101: How to Build a Service Based Business Empire with Brian Scudamore
Jul 20, 2016
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Brian Scudamore, an entrepreneur who built a multimillion-dollar business empire from junk, talks about his journey of building a service-based business empire and the challenges he faced. He shares strategies for getting your first customers, building a successful international franchise, and the importance of hiring for cultural fit. He also discusses recovering from the subprime crisis and his plans for reaching a billion dollars in revenue by 2020.
Franchising can lead to accelerated growth and shared success in the business world.
Hiring based on attitude and cultural fit is crucial for building a strong and successful team.
Deep dives
Building a Franchising-Based Empire
Brian Scudemore, the guest in this episode, shares his journey of building a franchising-based empire. His company, 1-800 Junk, generates over $100 million in turnover and has successfully franchised many businesses in the junk removal industry. He discusses the benefits of franchising, such as accelerated growth and shared success. Scudemore emphasizes the importance of careful selection when bringing people into the organization, as people decisions are crucial for success. He also highlights the significance of systemizing the business and creating processes, drawing inspiration from the book 'The Emith' by Michael Gerber.
Lessons Learned from Difficult Times
Scudemore reflects on the challenging times his company faced during the 2008 financial crisis. He shares that they had to make tough decisions, including laying off employees and reevaluating their cash flow. Through this experience, he learned valuable lessons about the importance of building a strong team and making sure the right people are in the right positions. Scudemore emphasizes the significance of hiring based on attitude and cultural fit, rather than solely focusing on skills. He also mentions the beer and barbecue test, where he looks for candidates who are likable and can contribute to the company culture.
The Transition to 1-800-GOT-JUNK
Scudemore discusses the transition from the original company name, the Rubbish Boys, to 1-800-GOT-JUNK. The name change occurred after 8 years of business, as they wanted to expand into the U.S. market. Initially, the transition caused confusion and a temporary drop in sales. However, with time, the new name and catchy phone number gained popularity and contributed to their success.
Building Towards a Billion Dollar Company
Scudemore shares his vision of growing his company, O2E Brands, to reach a billion dollars in revenue by the end of 2020. He plans to achieve this by expanding existing brands, such as 1-800-GOT-JUNK and Shack Shine, and bringing in new franchise partners. Scudemore highlights the importance of building upon their existing success and leveraging the momentum they have generated.
Brian Scudamore of O2E brands knew all along that he wanted to be an entrepreneur. Relying on that sense of determination, he's built up a sprawling multimillion-dollar business empire, with franchises all over the world. But it all began with junk.
To be specific, it all started in a McDonalds drive-thru, with Scudamore sitting in his car trying to figure out how he would pay for college. What he saw was an old pick-up truck filled to the brim with junk, and he immediately knew that this would be his ticket to chase his entrepreneurial dream.
"A week later, I had a business hauling away junk, and that was the way into my job and a career path that's now been 27 years of pure entrepreneurial passion," he says.
The first business he founded was 1-800-Got-Junk, which has since turned into multiple franchises all around the world and spun off into three more business in the home services niche. Altogether they generate a revenue of $250 million per year!
But it hasn't been smooth sailing over the past 27 years, with many ups and downs along the way and some valuable lessons learned. We're very lucky to learn those lessons directly from Brian today through this week's podcast episode.
In this interview you will learn:
How to get your first round of customers within your first day of business
The secrets to building a successful international franchise
What the franchise business model looks like and how you can make it work for you
Why you need to always hire for culture and fit rather than skill
Traps and pitfalls to look out for when running such a large international conglomerate
& much more!
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