How to take an idea and make millions

1-800-GOT-JUNK “TRANSCENDENCE” 1-800-Got-Junk has become the largest junk removal company, with more than $66.2 million in sales, 284 franchises across Canada, the United States, Australia and a corporate office into the United Kingdom. Founded in 1989 by Brian Scuddamore, the original name was “The Rubbish Boys.” Brian was 18 years old, a high school drop-out, looking for a summer job. While waiting in line at a drive-through McDonald’s, Brian saw a pick-up truck in front of him, full of junk. This is where the idea hit him, “I can do that.” Brian Scuddamore realized that the junk removal industry was very fragmented. The industry includes independents, who knock on doors to get rid of people’s junk, smaller waste management companies that specialize in roll-offs and handle construction debris. The larger, more structured corporations, such as Waste Management and BFI, based in Canada and the US, posed a challenge to him. Brian saw that junk removal could be a niche market, if approached properly. Until recently, people had no way of getting rid of certain items, such as bulky household rubbish that the other larger disposal companies would not deal with. These items included: construction material, garden refuse, old furniture and appliances The deficit that the companies had, which included poor service and inconsistent pricing, was going to be the way Brian carved out his “niche”. Knowing that he had to stand out, Brian focused on his reputation of reliability, professionalism and service. Uniformed drives, shiny new, decaled trucks, scheduled times and standardized price sheets are examples of the professionalism that Brian, to this day, holds as a

standard for all franchises and his entire company. When you call, 1-800-Got-Junk, you are greeted by a friendly voice. The customer service call center or website handles all incoming calls and scheduling of pick-ups. This allows the field workers to focus on field work rather than administrative tasks. Customers are called to confirm the arrival time 30 minutes prior to arrival. After the service is completed, a follow-up phone call and email is generated, to verify a customer’s satisfaction. Brian Scuddamore holds all franchises to a high standard. When a potential buyer for a franchise contacts 1-800-Got-Junk, they must be able to afford the start up costs, have a clean CORI and pass a drug test. The costs can be about $80.000. The franchises are overseen by Brian and his staff. When you purchase a franchise, the start up costs cover uniforms, trucks and any and all necessary licensing and insurance. Brian, himself, interviews all potential buyers either in-person or via skype. 8% of all franchise revenue is retained by Brian. In 2004, Brian came up with an idea to get world-wide recognition. He emailed the Oprah Winfrey show. There was an upcoming show that had to do with renovating a “hoarders” home. There was no response to Brian’s email. Two months later, he mailed a one page letter to Oprah. Finally, 6 months later a producer from the Oprah Winfrey show called him. He told Brian to be in Los Angeles in 3 days. At that time, Brian did not have a team in the Los Angeles area. He quickly put together a team of eight, who cleared out a woman’s house who was a “hoarder.” This landed Brian spots on the Dr. Phil Show and a spot on The View. This was a planned out marketing ploy that was very successful. Within two years, Brian went from $9.6 million in sales to $15 million. Also, in that two years he went from 22 franchises to 175 franchises. The public relations department went from being a one person team to a 3 person team. From day one Brian used the undifferentiated targeting strategy, which is “a strategy in which an organization designs a single-marketing mix and directs it at the entire market, for a particular

product.” For an undifferentiated target market to succeed, there must be two conditions: First: “a large portion of customers in a total market must have similar needs for the product, termed a homogenous market.” Second: “the organization must be able to maintain and develop a single marketing mix that satisfies customers’ needs. The company must be able to identify a set of needs common to most customers in a total market.” Brian Scuddamore’s motto is “everybody has got junk.” This motto is very true of the entire market. Products typically marketed successfully through this undifferentiated strategy include commodities such as, food items. Some examples of these food items are sugar, salt and farm produce. Brian maintained this strategy while being the “rubbish boys” by targeting the entire market for junk removal. When he transitioned over to 1800-Got-Junk and started franchising, he still maintained this strategy. Brian went into the business with both an intended strategy and a realized strategy. He started off with the realized strategy, which is the strategy that actually takes place later on. He used this in the very beginning because he “realized” early on that everyone has junk and that companies had deficits and he used this to his advantage. He used the intended strategy later on when the business took off, unintentionally, and he had to start using a planned out and implemented strategy, which is the intended strategy. 1-800-Got-Junk was built by one man, Brian Scuddamore. He had very little education, no marketing, sales or business experience. The company’s success was built upon Brian’s gut instincts and awareness of what people needed. This cannot be found in any classroom or text book. The company succeeded because of Brian’s intuition. Brian took what was suppose to be a summer job, and turned it into an international, multi-million dollar company.

Citations www.forbes.com/salesandmarketing

www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/1-800-Got-Junk-LLC www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/sbrp-rppe.nsf/eng/fdo02453.html “Foundations Of Marketing” 4th Edition, Pride and Ferrell