How Selling Pest Control With My High School Buddy Turned Into My Own Company

I’m Christian. I’ve known David since high school.

Back then we were just idiots hanging out after class. A few years later he calls me about this “door to door pest control thing” and says, “Dude, you’d do really well at this.”

I’d always been interested in business, wanted to make good money in the summer, and didn’t want another dead end part time roll. So I said screw it, I’m in.

Four summers later I’d:

-Done a little over 125k in revenue my first year

-Averaged around 200–250k in revenue each summer after

-Moved to Arkansas and started my own pest control company that did about 200k in recurring revenue our first summer

Here’s what that actually looked like.

Year 1: Just Trying To See If This Was Real

First summer, I had no idea what I was doing.

New state. Living with a bunch of other interns. 100% commission. If I didn’t sell, I didn’t get paid.

Typical day:

Training in the morning

Drive to area, talk myself into getting out of the car

Knock doors from about 1 till dark

First week was rough. I was awkward on the pitch, took every “no” personal, and seriously thought about dipping.

But the numbers started adding up. By the end of the summer I’d sold a bit over 125k in revenue. For a college kid, that blew my mind.

That’s when it clicked: this isn’t a lottery ticket. If I follow the script, take coaching, and stay on the doors, it works.

Years 2–4: Not Just A Sales Job Anymore

I kept coming back.

My summers after that were in the 200–250k revenue range. I was making more, but I was also looking at the whole thing differently.

I started paying attention to stuff like:

-How they picked neighborhoods and built routes

-How pricing and promos were decided

-What happened after I sold a deal: scheduling, service, renewals

-Why some customers stayed and others canceled

I helped train rookies, ran parts of meetings, and got to see how the business side worked, not just my commissions.

It stopped feeling like “a good summer job” and started feeling like, “Oh, this is literally how a pest control company is built.”

Starting My Own Pest Control Company In Arkansas

After four summers with David, I knew two things:

-I could sell and lead a team.

-I actually understood this business model.

I wanted to bet on myself.

So I moved back Arkansas and started my own pest control company.

We did the same grind: knocking, building a base, taking care of customers. First summer out, we ended up around 200k in recurring revenue.

It’s not easy. I’m dealing with techs, equipment, angry customers, the state, all of it. But now every account we add is ours.

What Those Summers Gave Me

Looking back, saying yes when my high school buddy recruited me did a few big things for me:

-Gave me real sales and people skills I use every day

-Proved I can move somewhere new and build something from zero

-Handed me a playbook I eventually used to launch my own company

Most people saw it as “just door to door.” For me it was four years of getting paid to learn exactly how to run the business I own now.