BOTHELL – Jeff Hill left a high-paying job in the wireless phone industry two years ago to run his own business in the low-tech, little regarded field of junk.
But he thinks it may have been his smartest career move to date, as he’s part of a fast-growing business that capitalizes on people’s need to get rid of stuff: couches, old appliances, even dirt.
Since launching his 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchise about a year ago, the Bothell resident has rapidly expanded his service area and added several employees. His territory extends from Monroe, Snohomish and Mill Creek to south King County.
“What sets us apart is we’re bringing service to an industry that isn’t known for service,” Hill said. “Basically, we try to wow the customer, which is something they’d never expect from a junk company.”
Also unexpectedly, it was 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s technology that initially attracted Hill to the company.
All pickup appointments are coordinated through a central call center in Vancouver, B.C., which then notifies its local franchisees through text messages and an electronic schedule that Hill can check from his home office.
“This company just really jumped out at me,” said 33-year-old Hill, who previously was director of financial services for T-Mobile.
It’s a far cry from the way most junk haulers, the majority of whom are independent, one- or two-person operations, have traditionally done business.
Which may explain why Canadian-based 1-800-GOT-JUNK? has seen enormous success since its start in 1989. That was the year that its chief executive, Brian Scudamore, spent $700 to buy a truck and haul junk so he could raise money to attend college.
The company’s expansion began a decade later. In 1999, revenue was $1 million; it will be an estimated $36 million this year. During that same period, the number of franchisees in the United States and Canada has rocketed from one to 126 as of last week, said spokeswoman Katie Dunsworth.
“It’s definitely taken off a lot in the last year and a half,” said Nick Wood, owner of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s Seattle franchise, which serves a swath of south Snohomish County extending up through Edmonds and Lynnwood.
Wood was the company’s third franchisee when he lived in Canada. After he moved to Seattle, the new franchise he launched in 2000 was just the company’s eighth. After surviving a dip in business during 2003, it has rebounded, he said.
Like other haulers, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? will take nearly anything that the garbage truck or charities won’t.
“Nothing hazardous – no liquid waste or anything like that. It’s typically anything two people can carry,” Hill said. The most common item customers want picked up is couches, followed by refrigerators and other large appliances.
A customer just has to call the company’s number, the same as the corporate name, and schedule a pickup with the operator, who uses the company’s self-designed software, JunkNet.
When one of the company’s custom-designed trucks painted in blue and green shows up, the driver and his assistant will give the customer a price estimate. In the case of Hill’s franchise, the minimum pickup price is $88, while a load that takes up the entire truck – the equivalent of eight couches – is $518, he said.
Up to 60 percent of the items hauled away are recycled in some way -thrift shops, eBay brokers or commercial recyclers. Other items are hauled to transfer stations or dumps.
Drivers and other workers wear uniforms that match the trucks and carry brooms to clean up after hauling away an item.
Dorcus Harb, a real estate agent at Windermere’s office in Edmonds, has used or recommended 1-800-GOT-JUNK? for clients who need a hauling service.
“What I like is they always clean up afterwards,” she said.
Since starting up his franchise in November 2003, Hill has expanded to two trucks and expects to add a third in the spring. When the business gets busy again after winter, he expects to employ up to five workers beside himself.
“For where I’m at, one year into it, I’m pretty happy,” said Hill, who has been able to make a small salary so far. “I’m still treating it like a first-year business, though, what I’m making I’m putting back into a marketing campaign.”
A native of Spokane, Hill ran his own lost-luggage retrieval business there before moving to the Puget Sound area and getting into the wireless industry. He said he is enjoying the small business experience again, even though it’s meant downsizing his living expenses for the time being.
In addition to the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchises owned by Hill and Wood, a Tacoma-based one recently launched. Everett and north Snohomish County aren’t yet covered by a franchise, but Hill is thinking about adding it to his business.
“I want to be really thoughtful about growth and make sure I’m first getting the most I can out of the existing territory,” he said.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
