Local high school student starts business Clutter Crushers Toronto

By JESSICA SHACKLETON

Sixteen-year-old Beach resident Sebastian Iera wanted a summer job but didn’t want to wait around for someone to hire him, so he started his own business.

Thus began his vision: Clutter Crushers Toronto.

Working a summer job and enjoying the break from school can be a tough balance, especially with a rigid schedule like the camp counsellor position Iera worked last year.

“While we’re still young, we might as well try and figure out what you enjoy,” he said. “The camp counsellor schedule was early wake-ups and late days. Long days are obviously never fun for anybody, but especially working with kids, you’re just exhausted.”

The answer to trying something new this season started to form when a guidance counsellor told his class at Neil McNeil High School about Ontario’s Summer Company Grant.

The program offers funding for young entrepreneurs aged 15 to 29 looking to start a small business during the summer. Applicants must create a business plan, budget, cash-flow forecast, and pitch.

Iera and a few other classmates from Neil McNeil Catholic High School were among the 20 young entrepreneurs selected from the hundreds of applicants. Some of the businesses were in the same industry, but there wasn’t much overlap besides that.

“You had to create a business plan for it and then explain how you would use the grant money and wait to see if you got to the second round of interviews,” he said.

Once he was selected, it was time to launch Clutter Crushers Toronto, which helps people clear out and organize basements, garages, closets, and other spaces they’ve been putting off. It’s been going well so far.

“It’s very time-intensive. It’s picking up slowly but surely; like all good things, it takes time. It’s been fun, but also, it’s just very different from working a nine-to-five,” he said. “The flexibility is definitely a plus, but then you’re definitely a little bit exhausted when you realize you just worked until 1 a.m. by accident.”

As well as being an honour roll student, Iera runs track and cross-country at Neil McNeil, so he’s no stranger to hard work and focus. He’s also a very organized person in every aspect of his life, so helping others organize comes naturally to him.

Iera’s service provides a fresh set of eyes on spaces that people easily let get filled up and don’t have a chance to go through. He recently worked on clearing out an elderly woman’s basement, and though it was a late night, he found it pretty satisfying to see the difference a few hours of heavy lifting can make for someone.

“Once you’re able to even just clean out the garage, it gains so much vital space that it makes such a difference,” he said. “People don’t realize how much it accumulates. If my whole space isn’t organized, I struggle to be successful.

Iera is entering his final year of high school, and after that, he plans to go into finance, so this made sense for university applications and to gain practical experience with both corporate business plans and on-the-ground execution.

“I’ve always found business interesting and enjoyed the process of it,” he said.

It can be scary to try something new, especially starting a brand-new business. Iera has a few words of advice for others.

“The hardest part is jumping right into it. Once you get it going, as long as you are able to put the man-hours in, you will always be successful. It’s all about consistency,” he said. “If you don’t enjoy the process, you’re not going to be successful. You have to learn to understand where your failure points are, and one thing I’ve learned is being okay with failure. It’s not something that’s there to hurt you; it’s there to help you become a better version of yourself.”

Clutter Crushers Toronto can be reached by phone at 647-391-6554 or online at https://www.cluttercrushers.co/ and will continue to offer services beyond the summer.