Innovation

The company, 1-800-GOTJUNK?, provides an innovation that offers a premium full service of junk removal for both residential and commercial clients. They make ordinary junk removal, exceptional, by providing a great customer service experience. They assist their customers with taking just about anything non-hazardous they are looking to dispose of. They donate or recycle everything they pick up, keeping items out of the landfill. They offer their customers their EFAs (Exceptional Focus Areas). These EFAs consist of on time service which is to give clients a 2-hour window (more precise and realistic, compared to other home services, like satellite, cable, or internet providers). The company provides up-front rates where every client receives a 3-range estimate, prior to the job being started. They charge by volume and include all fees, taxes, labor, loading, disposal & cleanup. Trucks that are clean, shiny and professional looking junk trucks. And finally, the company has friendly uniformed drivers; truck team members in full consistent uniform, providing a great customer experience. All of these elements make the experience pleasant and enjoyable!

Inspiration

The company was started in 1989 by Brian Scudamore in Vancouver, Canada, at the age of 18. While sitting at a McDonalds drive thru, he had the idea by seeing a rusty, beat-up pickup truck, and began his journey, right before dropping out of college to pursue his entrepreneurship venture. Brian Scudamore invested $700 on an old beat-up rusty pickup to begin his journey. The original name of the company was “The Rubbish Boys.” In 1998, he franchised the company with the name of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? They currently have about 180 franchise locations through Canada, USA, and Australia. This makes them the World’s Largest Junk Removal Service. Their franchise came about by the alliance of 3 different franchise partners coming together. Two of them joined forces in 2008 and the last one joined in 2014. They currently stand as the 3rd largest franchise in the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? System.

Today, according to Alberto Mijarez, People & Culture Manager, their mission is to “provide full service junk removal and do it better than anyone on the planet. We provide a manner of disposing of unwanted items that is responsible and green.” Their purpose for doing this innovation is to create an environmentally friendly and green way of keeping items from landfills and recycling and donating all that they take.

Overall impact

By donating and recycling the items that they remove from their customers, they are able to help the environment, while also reducing their expenses of disposal. They pay by tonnage when taking items to their transfer stations and by recycling and donating items, they are able to save costs in that manner. They impact the society because they can provide a second home to a portion of the items they remove, by working with local donation centers, non-profits and religious groups to donate items, as possible. Additionally, they can provide an alternative to disposal of household items, that may alternatively end up in landfills or polluting the environment. The transfer stations that they work with, recycle the items they dispose of and keep them from ending in a landfill.

1-800-GOT JUNK? Has alternative ways of disposing and handling items. For example, they offer a proper and safe removal & disposal of electronics (e waste); “preventing harmful chemicals many electronics contain toxic metals like lead, mercury and cadmium from damaging the environment.” They provide a safe and un-stressful way of ensuring the proper disposal of appliance/electronics without harming the environment or causing danger in their clients’ neighborhoods. This innovation saves their clients time, offers affordable pricing and promotes social and environmental responsibility.

With this said, it is important to note that this company provides an alternative to landfills, which long term can have a very negative impact on the environment and resources for future generations to come.

Business benefit

1-800-GOT-JUNK?, is the world’s largest junk-removal franchiser “with more than 200 locations covering 48 of the top 50 metro areas in North America.” This company has earned many national and international business awards because of its great surge in growth, corporate culture and management practices. Alberto Mijarez shared that recently, the company was top of Watson Wyatt’s list of the “Best Companies to Work for in British Columbia twice. Vancouver-based 1-800-GOT-JUNK? has more than 1,050 friendly uniformed employees who drive 455 trucks and post annual system-wide revenue of $70 million”. For the entire company, they are on target for $300 million for 2018 across the system.

Social and environmental benefit

This company provides an essential component for keeping our environment clean and safe. As 1-800-GOT-JUNK? continues to grow and expand throughout the world, they find it important to maintain their relationships with their current clients. They have a professional team that works in a timely, friendly and respectful fashion. Additionally, as our technology evolves, the company is finding better and safer ways to dispose of electronics and to make sure to prevent any harm to the environment by recycling and donating items. With their great service and their influence on environmental responsibility, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? serves as a leader of this market and a go-to for many families and businesses.

Interview

Alberto Mijarez, People & Culture Manager