving my business.

So, yeah, we went through the line of credit, and after about eight months, I was able to increase it to what the rate would have been on paying down my loan. And that’s kind of the process I went through, not sure I recommend it for everybody.

Erik Gudmundson: Thank you for sharing those insights. And it’s valuable to people out there to hear them. No doubt. Let me ask you another question about not so much finance, but more about marketing, because marketing can be a challenge for many businesses out there. And there’s lots of different ways to do marketing these days. And as you shared, you know, you earlier, you viewed trash, clean trash can cleaning as ultimately a luxury service. But I’m sure for some people it’s not, but that’s okay.

So, in a real sense, no matter what, you have to educate customers before you can sell to them, because not everybody knows that the service is out there and available. So talk to me about how you’re educating your potential customers out there through your marketing efforts to your potential customer base.

Jason Feller: Erik, you just hit the nail on the head. 99% of customers don’t know that I’m even out there as a service. And that’s actually one of my current Facebook ads right now, is that 99% of people don’t know that I’m out there and don’t even know what the service is.

So, we look at marketing in a few different ways. One is by participation, participation in the community, participation in networking events, and being present out there. Also, we’ve done trash can tagging, which is putting a hanger on the trash cans or a sticker on the trash cans just to say, Hey, we’re available. Here’s, you know, here’s what the service is.

Erik Gudmundson: Do you put those only on the really dirty trash cans that have to interrupt or like, you know, does everybody get a hanger? Like, should people feel really guilty if they get a hanger from you?

Jason Feller: We double-tag those trash cans.

Erik Gudmundson: No.

Jason Feller: Everybody needs a clean trash can, not just the ones that are extremely dirty. We believe this is for everybody. No, we tag every trash can out there. And so if you get one, it is because we were in your neighborhood on the day you have trash service. And it’s interesting because tagging trash cans has almost no immediate return on investment. And I have walked miles and miles and miles through neighborhoods putting a sticker on trash cans. And we don’t solicit services. We will not ask you for your business. We just leave a note or message on your trash can. It’s a professional card that allows you to make that decision. 

And then we also use the Internet and use a little bit of Google. Once our SEO is a little bit better, we’re probably in a little Bit larger market share. We’ll probably push more towards Google because again, we have to educate every customer on who we are and what we’re doing. So people aren’t specifically searching for trash can cleaning right now. 

So the majority of our spend is actually on Facebook advertising. And we try and make it fun. We try not to make it so boring and straightforward. So if you do see our advertising out there, there’s videos showing how it’s done, there’s some jokes, there’s some, you know, in some of how the videos are made, where people are holding their nose or there’s trash piled high or going through that process of visualizing what’s actually happening. Because, again, you touch a trash can a couple times a week, maybe, so you might not really think of it until that point.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah, I’ve seen a handful of your ads on Instagram, and they’re very cute. So well done.

Jason Feller: Thank you.

Liam Dempsey: Well done. Let’s talk about your involvement with the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce. We’re partnering with them to support businesses and nonprofits across the county. But you, sir, are the current chairman of the Chamber.

Jason Feller: I am.

Liam Dempsey: And in fact, Erik is a past chairman. And our previous guest, Tony Poluch, is also a past chair. So the roots run deep here with the Chamber. Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce. But our question for you is this. You just spent the better part of half an hour talking about how you keep yourself pretty darn busy running your business. How are you balancing your chairing of the Chamber, those responsibilities, those Chamber responsibilities, with your commitments to running and helping enable your own business to grow? How do you do that?

Jason Feller: Well, I mean, I get a lot of windshield time. So in that windshield time, I listen to podcasts like yours, so I have heard some of the podcasts that you’ve spoken about there. I also get time to make some phone calls and connect. So Cheryl Coon is our CEO and President of the Chamber. And to be honest, she does a lot of the legwork and gets us guided in the right directions. 

So myself, as chairman and on our board of directors, we can help make the decisions and advise in the way that we’re supposed to advise, moving the Chamber forward. I love participating in the Chamber because of the networking and the connectivity, and that everybody in the Chamber is really certainly looking out for each other and growing each other.

It is different how I participate now than when I participated before. When I participated from the country club standpoint, it was being supportive of those businesses. And how do I act as a supporting role, and how do I act in. If we grow everybody, what do they say? Rising tide lifts all boats or all ships. And how do I support that process? 

Now, I need the Chamber in a different way. I need to talk to as many people as I can, because as I said before, 99% of people don’t know about me and what I do. So every conversation I can have is beneficial to me. And so it is interesting for me, having transitioned, and how I use the Chamber differently now.

And I honestly look forward to continuing to see the Chamber grow and offer different amenities. You know, whether you know, the golf tournaments and the galas might not be for everybody, but we have three different networking groups that fit in, and also a network at NOOB that fits in, and opportunities to get out and be present with your peers. And so I’ve answered that in a long, roundabout way with my ADHD kicking in there. I apologize, but…

Erik Gudmundson: No, that answered it very, very well. And in fact, the way that you answered it was very appropriate because the Chamber can be different things to different people at different times. It offers a lot of different services and perspectives, and a lot of different ways for people to connect, and a lot of different ways for different types of people to connect. So I thought that was a spot-on answer, actually.

