#184: Inside Crime Scene & Hoarding Cleanup, with Alex Philbrick

⚠️ Content advisory: This episode includes discussion of suicide, death, violent crime, and blood cleanup. Listener discretion is advised.

 

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US). Outside the US, visit findahelpline.com.

 

Blood cleanup, unattended deaths, violent crime scenes, houses packed floor to ceiling, and more. This is the part of the industry that most of us never see. In this episode, Stephanie sits down with Alex Philbrick, owner and operator of T.A.C.T. Central Arkansas, a franchise that does biohazard remediation and hoarding cleanouts, to talk about what it takes to run a business built on the jobs nobody else wants. Alex shares how he went from buying and selling sports cards to taking over the franchise in 2023. He covers how he prices hoarding and bio jobs, how he staffs one-time jobs with independent contractors, how insurance billing works for trauma cleanup, and more!

 

📌 What You'll Learn

- How hoarding cleanouts are priced, and why dumpsters are the highest cost

- Why a $2,200 to $2,700 day rate is a useful starting point for estimating hoarding jobs

- How homeowner's insurance billing works for biohazard cleanup, and what documentation to send

- How to pay independent contractors fairly when a job's value doesn't match the hours worked

- Why the franchise route makes sense for a niche like trauma cleanup

- How residential cleaning companies can partner with biohazard and hoarding specialists on deep cleans after a cleanout

- How to run a hoarding cleanout like an assembly line, and why a good relationship with a local dumpster company matters so much

- The heat exhaustion lesson that changed how Alex handles safety in hazmat suits

- How asking "what range were you looking to be in?" helps you win jobs and fine tune your pricing

- Why being local and answering your own phone wins bids over bigger companies

 

Resources Mentioned

- T.A.C.T. Central Arkansas: tactcentralarkansas.com

- T.A.C.T. Central Arkansas on Facebook: facebook.com/TACT-247-Emergency-Biohazard-Decontamination-Service-103126401915515

 

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