Featured Entrepreneur—Jerry "JDOG" Flanagan

By Jill Abrahamsen

It took years of working for other people for Jerry “JDOG”Flanagan to realize he could be a successful entrepreneur. Afterserving in the military, he worked various minimum wage jobs until he decided to work for himself. Due to the down-turned economic climate in the 1990s, his first two business ventures failed, but he persisted. On the cusp of the 2008 recession, Flanagan took a look at recession-proof businesses. Junk removal came up as an option and seemed like a great fit.

“I said to myself, ‘let me give this thing a shot,’” Flanagan recalls. With his staff of veterans, customers took note of the professional and courteous service. “We didn’t initially advertise that JDog Junk Removal & Hauling was veteran-run, but customers kept raving about our respectful customer service and suggested we should advertise the military connection. Once I took that advice, business started booming,” he says.

“It was amazing. Customers would thank us for our service, make us lunch, and leave their homes open for us. There was an automatic trust simply because we were veterans,” he says.

With more work than they could handle, Flanagan turned to franchising as a way to scale the business. The company’s mission is to empower veteran business ownership. “We believe in respect, integrity, and trust. We follow the principles of hard work, dedication, and community service,” Flanagan says. “We are made up of 90 percent veterans and 10 percent veteran family members.”

Recycling and re-purposing is what sets JDog apart. “About 60 to 80 percent of the items we haul away are kept out of the landfill,” he says. “We encourage franchisees to sell and donate as much as possible.”

Now approaching their 200th location, JDog has created opportunities for thousands of veterans and their families and made a difference on the environment. Flanagan went a step further and created The JDog Foundation. The foundation’s goal is to donate to organizations dedicated to improving the everyday lives of veterans, such as Operation Homefront. “It feels great to give back,” says Flanagan. For more information, visit www.jdogjunkremoval.com.

Jerry “JDOG” Flanagan poses with his wife Tracy.

JDog Junk removal & Hauling is owned and operated by veterans and veteran family members.

Jerry Flanagan in his military days.