Sawyer Stallard, Dante Thomas and Beckett Stallard operate ThePoopBrothers.
One of Del Ray’s newest businesses is ThePoopBrothers. Nope, that’s not a joke.
Even founding members Sawyer Stallard, 14, Beckett Stallard, 13, and Dante Thomas, 14, all thought it was when the idea of getting paid to pick up dog poop was Sawyer's father pitched it to him.
“I wanted to do something where I could make a bit of money, and he brought up the idea of picking up poop because nobody else was doing it,” Sawyer said. “And at first I thought it was a joke.”
“Of course, you don’t have to do it. But if you really want to make money, I bet you could make $50 a day without even blinking,” Sawyer’s dad, Morgan Stallard, told him.
After coming up the business plan with his brother Beckett, Sawyer also brought on his friend Dante. They launched their website at poopbrothers.com the last week of August. With Sawyer is serving as president, Dante as “Boss Man” and Beckett as "Other Boss," ThePoopBrothers business was born. For $10, ThePoopBrothers will come to your residence once a week to pick-up after your pooch.
Within two weeks they have five customers, 3,000 page views, and people are recognizing them on the street.
“A couple of days ago when we were going to our first house, it felt so good, someone drove by and rolled down their windows and was like, ‘Yo, what’s up Poop Brothers!’” Sawyer said. The boys feel a bit like local celebrities.
Even with only a couple weeks of experience, they are quickly picking up key techniques for removing poop.
“You just have to look directly in front of your feet,” Beckett suggested to prevent stepping in poop. Especially when searching for poop in yards with mulch or long grass. Luckily none of them have stepped in poop yet. It is also important to use the correct bag.
“Definitely not a bag with a hole in it!” Dante said. Beckett has already fallen victim to a faulty bag. All of them now all check for bags without holes.
It would be fair to say their money is well earned. When asked what the biggest challenge of the job they yelled almost in unison: “the stench!”
How do they plan on spending the money they earn?
“Dante’s probably going to spend it on some miscellaneous thing that’ll last him like a couple of days,” Sawyer answered, teasing Dante.
“No!” Dante said in protest at first, before following with, “Actually, I probably would.”
Sawyer and Beckett have some longer-term ideas of saving for travel and investing. Beckett already owns stock.
While currently operating locally in Del Ray, Beckett says they plan on expanding their services to areas like Old Town that they can reach by bike. They do plan to continue the business year-round, but they don’t plan on doing it forever.
“I kinda want to do this till I get a better job,” Sawyer said. “But it feels like a fun way to make money.”
If you would like ThePoopBrothers to clean up after your dog or are just looking for a good laugh, head to their website here.
