Making It

The road to success can be paved with junk and dog poop

Mark Rubin composite - Washington Post's Making It (Copyright Keith Barraclough - Keith Barraclough Photography)

Mark Rubin is restless, and that has made him a lot of money.

After spending many years working as a computer consultant around the world, Mark returned to Washington in 2000 to marry his high school sweetheart. Soon he was on the move again.

Mark, 36, and his wife, Claudine, moved to San Francisco to try to find an opportunity in the high-tech field, but Mark decided he was tired of "working for someone else." He wanted to start his own business, and had a few criteria. Among them: a simple service business with no retail location.

The answer was junk. In 2002, Mark and Claudine sold their house in California and paid $170,000 to become the Washington area franchisees of the junk removal service 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, based in Vancouver. So they wouldn't drain their finances too much, the couple and their new baby moved in with Mark's parents in Potomac.

In the first year, sales were $550,000. There's a lot of junk in Washington, Mark says.

The company's revenue doubled the next year, and Mark's salary topped his previous income level as an IT consultant, where he'd made about $130,000 a year. The family moved to Gaithersburg, and as the business grew, Mark focused on efficiency and on technology, such as GPS tracking systems, to help map routes for his trucks.

Then he got bored: "Once you've figured out the game and put the pieces in place, you need a new game."

So he also became a franchisee for DoodyCalls, a local company that cleans dog waste out of people's suburban yards, sending technicians to carefully canvas the terrain with scooper in hand, for $15 to $30 a week. Mark spent $50,000 to start the business early last year, and it was quickly profitable. It's not as big as his first franchise, just a couple of full-time employees, but, "in terms of profit margin, it's a lot more profitable than junk," he says. "The trick is density. You want to get houses that are right next to each other."

Now that his DoodyCalls franchise is running smoothly, Mark is starting yet another venture -- this time his own company. "I always think about how things can be done better," he says. "Once they're better, I have to do something else."

The new business is Just Moulding, which installs wainscoting, chair rail and crown molding in people's homes in a highly automated way that Mark says is less messy, faster and more accurate than traditional carpentry. He hopes to franchise the concept, which may mean it'll hold his interest long-term. "Every time you add a franchisee to the system, that's another challenge" he says.

Meanwhile, Mark is able to spend most of his time at home, overseeing his companies and dreaming up ways to improve them -- or playing with his two daughters, whom he takes to the neighborhood park nearly every day.

"I joke with my friends that my next business will be called keepmykidssafehappyandcleanwhileilose10lbsandhangatstarbucks.com. That would be huge."

Margaret Webb Pressler wants to hear how you're fulfilling your financial ambitions. Her e-mail address is presslerm@washpost.com.