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Welcome back to Niche Riches, your weekly dose of real businesses and side hustles that put extra money in your pocket.

This week, we’re diving into one of the most straightforward services out there: Junk Removal.

It’s sweaty, dirty, and sometimes downright gross, but it pays surprisingly well. Every city, every neighborhood, and every street has people who need stuff gone. I’m talking old couches, broken treadmills, or even boxes from the last move that never got unpacked. It’s a real pain for a lot of folks, most of them are more than happy to pay someone else to deal with it.

With the right hustle and a decent truck, you can turn hauling junk into a steady stream of cash in no time.

Let’s run the quick numbers.

Goal: $3,000/month
At $200 per load, that’s about 15 jobs a month — just four each week.

Goal: $5,000/month
That’s 25 jobs a month, or roughly one every weekday. Easily doable once you’re organized and word starts spreading.

Goal: $8,000+/month
Hauling full-time with a helper or small trailer setup could put you here fast. Add a few commercial cleanouts or estate jobs and you’re looking at $60,000–$80,000 a year, part-time or better.

If this one’s calling your name, here’s how to get moving from day one.

Hop on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or Google Maps and search “junk removal.”
See who’s operating nearby and how they price per truckload, by item, or by time. Understanding pricing is one of the most challenging aspects for a beginner, spend some time sorting this out, you’ll thank me later when you don’t freeze up during your first quote.

Take notes on their photos, truck signage, and service areas. If you notice only big national names, that’s a great sign. Smaller companies are more nimble and can operate in ways that larger organizations can’t, use this to your advantage.

You can go all in from the jump, or dip your toes in first.

Option 1: Truck, trailer, or rental
No truck, no problem! I’ve seen people land jobs, then rent a truck or box truck to get the work done. If you’ve already got a truck or access to a ultility trailer, you’re ready to go day one! Offer simple curbside or garage pickups to get your first few customers.

Option 2: Dump Trailer or Roll-off Dumpsters
If you want to jump in headfirst, this is where the heavy hitters would go! Dump trailers will save you a ton of time and headache when it’s time to offload your haul. Keeping you on the road or at other jobs and not in line at the dump unloading by hand.

Alternatively, you could aim to run rentals from the start. You’ll need a roll-off trailer for this, but then you simply scale out the number of bins available to rent. This is a bit more hands-off in terms of the actual removal, but you’ll likely be spending more time lining up your logistics instead.

Keep it straightforward. Most haulers charge by the truckload:

Start where you are. Post before-and-after photos in local Facebook groups.
Offer a free pickup for a friend in exchange for photos and a testimonial.
Print a few flyers and drop them at storage units, apartment complexes, or moving companies.

Once a few happy customers tag you online, the calls start rolling in.

Show up on time. Sweep the area when you’re done. Take photos of each finished job.

This is messy business, but you don’t need to look it. Show that no matter your job, you take it with the utmost respect and seriousness of providing a great service.

Learn your local dump’s pricing and what materials you can unload for free. Hazardous waste must go to a treatment facility, but many places accept heavy materials like concrete or brick at no charge. Over time, that small detail can save you a fortune in dump fees.

Metal, appliances, and cardboard can often be recycled or scrapped for a few extra bucks.

Every load you divert saves dump fees and pads your profit.

Follow up with customers a few weeks later, ask if they need another pickup or know someone who does. Small touches like texting before you arrive or sending a photo after completion make you look legit and professional.

Happy clients will hand your number out for you. This can be a relational business and not just a transactional one.

Once your phone starts ringing regularly, it’s time to think about how to handle more work without burning out.

Track every job you do. Write down how long it took, what you earned, and what the dump fees were. You’ll start to see patterns in which neighborhoods and jobs are most profitable. Focus your efforts there.

Bring on a helper when it makes sense so you can double your daily jobs or take on larger cleanouts. When you’re ready, add another truck or trailer and run two routes at once.

From there, you can branch into bigger opportunities like estate cleanouts, garage demolitions, or light construction debris removal. The same basic skills apply, but the pay gets better.

Keep your systems tight, treat every customer like they’ll refer the next one, and this simple hauling gig can turn into a real business faster than you think.

If there’s one business that always feels wide open, it’s junk removal. I’ve done this kind of work before, the hands-on, in-the-dirt version, and it’s one of those hustles that can be as small or as big as you want it to be.

Some people keep it simple. Just them, a pickup, and a few straps. They spend their weekends cleaning out garages, hauling old couches, and pocketing a few hundred bucks a job. It’s fast money and honest work.

But then there’s the other side of it, the business side. The people who start thinking bigger. They buy another truck, rent out a trailer, and build a small crew. Before long, they are booking multiple jobs a day without touching a single bag of junk themselves. That’s the part that interests me now.

If I were to get back into it, that’s the direction I’d take. I’d focus on systems, branding, and fleet rentals instead of the lifting. There’s something appealing about building a machine that runs whether you are on site or not.

What makes junk removal so interesting is that it fits almost anyone’s skill level or strategy. You can start small with minimal gear and learn as you go, or you can come in with business experience and scale quickly. It’s one of those rare businesses that rewards both muscle and mindset.

At its core, this is a business built on solving a universal problem. Everyone has junk, and nobody wants to deal with it. Step in with a little hustle and some organization, and you can turn that problem into a real income stream.

It’s dirty work, but it’s real work, and that’s the kind that tends to pay off the most.

Come back for the next one! Sign up here for free.

What side hustle should I try or research next? Let me know.