SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

EP 409: $250 Million 2015 Revenue with 1800GotJunk Founder Brian Scudamore

06 Sep 2016

19 min

3749 words

2 speakers

06 Sep 2016

Audio

Description

Brian Scudamore, who launched 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Brian's unique perspective on his business drives him to take opportunities for growth, but he never wants to sell his company. He believes he must foster his vision to help others grow and evolve. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The E-Myth What CEO do you follow? — Robert Herjavec Favorite online tool? — All his iPhone apps Do you get 8 hours of sleep? — No. If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – All the failures needed to happen so that he could learn. Never compromise on the people you bring into your organization. Take hiring seriously. Time Stamped Show Notes: 01:40 – Nathan introduces Brian 02:00 – How did you get into 1-800-GOT-JUNK? 02:20 – He needed to make money for college, and that was the beginning of his business 03:10 – First year revenue was super low 03:30 – He dropped out of university four years later and made $100k 04:00 – 1997 was his first million-dollar year 04:15 – He makes money by hauling away junk 04:30 – 2015 revenue was 215 million 05:05 – 250 franchise partners 05:50 – Charges to franchisers are population based 06:40 – Helping franchise owners to be successful by keeping fees low 07:10 – The average owner varies from $200000 to $1 million 08:10 – Why go into the franchise model? 08:20 – Building together instead of going it alone 08:40 – Collaboration between entrepreneurs 08:55 – A crowdsource model 09:30 – It is a private company, focused on growth 09:45 – He did not raise capital. 10:15 – He generates personal wealth by collecting dividends 10:45 – He doesn't care so much about pulling money out for himself 11:05 – Wealth is watching people grow and evolve 11:20 – He has no board of advisors 11:30 – He likes one-on-one advice from mentors 11:45 – He is going to have a month-long stay-cation with his family 12:15 – A legacy plan is in place, but there is no formal board 13:00 – They get emails on a daily basis from people who want to pay him for the company 13:30 – His business is like his child—he wants to watch it grow 13:55 – He is open to partnerships, but he does not want to sell and risk losing his vision 15:00 – Go to o2ebrands.com 16:35 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: Help your employees be successful Collaborate with a team instead of going it alone. Take hiring very seriously. Resources Mentioned: Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible. Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts. Leadpages – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+ Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he's driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books. Toptal – Great for business people to start building their app The E-Myth – Brian's favorite business book. Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

Chapters

1. What is the main topic discussed in this episode? 2. How did Brian Scudamore start 1-800-GOT-JUNK? 3. What was the revenue growth journey of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? 4. Why did Brian choose the franchise model for his business? 5. How does Brian ensure the success of his franchise partners? 6. What is the revenue structure for 1-800-GOT-JUNK and its franchises?

Featured

Nathan Latka

Brian Scudamore

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 15.774 Nathan Latka

This is The Top, where I interview entrepreneurs who are number one or number two in their industry in terms of revenue or customer base. You'll learn how much revenue they're making, what their marketing funnel looks like, and how many customers they have.

Chapter 2: How did Brian Scudamore start 1-800-GOT-JUNK?

16.275 - 19.28 Brian Scudamore

I'm now at $20,000 per top. Five and six million.

Chapter 3: What was the revenue growth journey of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?

19.42 - 21.242 Brian Scudamore

He is hell-bent on global domination.

21.262 - 33.37 Nathan Latka

We just broke our 100,000 unit sold mark. And I'm your host, Nathan Latka. Okay, Top Tribe, this week's winner of the $100 is Zach Faron.

Chapter 4: Why did Brian choose the franchise model for his business?

33.39 - 49.495 Nathan Latka

He's a 22-year-old Apple employee, and he's listening to the show and loving it. For your chance to win $100 every Monday, simply subscribe to the podcast on iTunes now, and then text the word NATHAN to 33444 to prove that you did it to enter.

Chapter 5: How does Brian ensure the success of his franchise partners?

50.639 - 70.519 Nathan Latka

Folks, many of you heard I made a big league acquisition of a business. NathanLacka.com forward slash send later is the name of the business. And I didn't want to give up equity to a developer because I'm a business guy. So what I did is I used a website to find a guy named He Sheming. I paid He over $12,000 to help me build send later.

