We had the good fortune of connecting with Colton McKey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Colton, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
From day 1 after graduating college I had always wanted to own my own business, but just got sucked into the comforts of “Corporate America”. Comforts meaning a predicable salary, great benefits, paid time off, stock options, bonuses, etc. Don’t get me wrong, I value the experiences during my 10 year career in corporate Operations/Manufacturing, but looking back I wish I had taken the leap into entrepreneurship sooner. After those 10 years of climbing the corporate ladder from a Manufacturing Supervisor at Texas Instruments all the way to the Chief Operations Officer of Ultravision LED Solutions, I finally felt like it was the right time to dive into entrepreneurship head first. The mindset shift ultimately came by finally being able to clearly see that if I put the same amount of time and effort into my own business that I did into running someone else’s, that I’d have a pretty good shot at succeeding.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think what sets me apart is that I spent 10 years honing my operational skills with multiple highly regarded companies (Texas Instruments, Dentsply Sirona, Ericsson). I would have loved to start a business right out of college, but if I’m being honest, I probably wasn’t ready. Those 10 years have given me the experience of day to day operations and what it’s like to be in the trenches. I’ve also had the opportunity to scale several manufacturing operations at a high level as a Director of Operations and Chief Operating Officer. I can now take what worked from those experiences and implement them in my own businesses. I can also more easily spot the landmines and try to avoid them as best as possible.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a big sports fan so I think a must would be to hit up a Cowboy’s game and to take in all that area has to offer. From there I think an evening out at Legacy West in Frisco would be time well spent. To start we’d have to make a stop by Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse to fill up with some fine dining. After that, I’d suggest walking down to Legacy Hall for a few drinks and to take in some live music. Back to sports, I’d also want to have a Mavericks game on the schedule.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Several years ago when I started to get serious about transitioning into entrepreneurship as a career path, I stumbled across Nick Loper’s Side Hustle Nation and his podcast, The Side Hustle Show. My initial plan was to develop a side hustle that would supplement my W-2 salary and then make the leap once that happened. I would binge on The Side Hustle Show to and from work, soaking up everything I could about how these entrepreneurs found success. I used this knowledge to build a couple of e-commerce websites that I sold for a small amount. During this time I started to realize that while the side hustle strategy was a less risky route into entrepreneurship, I was at a point in my life and career where I wanted to accelerate the process. This is when I came across the whole “ETA” (Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition) ecosystem. My introduction to ETA was originally made by reading Walker Deibel’s book, “Buy Then Build”. This book, and a few others in the genre, gave me the confidence to go full time into seeking a business to purchase. About 3 months into the search to buy a business is when I came across trash bin cleaning. It was just too good of a business concept to pass up. I talked to a few trash bin cleaning businesses around DFW to see if they’d be willing to sell, and none of them were at that time. So, I changed paths again and went into startup mode to create Bin There.

Website: www.bintheretx.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bintheretx/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bin-there/?viewAsMember=true

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BinThereTX

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BinThereTX/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bin-there-trash-can-cleaning-prosper-5

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAM7X9hs0WLPDgJovN72_WQ

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.