Today we’d like to introduce you to Pete Delgado.
Hi Pete, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In 2012 our household income was cut in half due to my wife giving birth and becoming a stay-at-home mom to our two children. I would spend my evenings after working my 8-5pm job looking for part-time work on craigslist. In June of that year, I came across an ad from a Valet Trash company looking for someone to help collect trash bags at an apartment complex in the evenings. I replied to that post and after a few days, I received a call to come out and work. I was skeptical at first since I had never personally heard of that line of work, but I said yes and went to work!
Not knowing what to expect, I showed up that hot June evening in a long sleeve shirt, jeans, and work boots! Little did I know I would be required to going up and down stairs multiple times collecting trash bags and flattened boxes. After work, I went home and told my wife, “I will never do that type of work again!” The following day I received a call again asking if I would like to work that night and I said yes! My wife said, “I thought you weren’t going to go again if you were called! At this point, I had no choice! I had to make money somehow to get us through the next few days. I kept going for about two weeks until I got an official offer to be hired in the evenings for my own trash route. I accepted the job as well as the pay raise! I was excited to be able to provide for my family and this was the break we needed to help ends meet!
As time went on, I went ahead and purchased a truck to help with the work we were doing. There came a time that layoffs were necessary within the company. I was only able to keep my position due to the quality of service I provided as well as having my own truck. Eventually, my wife started helping me work my trash route and we were able to finish our work faster and add more routes to our workload, which led to us making more money!
In 2015 the owner of BenCo, Ben was selling his business to pursue other business ventures. I brought up the idea of my wife and I buying the business from him. I asked him to work with me on a few things to make this doable. I asked him to owner finance his business to me. I offered to cash out my 401k and give it to him as a down payment and make monthly payments. I’m sure he thought I was crazy for asking this of him, but he said he would think about it. He had other offers on the table already. Before we hung up, I reminded him of the many times I did extra jobs for him and never told him no. I was always loyal and represented his business in a very professional manner. I also assured him that other companies would just acquire his business and add it to their portfolio. I was determined to carry out the integrity of BenCo and all the hard work he had put into his business and continue to keep the culture he created and carry it forward as I grow!
A few days went by, and he accepted my offer! Only because he knew I would keep my word and he would like to see his business grow in the right hands! I officially became a business owner in 2016! As luck would have it, I went nine months without any growth. September came and I finally landed my own contract through BenCo. Since then, my wife and I have grown the business and quadrupled the number of contracts! We are projected to grow even more by the end of this year 2022! Getting to this point has not been easy! Many of our friends and family acknowledge our business and its growth, however no one truly knows the blood, sweat and tears it has taken from my wife and I to build this Valet Trash business into the successful company that it is today!
Being a dad, husband and business owner is a hard job! The benefit of being able to provide for my family is all well worth it! I would not change it for anything in the world! My one hope is that I have instilled in my family that hard work, dedication, and faith will pay off and will continue to pay off if you put the effort into it!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It most definitely has not been a smooth road! I have hired numerous friends and family members in the past. The hardest part has been having to terminate a few of these individuals due to the lack of completing the job duties they were hired to do.
There have been many times that we have a team unable to make it to work at the last minute. That leaves me to make trips between Dallas, Austin and sometimes San Antonio with no notice! I would make those long trips only to make the trip back home the same night so that I could be back at work the next morning.
Our biggest struggle came during the pandemic and closure of the economy in 2020. ALOT of our workers resigned due to the fear of contracting COVID-19. This put a strain on us physically and mentally! The uncertainty of the world at the time was stressful but we managed. We stepped in where we needed to and made sure the quality of our work was not affected. There were many days that we would leave to work at 6pm and not return until 6am the next morning! We managed to take naps in between juggling our kids, virtual learning, emails, phone calls and everything else that it takes to run a business!
Although it was not easy, we managed to find a way to make it work until we could hire more people and make sure they were able to carry out the work the way it needed to be done.
As you know, we’re big fans of BenCo Valet Trash Service. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a Valet Trash Service with more than a decade of experience in the industry! We are family-owned and operated. BenCo specializes in waste removal and recycling services. We truly care about the environment and how we treat it! We take it upon ourselves to stay current with each cities recycling guidelines and requirements. We strive for excellence and perfection!
We pride ourselves on not being a cookie-cutter business. We meet the demand of each individual property and management company! BenCo is most proud of its reputation of being the friendliest and most responsive Valet Trash Company in the industry! We have all worked very hard to remain competitive with our pricing and quality service!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I listen to a lot of Audibles from Amazon since I am always on the road and always working. Tony Robins is one of my favorites as well as many self-improvement audible books.
Contact Info:
- Email: Info@bencotexas.com
- Website: www.bencotexas.com
- Instagram: BenCo Valet Trash Service
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bencovalettrashservice
Image Credits
Nina Delgado – She is my wife Sylas – Son Little Petek – Son Ava – Daughter
Micaiah shearer
May 2, 2022 at 5:26 am
I just love the message and the story I read it was heartfelt and had a lot of good strong meaning behind it we need more people like this I’m happy to say I know him personally and everything that was said was true I’ve never seen anybody work harder had something like he has when it comes to his family and work as well as his wife and his children cuz they’re out there too thank you for the story