By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – David Murphy is back on the farm—sort of.
Murphy grew up on the farm owned and operated by his father in north Mississippi. When he graduated from high school, he fully expected to do one thing with his life.
“I was going to be a farmer—there was no doubt,” he said.
But after heading off to college he realized there were a lot more opportunities out there and his father led the way in encouraging him to find the thing he most wanted to do.
In the end he graduated from Ole Miss with an accounting degree, because he knew it would help him the most in going into the business world.
“I did spend some time right out of college with an accounting job, but eventually it wasn’t right for me. I’ve always wanted to be involved in business, and especially to have my own small business back in a small town,” he said.
Even though Murphy never returned to his father’s farm to work there—he and his brother still own the farm and lease it out—he is back “on the farm” in another way in that Murphy recently picked St. Tammany Parish as the area for him to start his first business.
“Bin There Dump That” opened in May of 2015 after Murphy spent months analyzing different businesses, investigating the pluses and minuses of many possible business opportunities, and finally talking to other business owners in this field.
In the end, he decided the Bin There Dump That business offered a multitude of opportunities. They are now in their fourth month operating the residential friendly dumpster business that caters to homeowners and renovation contractors facing many different needs for a small or large dumpster, not to mention the construction dumpsters his company also offers.
“When I first started thinking about going into business for myself I knew I wanted to be in a small town and work directly with the people here, much like where I grew up,” he said.
Murphy admits “I was skeptical of franchises at first and didn’t think I would ever end up buying into one.”
But as he researched and investigated many business ideas, the Bin There Dump That business appealed to him more-and-more.
“The more I looked at it, I realized they offered something so many people needed, and most areas did not offer quite what we have,” he said.
The difference in Bin There Dump That, compared to other dumpster businesses, is that Murphy’s company specializes in residential dumpsters—five different sizes of them—and he works one-on-one with the client to figure out exactly what is right for them. Bin There Dump That also caters the dumpsters to fit in the space available at the home and uses a driveway protection system to prevent damage to homeowner property.
He said he can help people who are downsizing a home, moving, getting rid of loads of things from the attic, landscaping and pulling up old plants, cleaning up trash at their home, or renovating their homes.
“We are very focused on the residential market, and we specialize in that area,” Murphy explained. “We work with the user to find out what works for them, and we’re flexible on rental days and other things. We want to help them do the job as easily and economically as possible.”
Murphy said the response to his local business has been “so wonderful. The people in this area have been so helpful to us and it’s been such a pleasant experience. It has really exceeded our expectations.”
Murphy graduated from college in 1986 and spent nearly 25 years working in the corporate world, having tremendous success with some top international firms such as Arthur Anderson and others. Eventually he landed with the Wood Group, an international oil and gas services company. He went from Chief Financial Officer to Vice President, and was zooming around the world handling big deals from one continent to the other.
But his small town roots began calling shortly after 2010 and he began considering his own small business.
“I knew I could start something from scratch, buy a business or buy into a franchise,” he said. “I knew right away I didn’t want to own a restaurant or any kind of food services business, so that ended the majority of franchises. But Bin There Dump That kept coming up and the more I looked at them, the more I liked what they offered.”
He talked to other franchise owners around the country and heard nothing but positive reviews.
“They spoke well of the franchise, and the people with the company were very honest in what they told me to expect, not to mention how helpful they have been in getting me started,” he said. “After four months I really know I picked the right business—the experience with the people in this area has been wonderful.”
Bin There Dump That can serve the entire Southeast Louisiana region, from Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi state line.]
For more information on Bin There Dump That, contact Murphy at 985-327-7644 or go online to geauxdumpsters.com.