Massachusetts brothers started junk-removal business as teenagers with $4,000 pickup truck; it made $3.04 million in 2025 & now targets $5 million in revenue in 2026

What started with a teenage trip to a local dump has turned into a multimillion-dollar business for Massachusetts brothers Kirk and Jacob McKinney.

The brothers founded Junk Teens in February 2021 in Norwood, Massachusetts, after discovering that there was money to be made from removing unwanted items and reselling things that others had thrown away.

Kirk was 17 when the business began, while Jacob was a high school freshman. Four years later, Junk Teens generated $3.04 million in revenue in 2025, according to CNBC.


The brothers are now targeting $5 million in annual revenue by the end of 2026.

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How a trip to the dump inspired Junk Teens

The idea for Junk Teens began when Kirk was a teenager and came across a pair of working speakers at a local dump during a bike ride.

The discovery sparked his interest in finding unwanted items that could be reused or resold. He started regularly visiting dumps and selling items through Facebook Marketplace.

“I was hooked. I just kept going back to the dump and, eventually, my bedroom looked like a mini hoarder’s house,” Kirk told CNBC.

His hobby eventually exposed him to another opportunity. Kirk met people at the dump who were willing to pay teenagers to clear unwanted items from their homes.

He decided to leave his grocery store job and asked his younger brother Jacob to join him.

Brothers bought a $4,000 Ford F-150

The brothers invested $4,000 of their own money to purchase a used 2006 Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Initially, they did not have a clear plan to build a large company. They continued taking on other work, including landscaping and moving jobs.

Over time, however, junk removal and reselling became the work they enjoyed most and found more profitable.

Jacob recalled that they did not initially set out with the intention of creating a major business.

Junk Teens grew from one pickup truck to five dump trucks

The business gradually expanded as customers became interested in the brothers' approach to junk removal.

Instead of simply throwing everything away, Junk Teens also looked for items that could be repurposed, donated or resold.

The company now operates five dump trucks from two locations in eastern Massachusetts, serving areas including Boston and Cape Cod.

Junk Teens completed more than 5,500 jobs in 2025, with most involving residential and commercial junk removal.

The brothers generally charge between $300 and $600 per job, depending on the amount of junk and the service required.

Junk Teens made $3.04 million in 2025

Junk Teens generated $3.04 million in revenue in 2025, marking a significant increase from the previous year.

The company had already crossed $1.2 million in revenue in 2024, when Jacob was still in high school.

“Being a seven-figure business-owner in high school felt pretty crazy,” Jacob said.

The brothers said the company more than doubled its annual revenue in 2025, while its annual profit also nearly doubled.

They now spend most of their time on administration, marketing and strategy rather than carrying out junk-removal jobs themselves.

How many people work at Junk Teens?

Junk Teens has 10 full-time employees and around 10 to 15 part-time workers.

Many of its employees are high school students, college students or people taking gap years.

The brothers plan to add two more dump trucks later in 2026 as they continue expanding the business.

Kirk and Jacob also study entrepreneurship at Babson College while managing Junk Teens.

In 2025, the brothers each paid themselves salaries in the low-to-mid six figures. They used some of that income towards their college tuition, while their parents covered the remaining costs.

Brothers learnt business from their parents

Kirk and Jacob had an early introduction to entrepreneurship because their parents operate a local tree service company.

Kirk said growing up around the family business helped them understand areas such as administration and bookkeeping.

The brothers also turned to YouTube when they needed practical guidance on launching their own company.

They searched for information on starting a junk-removal business and learnt about setting up the legal structure, managing finances and setting aside money for taxes.

Junk Teens now has over 400,000 social media followers

The brothers eventually began sharing their own experiences online.

Junk Teens posts instructional videos covering topics such as negotiating prices and deciding whether unwanted items should be thrown away, donated or resold.

The company's combined following on Instagram and TikTok has now crossed 400,000.

Social media has become another part of the company's growth strategy, helping the brothers showcase their work and share lessons from running the business.

How the brothers ran a business while in school

Running a growing company while completing school was another challenge for Kirk and Jacob.

In the early days, they worked around their classes, sometimes completing only one or two jobs a week after school or at weekends.

As the workload increased, they brought friends into the business and reorganised their schedules.

Jacob even negotiated a midday block of free time with his guidance counsellor during his senior year because some local dumps were open only during school hours.

The brothers sometimes parked their dump truck in the school car park and occasionally had to explain their late arrivals to teachers.

Junk Teens rented its first warehouse in 2023

The company's rapid growth eventually created a storage problem.

During its early years, the brothers kept their equipment and inventory at their parents' home. Their first dump truck and pickup were parked in the driveway, while electronics, appliances, furniture and bicycles were stored under a tarp.

Kirk joked that their parents were not pleased with the arrangement.

In March 2023, Junk Teens moved into rented warehouse space, paying $1,450 a month.

Brothers target $5 million revenue in 2026

Junk Teens continued expanding in 2025 by introducing marketing software, promoting employees into leadership positions and opening its second location in the Cape Cod area.

The brothers are now aiming to expand throughout Massachusetts before eventually moving into other parts of the US East Coast.

Their immediate goal is to reach $5 million in annual revenue by the end of 2026.

They have also considered franchising the company, bringing in outside investors or selling the business in the future, although the brothers say none of those options is part of their immediate plans.

Why Kirk McKinney stayed in college

Despite the rapid growth of Junk Teens, balancing college and business has not always been easy.

Kirk said he has considered leaving college three times to concentrate on the company full-time. However, he ultimately decided to continue his education.

He said college had taught him lessons beyond running a business, particularly around social and communication skills.

“College has taught me things that business never will,” Kirk said, adding that life is not solely about making money or building a successful company.

For the McKinney brothers, Junk Teens has grown from a teenage side hustle built around a $4,000 pickup truck into a business generating millions of dollars in annual revenue. With a second location already operational and a $5 million revenue target for 2026, the brothers are now looking to take the company beyond their home state.


Inputs from agencies