Brian Scudamore
| Brian Scudamore | |
|---|---|
| Born |
March 16, 1970 San Francisco, California, USA |
| Residence | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
Brian Scudamore (born March 16, 1970), a Canadian/American-born serial entrepreneur, is the Founder and CEO of O2E Brands, the banner company for 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING, You Move Me, and Shack Shine. He is a regular contributor to Forbes, writing about small business ownership, franchising, and building corporate culture.
Brian Scudamore was born March 16, 1970 in San Francisco. In high school, Scudamore struggled with reading difficulties and had trouble completing a grade 12 math class. When he failed the exam, he decided to drop out rather than retake the class. Despite not finishing high school, he convinced Concordia University’s admissions department that he would be a good fit for their business program, and they accepted him. Scudamore would leave Concordia two years later to attend the University of British Columbia and be geographically closer to his business. His father, a liver transplant surgeon, was initially disappointed when Scudamore dropped out of university in 1993 to focus on The Rubbish Boys full time.
In 1989, Scudamore was waiting in line at a McDonald's drive-thru when he noticed a gritty pickup truck advertising a junk removal service. Scudamore, thinking he could haul junk to pay for college, invested his entire savings of $700 into a truck of his own and started his own business. Calling it The Rubbish Boys (tagline: “We’ll stash your trash in a flash!” ), he would go door-to-door and patrol alleyways for junk that the city wouldn't take. The business took off more quickly than he’d expected, often requiring Scudamore to duck out of class to take calls. Because he felt he was learning more about business through his business rather than going to school, he dropped out to focus on the company.
The Rubbish Boys hit $1 Million in revenue in 1997, but Scudamore realized that the team of employees he’d hired didn't share his vision for the company, and let the whole group go. Adopting the motto ‘It’s All About People’, he began to hire staff who shared his goals and vision.
Scudamore decided that if he was going to professionalize a fragmented industry, the company needed a name that was catchy and easy to remember.< He settled on ‘1-800-GOT-JUNK?’, but the number was already owned by the Idaho Department of Transportation. Scudamore persisted and they eventually released it to him at no cost. Since 1998, the organization has experienced considerable growth. It currently services over two hundred locations in three countries.
...
Wikipedia