We recently connected with Daniel Rust and have shared our conversation below.

Daniel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, let’s start with a hypothetical – what would you change about the educational system?

I think modern education is obsessed with the idea of following your passions. And there is a general disdain for career paths in muscle work, trades, or working with your hands.

I originally chose a life in theatre. Which while fulfilling in many ways, was not especially profitable. Life was hard being poor.

I had always been involved in construction trades as side jobs, and had always been able to do quite well for myself there. It was only by chance when I was really in need of cash that I took a full time position with a duct cleaning company.

I excelled at the work, and soon became foreman of one of the crews. In time I was making a top salary as a technician, enough I was able to buy a ring for my future wife and really think about raising a family. Now we have 2 wonderful kids and my own duct cleaning company. My labor enables 3 people to thrive and grow, with many opportunities. And that is really satisfying.

Now, probably not many duct cleaners will tell you they just love crawling through dirty air conditioning ducts. But those of us who have really achieved competence in the trade will tell you that there is always a great satisfaction with performing a job well, and doing something that really benefits the lives of the clients we serve.

It’s the same with plumbers and chicken farmers. These are not jobs of passion. But they are jobs which can be really rewarding once you are competent. Where would you be without a good plumber, or eggs to buy at the store? You actually really count on the people who choose those professions, and probably get pretty thankful for the guy who shows up to stop the leak in your roof. We should be encouraging more people to consider working with their hands and learning a valuable trade. It may not be something you feel passionate about at first, but it will become something to have pride in your work once you achieve competence. Don’t underestimate how good it feels to be good at what you do.

I think it was Thomas Sowell who said something about the secret to wealth was learning a skill that people will pay you a lot of money to perform. Trades, muscle work, and working with your hands are in need. And these skills will only increase in value as Artificial Intelligence replaces many other creative and administrative positions.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have always been involved in construction trades, mostly as side jobs. I slid into duct cleaning around the 2008 recession. It turns out duct cleaning survived the 2008 real estate bust and the Covid decimation of whole industries. I was very fortunate to have the job I did, and stuck with it ever since.

Duct cleaning is primarily concerned with keeping the insides of air conditioning systems free of dust and contaminants, so that the air you breathe is clean. For residential applications I do a lot of work improving indoor air quality for allergies and medical sensitivities. I also clean out dryer vent ducts for fire safety. When lint builds up in long dryer ducts it can dry out and sometimes catch fire. You know your dryer duct needs cleaning when you start having to dry your clothes more than once to get all the dampness out. There is too much lint in the duct which isn’t letting the moisture escape outside.

For commercial applications I clean a lot of office spaces. I also do regular cleanings for schools and civic buildings who run their systems 24 hours a day. I also do work in high wind or desert areas where particulate and sand get sucked into the AC, and start getting blown out the registers.

A large part of my work is for industrial systems such as exhausts in welding factories which suffer from deposits of metal dust. Or large scale hotel laundry dryer which cleans hundreds of pounds worth of sheets and towels per day. At one facility that services four large hotels I routinely pull out 50 gallons of dryer lint each month for fire safety. I also clean large scale HVAC systems which service huge warehouse buildings.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I had reached the pay ceiling as a technician, and with 13 years in the industry my next step was clearly to get a contractors license and open my own business.

I needed to raise several thousand dollars in order to get the company established, get the license, become insured and start promoting. The larger barrier was that there would be a slow runway building up a client list, so I would need to keep my job for a while until I built up my business on the side. Once I had contracts enough to replace my income I could switch over to my own company full time.

I decided to talk with my boss about my plans. Needless to say I was an essential part of his own operations. I basically ran all jobs from start to finish, trained our technicians, kept our machinery in good operation, and handled any complaints. I wanted to frame the creation of my own business as an opportunity for him, rather than as a loss. I wanted to provide him a smooth and predictable transition which included training the next foreman to replace me, training the technicians who would take over my recurring jobs, and in general helping to prepare his business for a seamless transition with no loss of revenue on his side. In return he helped me edit my proposals, advise me with competitive pricing, coach me on certifications and insurances I would need to obtain and help me along. He would also allow me increasing freedom to insert my own jobs into the schedule until I was on my own.

In order to make my business an opportunity for him we came to an agreement about spheres of interest. I wouldn’t impinge on his clients, and he would not pursue any clients I put under contract. But the point which really won him over was that I would be bidding on larger jobs than I myself could deliver. When I got these lucrative contracts I would subcontract him for the additional labor. It was fantastic because we would all still make money, and I would know that the guys showing up for my jobs had all been personally trained by me so the quality would be up to my standards. In essence I became effectively a remote marketing arm for his company for a short time. Eventually I will train and field my own crew, but there are always jobs in duct cleaning where they want a huge number of guys showing up to finish it up quick. So in that way I would still regularly be tapping my boss for his crews on the big projects.

Granted, for something like this to work you really have to have some trust in each other, and confidence in the character of the other man. This way allowed me to be forthright about my activities with my boss, and not feel like I had to be secretive or underhanded about going off on my own. And I expect a strong partnership into the future as he and I subcontract each other to share labor pools when the job is big or the schedule gets too packed, or he just needs an experienced guy for a tricky project. This is how I was able to both fund and build my business until it was ready to be self-sustaining.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

This has been the most difficult part of building my company. I can complete any job duct cleaning has to offer, but finding the clients was always going to be the make / break point.

At first I promoted out to a ton of general contractors, then promoted to various state municipalities, school districts, and maintenance facilities. It was a huge amount of time trying to get my name out, with very few incoming calls to show for it.

Things started to change when I realized there were plenty of online exchanges where you would register your particular trade, and then be invited to bid once a project was listed which called for your particular skills. I really don’t do much residential work, so a platform like Yelp was the wrong audience. But platforms like Blue Book and OpenGov had a number of projects to bid on, and have been a lucrative source for opportunities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rustduct.com
• Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/rustductcorp
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Rust-Industrial-Duct-Cleaning-Corp/61556772383766/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rust-industrial-duct-cleaning-irvine

Image Credits

Daniel Rust