The Story Of Consider It Done, Inc.

So, how does a 21-year-old college student, bound for law school, end up growing a part time cleaning service into the single largest independently-owned household cleanout company in New Jersey, that now focuses as much on giving back as it does on the bottom line?   With help, of course, and a strong family work ethic that included the best examples of economics in daily living, along with a realization that as much as Jennifer “Jenna” Padula loved the law, she simply needed to get out of the classroom and feel productive; so she announced her decision not to pursue a career in law and without any particular plan in mind, continued to clean homes, which had been one of the many ways she earned money to put herself through college.

And so, the story of Consider It Done, Inc. began…. But the foundation of a strong work ethic on which Jennifer built her business began long before that, at home with her parents, her 3 brothers and her maternal grandmother, for whom Jennifer was named.  Jennifer and her brothers were raised in a household where waste wasn’t an option but earning your own money as a means to buy the extras that kids typically desire was.  While Jennifer’s mother and grandmother (who both worked full time jobs) were busy stretching a dollar by doing things like including Thursday night’s leftover steak in Monday night’s stew, buying in bulk, and cooking traditional Sunday gravy and meatballs that would again be stretched into more meals…. her father (who also worked full time) could be found driving Jennifer and her brothers around town to deliver their newspapers on their paper routes in the early morning hours before school and on rainy days in the summer (weather permitting, they delivered newspapers on their bicycles). Eventually, during their high school years, all four kids would work summer and weekend jobs on the boardwalk and in local businesses, while also selling crabs and fish that they caught off the back dock of their home in Seaside Park to local bait shops and restaurants. Decades later, all four “dead-end” Padula kids (a nickname acquired because the family lived on a dead-end street) are successful business owners in Ocean and Monmouth Counties.  

34 Years Ago (January 1988) She Started Cleaning Up

After graduating from Georgian Court College in Lakewood, NJ (now Georgian Court University) in the Spring of 1988, working out of a spare bedroom in the family home in Seaside Park, Jennifer continued to clean local homes and businesses while adding window cleaning services and later contracting with local builders to clean newly constructed homes prior to settlement.  While working on the construction sites, Jennifer was approached by a Project Manager who asked if she’d also be interested in cleaning up the construction debris as the new homes were being built.  Seeing a good opportunity to grow her business, Jennifer applied for her NJDEP A-901 License that would allow her company to provide the debris removal services needed on the building sites.  Once approved, she bought her first truck from an uncle in the business of building commercial trucks and started hauling debris to the local landfill.  A year or so later, after purchasing her 2nd dump truck, Jennifer moved the growing business to a warehouse with office space in Toms River.

28 Years Ago They Started Cleaning Out

As all aspects of the business grew, Jennifer decided to sell the window cleaning accounts and refer out the house cleaning accounts so she could add household cleanouts to the schedule as “filler work” in between the new construction cleaning and construction debris removal work.  Then in 2001, things looked grim when one of her largest construction site cleanup accounts cancelled its contract with CID when it decided to save money by doing the site cleanup itself.  To fill the large gaps in the schedule, Jennifer added more household cleanout jobs to the schedule and it quickly became clear that this was where the business would thrive.  In an effort to get her name out during a time when few people knew that such a service even existed, Jennifer’s retired grandmother, Jennie, would come into the then-tiny 9’x 24’ office each week, on her day off, to write out names and addresses on advertising postcards and answer phones while Jennifer was out in the field working.  

26 Years Ago They Started Giving Back

As the demand for household cleanouts increased, so too did the amount of reusable “stuff” that Consider It Done, Inc. collected from their customers.  This is where the lessons learned at home would allow Jennifer to begin giving back to the community that supported her business. With so many people in need, Jennifer couldn’t bring herself to simply throw away the good items, even though it would have been the most cost-effective thing to do.  Because she wasn’t set up to manage a full fledge donation program, she, along with family and friends, would load up one of the company trucks and drive to local flea markets on Sundays to sell the items cheaply to those in need.  She would then use the proceeds to pay the people who helped get the low-cost items back out to the community and would give away anything that was left over.  In addition, Consider It Done, Inc. started to donate furniture and household items to charitable organizations and families in need, and it began sending all pet supplies, blankets, and bedding to animal shelters and other pet organizations.

21 Years Ago They Started Paying It Forward

As time went on, Consider It Done, Inc. built a larger office and acquired 3 warehouses. That, along with a growing business that brought in larger quantities of reusable items, made it possible for Consider It Done, Inc. to begin building a network within the local community to give back on a larger scale.  The company now had the room to sort, organize and hold the items that would be picked up by those in need, but was finding it challenging to find efficient, effective ways to get the word out and to get the ‘stuff’ picked up quickly in order to continue to make room for more “stuff” coming in.

Then came Social Media, making it possible for CID to continue Paying It Forward in ways Jennifer never imagined.  With the advent of Facebook and their Buy/Sell/Trade groups came the potential for a large and immediate audience, inspiring Jennifer to create what is now called CID’s Too Much Stuff (TMS)  Program. 

Along with the added expense of the warehouse, the TMS Program requires a full-time manager, so in order to offset those costs, the TMS Program offers some of the items for sale at a very low cost to those in need, while still giving away the majority to individuals, families, animal shelters, schools, nursing homes, and anyone else in need. Although we operate this program on a ‘break even’ basis, at best, we are committed to helping out, giving back and protecting the environment in every way we can.

Today… 

Consider It Done Inc. maintains a modest fleet of 17’ enclosed box trucks and 17’ open dump trucks, along with a staff that now helps coordinate our new approach to Cleanouts by coordinating with Furniture Resellers and Flea Market Sellers who resell and donate to families, shelters, animal shelters, veterinary clinics and anyone else in need. 

A Personal Thank You….

I would like to thank the entire Consider It Done family, and the community as a whole, for their part in the success of Consider It Done, Inc.  and the Too Much Stuff Program. Without the support of our customers, associates, other businesses & organizations, family, friends, mentors, volunteers and all of the Too Much Stuff members over the past 33+ years, there would be no story to tell…

Jennifer Padula

President/Owner