Bullied boy builds self-esteem by starting bin-cleaning business
Armed with a pressure washer, enzyme cleaner and a roster of loyal customers, Blayde Day is working towards a dream, one wheelie bin at a time.
The 12-year-old student who lives in Tom Price, nearly 1,500 kilometres north of Perth, was being bullied and lacked self-confidence a year ago.
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“My mum and dad decided enough was enough. They sat me down and we decided to set some goals and change my mindset,”
he said.
Despite being half a decade away from getting his drivers licence, Blayde decided he wanted to save up for a Ford XB Coupe to restore with his dad.
But with prices for the classic car beginning at $40,000, Blayde came up with a plan.
He saw a gap in the local market and decided to start a business doing the job no-one else wanted to do.
Cleaning wheelie bins.
“I told my mum about the idea I came up with and she helped me put the ideas together and designed it in Canva and we came up with this really cool logo,” Blayde said.
One year on, business is booming.
“I work every Wednesday and Thursday after school … and on the weekends,” he said.
“I roughly do about 10 to 15 bins a week.”
The young business owner is giving back to the community. (Supplied: Kieren Day)
It’s a smelly business
Blayde said some of the bins were gross but the work was part of being a business owner.
“Sometimes you have to do all the hard work to reach your goals,”
he said.
Blayde said he had discovered that sometimes he had to spend money to make money.
“I have spent a bit of money lately for a new pressure washer due to a really bad storm … which caused water damage to my pressure washer,” he said.
Giving back
Blayde’s mum, Kieran Day, said her son had so many requests for bin cleaning he decided to give back to the local community by sponsoring the Tom Price drive-in cinema.
Blayde Day has been cleaning wheelie bins in Tom Price. (Supplied: Kieran Day.)
“He’s met his quarterly budget and the extra he has put back into the community,” she said.
Despite the demand, he said he was still a long way off purchasing that dream car.
“My dad said my dream car is going to cost around $40,000 and that’s just for the shell,” he said.
“That’s roughly around 2,000 bins.“
But Blayde said the biggest impact the business had was on himself.
“I was bullied and had no self-confidence,” he said.
“Everything’s gone to plan and I’ve been really good for this last couple of months.“