Jason Feller: It’s so true. And we appreciate our relationship with you here because you’re supporting our members in that same fashion and highlighting and identifying them, and bringing light to what they do.

Erik Gudmundson: It’s our pleasure. And thank you for serving as chair. It’s a difficult position. It takes a lot of time, but it definitely reaps its rewards in terms of what I got to see change with the community as a result of the Chamber still does. So it’s wonderful.

Jason Feller: Definitely.

Erik Gudmundson: Let me ask you this. Is there a business or a nonprofit organization in Chester County that more folks should know about?

Jason Feller: How many can I list?

Erik Gudmundson: Only one. There must be only one.

Jason Feller: Only one. Can I list three? Only one. A business or a nonprofit?

Liam Dempsey: You can do one of each. One of each. One nonprofit, one business if you’d like.

Jason Feller: Okay, nonprofit. I would say New London Counseling Center there. They’re based here, right near where I live here in New London, Pennsylvania. Avengro School District. But they support multiple school districts in multiple areas. And their team is just absolutely phenomenal. And they’re providing low-cost mental health assistance to the region and right into our school districts, which need that support. So New London Counseling is kind of near and dear to my heart there.

And then there’s another one who is not a nonprofit is operating as a for-profit. But this sober vet, who is Joe Urich, is running a podcast to highlight the issues that veterans are going through and bring to light through conversation on how people have overcome the alcohol or abuse of drugs in that fashion. And I think he deserves a huge shout-out there.

Liam Dempsey: Well, we’ll be sure to link to both of those organizations, both of those efforts in our show Notes over at startlocal.co. Jason, you’ve talked a lot about your business and how you’ve gone from just getting started, taking on the loan, and then in year two, you were making a covering profit or covering your costs. Excuse me. And now you’re starting to pay yourself. Makes me wonder, are you hiring yet?

Jason Feller: I wish I were hiring full-time for so many positions. I am, I’m going to be holding off for this year on hiring for my trash can cleaning and pressure washing businesses. I’m still at the point where I can cover that myself. I am probably going to be looking into next year to hire some part-time assistants in that process. So the 2026 season, and then I’m looking at a couple of different opportunities. As we talked about earlier, you have to have multiple different ways of generating revenue in your businesses, and I’m looking at another line that I could add onto the Crystal Clean Cans brand there, and potentially will be hiring for this fall and winter season for part-time work. I’m still in the process of determining if it’s the right way for me. As we talked about with entrepreneurs, we gotta identify that risk and verify where that risk is. So, that’s the long answer. The short answer is no, and hopefully, I will be sued.

Erik Gudmundson: So here’s a question I think I know the answer to, but I’m going to ask it anyway. How can the local community support you and your business?

Jason Feller: I might surprise you here, Erik. I have actually been looking for ways to give back to charities and auctions. I am looking for opportunities that I can give back a trash can cleaning because I can’t give a ton of money right now. I can’t give, you know, somebody asked for 100 bucks. I can’t always turn around and give $100, but I can add a service to my route.

So, I’m looking for charities and nonprofits that our, you know, local community supports that I can support as well by adding something to an auction item of trash can cleaning, and also whether or not I’m doing a house or building wash for a charity. And that would be my way of being able to give back where I can’t get back financially right now.

Erik Gudmundson: Well, you’re absolutely right. That’s not the answer I expected. And nevertheless, it’s a fantastic answer. I really enjoy that and appreciate it. And I’m sure the people who just heard that answer will also appreciate it. So thank you.

Jason Feller: Thank you.

Erik Gudmundson: Jason Feller, entrepreneur and owner of Crystal Clean Cans, where can listeners connect with you and learn more about you and your business?

Jason Feller: Heavily on Facebook, facebook.com/CrystalCleanCanz, and that’s canz with a Z. Our website is also www.crystallcleancanz with a z.com, and we’re also on Instagram @crystalcleancanz with a z. I feel like a broken record there, but if you want to email us, our email is infocrystalcleancanz.com, and that cans with a Z.

Erik Gudmundson: I’m not sure is that canz with a Z or with a Z? I think it’s canz with a Z. 

Jason Feller: With a Z or Zeta. However, you want to say yes.

Liam Dempsey: Perfect. Or for our friends in Canada, in the United K, it’s with a zed.

Jason Feller: A zed. Zed.

Erik Gudmundson: Sorry you couldn’t get in your Fortnite, but you had to get in a Zed today, Liam. Thank you. Yeah, I knew it would happen sooner or later.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. Yep. Yeah. You earned your $10 bet today, Erik. Jason, info@crystalcleancanz with a z.com. Is that where nonprofits would email you to let you know that they might be interested in taking up your generous offer for auctions and the like?

Jason Feller: That would be the best place to contact me. Sometimes it takes me a little time during the busy season to reply, but I will definitely get back to you.

Liam Dempsey: Awesome. Thanks so much for being here today. Really enjoyed our conversation.

Jason Feller: This has been a great time. Thank you so much for having me on.

Erik Gudmundson: The Start Local podcast is published every two weeks or fortnightly, as Liam likes to say. We invite you to subscribe to Start Local using your favorite podcast app or ask your smart speaker to play the Start Local podcast. You can also visit the Start Local website at startlocal.co. With no Z’s for show notes, including links mentioned on this show and summaries of past episodes.

We hope you can join us for the next episode. Thank you for listening.