1-800-GOT-JUNK?

1-800-GOT-JUNK? is a franchised residential and commercial junk removal company operating in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The company's business model consists of taking an old activity, junk or trash haulage, and giving it a 'clean' image through branding and marketing. According to founder and CEO Brian Scudamore, "It was just a different spin on an industry, which was historically a very fragmented, dirty industry."

History

The company started in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1989. It was incorporated as The Rubbish Boys Disposal Service, then in 1998 with its current name. The first permanent franchise opened in 1997 in Victoria, Canada and a second in Toronto in 1998. In 2000, a franchise opened outside Canada in Portland, Oregon. By 2007 the company had 270 locations.

Chief Operating Officer was Cameron Herold from 2000-2007, followed by Launni Skinner and in 2011, Erik Church.

Operations

The company keeps 61.3% of collected items out of the landfill by recycling and donating. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? performs bi-annual audits of their environmental practices. Franchisees have access to a report to track their landfill diversion. Franchise partners donate goods and services to community and charity organizations.

Truck in Montreal

1-800-GOT-JUNK? evaluates its level of customer service using the Net Promoter Score system. The company claimed a score of 80 in 2012. Customer calls are routed through a central call center based at the company headquarters in Vancouver and a second location in Toronto. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? released a consumer-based mobile booking site in 2012 and a mobile app in 2013 for franchisees and their employees to manage operations.

The company adopted a ‘work hard, play hard’ culture and family-like atmosphere early in order to combat labor shortages.

Scudamore says this about his hiring practices: "Do we like them? Is it someone I’d like to go out for beers with? Is it someone I’d enjoy inviting into my home? You have to like the person and want to work with them because there is a lot of sweat, energy, passion and sacrifices that go into a successful brand."

The headquarters (aka ‘The Junktion’) regularly offers informative tours of the office to share best practices with interested parties. Transparency is a major tenet of the company culture. There are no private offices at the Junktion and company metrics and performance are shared regularly with staff at monthly meetings and daily, companywide Huddles.

The company parks their trucks when not in use in prominent locations as billboards to advertise their business.

In the media

Entrepreneur Magazine named the company 425th of 500 franchises in 2013. Achievers, a company that offers social recognition and employee engagement solutions to its clients, rated the subject of this article Canada's "most engaged workplace" in 2013 and recognised it in 2012.

In 2011, Scudamore was featured on Undercover Boss Canada and staff members won money for charity on the first season of Global Television’s Canada Sings.

External links

• Official website