70.559 - 87.409 Nathan Latka

And the site that I am using now is called Toptal at NathanLacka.com forward slash T-O-P-T-A-L. I will build SendLater into a big business and I will take it public by the time I turn 30. I'll tell you more later on in the episode. Top Tribe, this is episode 409.

87.469 - 109.553 Nathan Latka

Coming up tomorrow morning, you're going to hear from a 1-800-GOT-JUNK franchise owner who went from worker to owner and over $5 million in revenue in 2015. Top Tribe, what is up? Our guest this morning is Brian Scudamore. He is the founder and CEO of O2E Brands, the banner company for 1-800-GOT-JUNK, Wow One Day Painting, You Move Me, and Shaq Shine.

109.533 - 130.143 Nathan Latka

Starting with one truck and a great idea, Brian grew 1-800-GOT-JUNK into one of North America's most successful companies, and he's poised to do the same with his three newest ventures. Brian, are you ready to take us to the top? I sure am. Okay, what on earth possessed you to get a truck and help people move and create this mammoth that is now 1-800-GOT-JUNK?

131.405 - 150.558 Brian Scudamore

Well, it was 27 years ago, been more than half my life. I saw a beat-up old pickup truck at a McDonald's drive-thru of all places. Had to find a way to pay for college, never finished high school, and so my parents weren't going to give me any funding. And I saw this beat-up old truck that said Marks Hauling on the side, and I thought, ah, there's my ticket.

150.938 - 171.598 Brian Scudamore

Went and bought a junk truck, and a week later had a business. Off I went, building a 1-800-GOT-JUNK into what is now a quarter of a billion dollar business, and we're scaling off. All our brands, the three great brands you mentioned, which are all in the home service world, all based on that same 1-800-GOT-JUNK model of exceptional customer experience.

171.618 - 175.103 Nathan Latka

So what year was that? You saw the McDonald truck and you went from there.

175.123 - 189.297 Brian Scudamore

1989 took 10 years to build and scale one operation to a million dollar business and then realized I had something that was a bit of a formula for success. I franchised it. and that's when things really started to take off.

189.517 - 194.404 Nathan Latka

So 1989 was your first year in business, just the start? It was. What was your revenue in your first year?

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Chapter 6: What is the revenue structure for 1-800-GOT-JUNK and its franchises?

1010.158 - 1013.102 Nathan Latka

Number two, is there a favorite CEO you have that you're studying?

1014.443 - 1029.707 Brian Scudamore

I'm a fan of Robert Herjavec, who's on the Dragon's Den, a Canadian who's doing great things and love that he is a perpetual learner. He and I were on a flight together actually on his plane and he wouldn't stop asking me questions, which I thought was incredible given his success.

1030.088 - 1033.155 Nathan Latka

Number three, is there a favorite online tool you have like FreshBooks?

1035.447 - 1047.924 Brian Scudamore

My iPhone is everything to me. I don't use a laptop. I don't use a desktop. That's my one device. I don't use an iPad. And so I don't know if there's one app. I think it's all the apps that are in my iPhone.

1047.944 - 1061.623 Nathan Latka

Number four, yes or no, do you get eight hours of sleep every night? No. And you said you had three kids? I do. And you're 46. So last question, take us back 26 years, Brian. What do you wish your 20-year-old self knew?

1063.477 - 1081.717 Brian Scudamore

Exactly what I knew then. I think that all the mistakes, all the learning I've had, the failures I've had along the way, I needed to learn and they're a part of what's made me who I am today. So one question I've never asked my kids is what do you want to be when they grow up? It doesn't matter. I just want them to be happy and do what they love and they'll find their path.

1081.778 - 1088.12 Brian Scudamore

I'm not, you know, I can give them new experiences and tell them what's worked for me, but... They'll figure it out like I did.

1088.36 - 1098.05 Nathan Latka

So Brian, save our audience some time. You went through many trials and tribulations. You learned stuff along the way. You value those learnings. But if you want to save some years in our audience's life, what's a piece of advice you'd give your younger self?

1099.591 - 1119.424 Brian Scudamore

Never, ever, ever compromise on the people you bring into your organization. It's too easy. We do it all the time. It's just not worth it. It's painful. And in 1994, I fired my staff of 11 because I had my entire company because I had the wrong people. So just don't compromise. Take hiring advice. as your most serious decision that you can possibly take.