Brian Scudamore is a man who believes in human connection before technology, so it’s no wonder he founded a company that has a heavy dose of both.
In 1989, he founded 1-800-GOT-JUNK? as a way to cover college tuition. Since then, the company has turned into a trash-hauling juggernaut with over 200 locations across three countries that brought in $600M in revenue in 2022 — but it wasn't always smooth sailing for Scudamore.
He actually came pretty close to losing everything at one point.
Scudamore has made a name for himself on the entrepreneurial circuit, using his story as a cautionary tale for up-and-comers.
It took almost a decade and a half for 1-800-GOT-JUNK? to get its legs, all thanks to wild determination and killer press opportunities. Once his company took off, Scudamore knew he had a unique formula on his hands. Now he’s the CEO of O2E Brands, the parent company of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, You Move Me, and Shack Shine.
Here, we'll take a closer look at the makings of his empire of junk (in a good way) and the formula he used to start multiple successful companies.
What is 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
Before we dig into Scudamore's story, we should probably cover what 1-800-GOT-JUNK? actually is. As you — our perceptive and ever-savvy readers — might be able to deduce, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?'s business model has something to do with junk.
Shocking, I know.
The company provides full-service junk removal for homes and businesses. It operates on a franchise model, where franchisees sign on to cover protected territories with 1-800-GOT-JUNK? trucks. And, as the fact that we‘re writing an article on its CEO’s success might indicate, that model wound up working pretty well.
Now that that‘s out of the way, let’s take a look at how Scudamore was able to start, salvage, and sustain his company's success.
1-800-GOT-JUNK?'s Startup Success Formula
1. Be both digitally sound and fundamentally human.
High level, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?‘s success rests on a key premise — modern companies need both digital and human elements. Your business can’t survive nowadays without a sound online presence, but when it comes down to it, people will almost always want to engage with other people.
As Scudamore puts it, "I think it’s obvious that the internet has to go hand-in-hand with every business. But it’s rare to find a business that is 100% internet-based … People can order 1-800-GOT-JUNK? on our online booking engine and a truck is dispatched to them without any human interaction. But then our team members show up with a big smile to do the job.
“People are forgetting that life is about human interactions. My kids spend a lot of time on their phones, but they also value time with their friends and real-life connections. I think too many people are focused only on technology. They're forgetting about the human connection and how much value it can add to the customer experience.”
2. Be ready for your moment.
What‘s the opposite of an overnight success? I can’t think of a catchy term offhand, but whatever it is, that‘s what 1-800-GOT-JUNK? was. It took eight years for the business to make its first million, and by Scudamore’s account, it took a profile in Fortune Magazine five years later for the company to really take off.
He says, "We got our big hit in 2002: A feature article in Fortune Magazine. Instantly, the phones started lighting up. Everyone wanted to get in and start a franchise. By that time, I thankfully already had four franchises up and running. Those four franchises are the only reason people were buying more than just hope."
1-800-GOT-JUNK? had the structure and safeguards in place to capitalize on the exposure that came with its feature in Fortune — demonstrating exactly how vital being able to walk the walk is before your business's moment.
Free Business Startup Kit
9 templates to help you brainstorm a business name, develop your business plan, and pitch your idea to investors.
- Business Name Brainstorming Workbook
- Business Plan Template
- Business Startup Cost Calculator
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.
3. Don't assume things will be looking up for you personally when they are for your business.
As you can imagine, life was tough for Scudamore through that 13-year stretch. But even after 1-800-GOT-JUNK? really got its legs, things were — to put it mildly — still pretty brutal.
According to him, “I was so broke. I literally didn't have a dollar. I didn't have a quarter. I had no money in the bank. I remember I had a stack of about a dozen paychecks that were due to me with a rubber band around them on my desk, just waiting for a time when we had enough money that I could go ahead and cash my own paychecks.”
He says it was a stark contrast from most people's perception. As he puts it, "It was interesting because people on the outside are looking in saying, ‘Oh look, this company is growing so quickly.’ They didn’t know what was actually going on."
The state of the company also weighed on his mental health. He says, "I was stressed. I‘m not ashamed of it, but it was a very difficult time and I was plagued by panic attacks. My brain was just filled with stress and fear. It got so bad that when it was time for me to get on a plane, I couldn’t because of the anxiety. I'd cancel my trip. I was just plagued with mental anguish.
"It was a tough time. There were days when I couldn‘t even get out of bed. I couldn’t bring myself to grips with what to do next. I would think ‘This isn’t working. I‘m not good enough.’ I felt bad … Most people don't realize just how much pressure entrepreneurs put on themselves. I stuck with it so hard because I really believed that we would ultimately prevail. "
4. Have faith in your business, and trust your gut.
By 2003, the company was doing $34M in revenue and stopped self-financing. According to Acton Smith, “[1-800-GOT-JUNK?] was selling enough franchises and our franchise owners were paying at that point. When you sell 100 franchises in a year at $50k, that's $5m. We could take that, go build more infrastructure, do more marketing, and really drive the engine forward.”
