This told essay is based on a conversation with Brian Winch, founder of Clean Lots. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
As a child, I watched my parents work hard to put food on the table. What we would now call a few side jobs was just a way of life back then. They go to second and even third jobs to make sure we have enough to eat.
As one of three boys, we found ourselves helping out once they became teenagers. So it wasn’t a surprise when my dad told me he was going out at dawn to pick up trash in the company parking lot.
Kids today may hate all of this, but I wasn’t raised that way. My parents never complained about their situation as poor, working class people doing what they had to do. And I never hated it. In fact, I found it peaceful to wake up early, watch the sunrise, and help business owners clean up their parking lots so that they look fresh and clean when customers arrive.
Even better, I was with my dad, who most 12-year-olds love dearly.
My father inspired me to start a simple business.
My father’s name was Joseph Winch, and he was a refugee immigrant from Poland to Calgary, where I grew up, during World War II. When he came here, he worked on the slaughter floor of a meat processing plant. He was laying railroad tracks. He was an orderly at the hospital.
When I was 21 years old, my father passed away suddenly. I didn’t have time to tell him that while my friends moved on to other careers, I was secretly thinking about following in his footsteps.
Despite my deep sadness, I was determined to make my own way and started contacting properties that offered cleaning services. I founded Winch Janitorial Services, which later became Winch Enterprises.
I currently run Clean Lots, where I am also an author and educate others about what I call “America’s Simplest Business.” In a technology-driven world, a world that is immune to artificial intelligence, there are currently no robots that truly scan an entire property looking for every tiny cigarette butt in the bushes and hard-to-reach places.
Nearly 45 years later, I am not only proud of the career I have built to help others, but grateful that I pursued my father’s legacy over other career options.
My family also works with me
A few years into my job as a janitor, where I made sure to remove every last piece of trash from the bushes and the owners knew if new graffiti had been added to the building overnight, my two twin brothers also started getting involved.
Both of them cooperated by utilizing their respective special skills. One person operating the forklift helped with cleaning, while the other focused on bidding and supporting the project.
This has grown to over $700,000 per year. Working with the brothers went better than some expected. In fact, that’s what keeps the family together over the years.
But the one family member I felt walking with was my father. Some days I can feel his presence in the parking lot right next to me.
I even heard him saying in my head, “Brian, take a few steps over there.” One day, I followed the voice and found my wallet. At first I thought there was something wrong with me, but that day I realized how real it was.
I want to help others achieve the same success with simple businesses.
After building my career, I realized that I wanted to mentor others through building their own businesses in this industry.
A high school teacher in Chicago started a business to make money over the summer, partnered with a few friends, and grew it to include multiple states.
Through these stories, I realized that my father’s legacy, and now my own, was never about trash. It was about service to others.