Opportunity at the Curb | The Entrepreneurial Journey

Ethan Hardinger built a business around something nobody wanted to touch. After starting his career in luxury real estate, Ethan realized he was hunting every deal just to get paid. Big checks, yes. Stability, no. What he wanted was a “chicken” that laid eggs. Recurring revenue. Predictable income. Something that worked while he slept . That search led him to an overlooked opportunity sitting in plain sight: filthy residential trash bins. Today, Ethan is the Founder and CEO of Bubble Binz, a residential trash bin cleaning company with over 35,000 subscription customers and a rapidly expanding franchise model. What started as a side experiment has evolved into a scalable, tech-enabled service business, powered by proprietary software, custom-built trucks, and a system designed for operational excellence. In this episode, Ethan and Dave dig into: • The moment he realized recurring revenue beats one-time commissions • How he validated a “weird” idea before going all in • Why niche service businesses can outperform flashy startups • Building proprietary tech to streamline thousands of stops • Franchising the system so others can “get in the race car and drive.” • Why customer experience is the ultimate growth strategy Ethan shares the lessons learned from trial and error, building trucks from scratch, investing heavily in software, and obsessing over customer service in an unglamorous industry.