But things were rocky to the point of near-catastrophe before that breakthrough, and Scudamore was faced with some difficult decisions. He says, “I was literally three days away from bankrupting the company or giving away more than 50% ownership. I would've ultimately been out of the business and who knows what my future would have been.”
He was prepared to give up 50% of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? — losing control of his business — but some last-minute advice helped him change his mind and right the course.
He says, "We had no cash. I was so close to signing papers for me to give away more than half of my company for $5M. It was supposed to be enough private equity to get ourselves out of a hole and start growing again …
“I went to meet with the banker who was helping us get this raise. His advice was to hunker down and rebuild the business. He told me to cut costs and people rather than take the $5M.”
Ultimately, Scudamore made the right call — but it came at a cost.
Free Business Startup Kit
9 templates to help you brainstorm a business name, develop your business plan, and pitch your idea to investors.
- Business Name Brainstorming Workbook
- Business Plan Template
- Business Startup Cost Calculator
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.
5. Be prepared to take some ugly measures for the sake of your business.
His decision to hold out didn‘t sit with his COO at the time, leading to her and her leadership team’s departure. He says, "Instead of signing those papers, I said, ‘We’re not going to raise money' and got that COO out of my business.
“I fired her entire leadership team because I couldn't afford them any longer and I didn’t know if I could trust them. She and I had worked together for 14 months. That relationship ended and I started cutting costs.”
From there, Scudamore elevated his mid-level managers to leadership roles and fired 52 employees. He says, “There were tears all around the room and ultimately, it made me cry because I felt so bad for all these people losing friends from the organization. But as a leader, I had to take responsibility. I got us there.”
It took a while for the dust to settle and the business to become profitable. According to him “It took from 2008 until 2011 to get stable enough to make money. We actually made money in 2008, '09 and '10 because we really cut costs and we needed that cash flow to get out of the hole we were in.”
And in 2011, he hired Erik Church as his COO, who he largely credits for bringing the company to $444M in revenue in 2019.
6. Make sure leadership maintains a “yin and yang” of personality and implementation.
Scudamore attributes a lot of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?‘s sustained success to his and Church’s complementary leadership styles — what he describes as a “two-in-the-box model” where both serve as the head of the company in different capacities.
As he describes it, "We‘re not co-COOs because we have separate responsibilities. But we’re in it together. I’m the visionary and the culture guy. He‘s focused on strategy and execution. While there’s overlap between us, you rarely have a visionary and an implementer in the same person.
"So I’m focused on vision, storytelling, culture, PR, and building the personality of our brands. I’m always thinking “How can we grow them and attract more people?'
I do interviews and podcasts — getting out there and trying to share our story to help inspire others, whether they do it with or without us. I believe in entrepreneurship. I believe in people-growing opportunities."
All of that to say, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?'s success is a case study of the value of balance in leadership. Especially effective management reconciles being people-centric with maintaining disciplined diligence. And finding that middle ground often takes more than one leader.
More Tips from 1-800-GOT-JUNK?'S Founder
"Take something that's right in front of you that you know you can do better and go build that."
As I mentioned at the top of this article, Scudamore founded three additional companies on the back of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?'s success — WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, You Move Me, and Shack Shine — comprising parent company, O2E Brands.
The logic behind these ventures (along with any others he might start, down the line) is rooted in a simple premise. As he puts it, “I always tell young entrepreneurs to take something that's right in front of you that you know you can do better and go build that.”
What would that look like for him? He says, "If I had to create something new today, 100% I would find a fragmented mom-and-pop space that I could consolidate. I would find something that would be low-cost to get into — like irrigation along with landscape lighting.
“You just need a vehicle. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. You start driving around and getting business through the neighborhood, telling people what you can do.”
Ultimately, like so many other entrepreneurs‘, Scuadamore’s story is a triumph that could've been a tragedy — but his persistence, faith in his product, leadership, business acumen, and willingness to make tough decisions turned what would be a cautionary tale into a model for aspiring business owners to look up to.
Free Business Startup Kit
9 templates to help you brainstorm a business name, develop your business plan, and pitch your idea to investors.
- Business Name Brainstorming Workbook
- Business Plan Template
- Business Startup Cost Calculator
- And more!
Download Free
All fields are required.
![Freelancer vs. Entrepreneur: How Jim Huffman, CEO and Founder of GrowthHit, Went from Freelancer to Owner of a 7-Figure Agency [+ Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs]](https://www.hubspot.com/hubfs/freelancer-vs-entrepreneur-1-20241021-8630800.webp)
![Business Failure: How the CEO and Founder of Acquisition.com Lost Everything Twice, Then Made $250 Million [+ Tips and Takeaways for Entrepreneurs]](https://www.hubspot.com/hubfs/Copy%20of%20Copy%20of%20ai%20sales%20%20%281%29.jpg)
![How Calm's CEO Manifested a Meditation Empire [Trends Interview]](https://www.hubspot.com/hubfs/calm-67214a68aa359.webp)
