Teens put elbow grease to use in entrepreneurial endeavor

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While their friends toil at stable minimum wage jobs this summer, Brookfield teenagers Greg Smith and Kevin Reardon took the entrepreneurial route, speculating that their start-up, yard waste removal business would be more lucrative.

So far, the pair's gamble is paying off. Since launching Two Boys and a Trailer in May, Greg said, business has doubled, up from 10 customers the first week, to a current high of 20.

"Through word of mouth and the advertising fliers we've distributed, business has really been catching on lately, and everyone we do work for says they don't know what they'd do without us," said Greg, who hit upon the idea for Two Boys and a Trailer when he accompanied his father to the Brookfield Recycling Center one day last year and noticed a number of residents struggling to remove debris from their cars. "We make it easy for them; all they have to do is leave the yard waste on the curb or driveway, and we take care of the rest."

The 16-year-olds do so with the aid of Greg's trailer and Kevin's family car, hauling loads of brush to the recycling center three days a week.

Initially, the juniors-to-be at Marquette University High School believed that the primary market for their services would be senior citizens or others who are physically unable to haul their yard waste away. Instead, Kevin said, Two Boys and a Trailer has drawn customers from every demographic.

"All sorts of people have hired us, from retirees to people with small cars to professionals who are too busy to make it to the dump regularly," said Kevin, who charges $20 per customer for the first haul and $10 for each subsequent trip to the recycling center. "A lot of our customers don't want the hassle of having to load up the backseat of their cars and get them dirty. We solve that problem for them."

For information on Two Boys and a Trailer, visit TwoBoysAndATrailer.com.

If you would like to suggest a business to be featured in the Business Spotlight, send an email to news@cninow.com or call (262) 446-6643.

JUST THE FACTS

NAME: Two Boys and a Trailer

ADDRESS: 2490 Buckingham Place, Brookfield

PHONE: (414) 779-0843

WEBSITE: http://twoboysandatrailer.com

OWNERS: Greg Smith and Kevin Reardon

INCORPORATED: 2012

TYPE OF BUSINESS: yard waste removal

PEARLS OF WISDOM: "We try to be fast, friendly and reliable."