88: Turning Junk Into Gold, with 1-800 GOT JUNK Founder Brian Scudamore

Stories from Franchisees & Founders In this episode, Erik Van Horn is joined by Brian Scudamore on a favorite episode from the Franchise Secrets Podcast.  Brian is a franchising legend. After realizing that he learned more from working than he did from studying, he dropped out of college to attack his junk removal business full-time. That business became 1-800-GOT-JUNK, a top-flight low cost to entry franchise that has swept both the US and Canada and annually grosses over a half billion dollars in revenue. He then branched out with his business partners to open two more rapidly growing franchise companies: Wow One Day Painting and Shack Shine, both of which are on pace to dominate their respective markets and gross over a half billion in revenue themselves. Brian talks about his process of hiring the right people and how it made a tremendous difference in his company. He also emphasizes the importance of cultivating a healthy relationship with the franchise partners and how he was able to turn a small business into a well-oiled machine. Tune in to learn more about Brian's one-of-a-kind franchise story!  What we talk about: Brian Scudamore's business and franchise journey "I realized that you've got to build a business through people finding the right people and treating them right." - Brian Scudamore Brian's process of hiring the right people - The beer and barbeque test Hiring somebody who's smarter and better Helping the top-performing franchisees Helping franchisees help each other Different recipes for different franchises Talking about 1-800-GOTJUNK, OW 1Day Painting, and Shack Shine Things Brian does to help the franchise partners The power in building a national brand   "Grow where you're planted, pick one niche that you want to chase, and do it really, really well." - Brian Scudamore   Lessons learned from the franchisees along the way Cultivating the relationship with the franchisees through a franchise advisory council Treating people like friends Franchisors admitting on mistakes made Finding gratitude in challenging times The impact of changing lives What we mention: EO - Entrepreneurs' Organization O2E Brands 1-800-GOTJUNK WOW 1Day Painting Shack Shine WTF (Willing To Fail), book by Brian Scudamore and Roy H. Willams https://talkwitherik.com