Yellowknife youth gets his hands dirty with new business - Yellowknifer
Published 5:31 am Thursday, August 13, 2026By Kody Ferron Local Journalism Initiative Northern News ServicesA Yellowknife youth is getting his hands dirty with his new self-started business cleaning dirty. . .
Published 5:31 am Thursday, August 13, 2026By Kody Ferron Local Journalism Initiative Northern News ServicesA Yellowknife youth is getting his hands dirty with his new self-started business cleaning dirty garbage bins. Bin Bros is a compost and garbage bin cleaning service created by Yellowknife’s Bobby Balsillie, who’s turning 12 soon. Balsillie said that after only a few days of advertising his business, he already had 16 clients. He came up with the idea to provide his cleaning service after seeing a similar business on social media. Balsillie’s father, Kenny Balsillie, first posted on social media advertising Bobby’s services on Aug. 2. Since then, Bobby and his parents say demand has grown quickly. “Well, the day I shared the post, everything took off after that,” Kenny said. “It was his own idea because he seen it on the internet, and he’s like, ‘I could do that. ’”Bobby said he started his venture because he wants to save money and buy himself an electric dirt bike. He’s already picked out the model he wants, which he said will cost him $2,866. He charges $20 per bin cleaned. Despite the gunk and grime associated with his work, he said he’s not bothered by the smell. He makes use of a pressure washer to get the jobs done. “[The bins] get pretty dirty, and then after you clean, it’s pretty worth it,” he said. “It would get [on] your arms, and they’ll smell pretty bad, but, it’s not that much. ”Both the name ‘Bin Bros’ and the company logo, generated using AI, were Bobby’s ideas. “He did it all himself,” said his father. The early success of Bobby’s Bin Bros came with the support of his family. His mother, Rebecca Balsillie, emphasized how quickly they realized how many details there were to track. “There’s just a lot of logistics that we kind of figured out as this is progressing,” she said. “I think it’ll teach [him] a little bit more about logistics and planning because there’s so much things where like, ‘oh, my goodness we gotta [go] get this. ’ Scheduling, emailing, contacting people — your money and where’s it gonna go. ”Kenny couldn’t conceal his pride in his son’s new business initiative. “Personally, I feel it’ll teach him your basic work ethic, customer service, good communication skills, get him out of that kind of comfort zone, punctuality and a few other things, too,” he said. “I’m just proud for him and happy to do this. ’”Bin Bros hopes to have a Facebook page up and running soon, where residents will be able to more easily access Bobby’s services.