Most people look at Canada’s trade war, innovation slump and economic uncertainty as significant challenges.
Brian Scudamore sees opportunity.
Through the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? founder’s 36-year entrepreneurial journey, most of his successes were born out of failures.
From his vantage point, the more obstacles he and his O2E Brands parent company confront, the greater the upside.
“If you look at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s early days, all the great things came from seemingly dark moments or mistakes,” he says. “No one likes to fail, but I’m a big believer in failure — that you learn from them how to adjust in a way that makes you better.”
Failing in school drove Scudamore to entrepreneurship. Firing his entire staff five years later led to a hiring philosophy that spawned a home services empire. Leaning into rejection led to a media strategy that made 1-800-GOT-JUNK? a household brand.
After unsuccessfully applying to join the panel of CBC’s Dragon’s Den — twice — Scudamore says his latest fruitful attempt came at the perfect time.
He’s even confident that selling one of O2E’s struggling brands — the moving company You Move Me — will inevitably lead to greater opportunities to expand its portfolio, which includes Wow 1 Day Painting and the exterior cleaning company Shack Shine.
Today, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? generates about $650 million in annual revenue, while it’s two sister brands contribute $100 million. O2E Brands supports about 250 franchise owners and 6,000 employees in Canada, the U.S. and Australia.
Just as those personal setbacks gave way to greater opportunities in Scudamore’s professional life, he believes the same is also true with our collective challenges.
“The biggest periods of innovation — if you look back in world history — have all come out of challenging situations,” he says. “I believe in possibility, and I’m fortunate to understand that failure often leads to new possibilities.”
The Star recently talked with Scudamore on the phone as he strolled around his vacation home in Whistler where he talked about the keys to entrepreneurial success, learning outside the classroom and embracing failure.
Did you view entrepreneurship as an alternative to education?
When I was 18, I was one course shy of graduating high school. I wanted to follow my friends who were going to university, but my parents weren’t going to fund my education.
I was in a McDonald’s drive-through trying to figure out how I was going to cover tuition, and in front of me was this old beat-up pickup truck with plywood panels that said, “Mark’s Hauling” and it was filled with junk. I realized that was my ticket; not to building an empire, but to paying for university.
I only had $1,000 in savings at the time, so I put $700 into an old pickup truck and the rest into flyers and business cards. That business ended up paying for itself in two weeks, and I ended up having enough for college.
I attended Concordia, then UBC, but realized I was learning more by running a business, so I decided to drop out of school. I never dropped out of learning; I just found different ways to educate myself.
Did you always struggle in school?
My teachers found me humorous and entertaining, but also an irritant and a problem kid. I later learned that as an entrepreneur with ADHD I had a hard time focusing in class.
I have old report cards and a lot of them say things like, “Brian’s too hyper” or “he’s a smart kid, but he’s a disrupter” or “if only he could sit still and pay attention.”
Back then people weren’t aware of ADHD, but I’ve learned a lot since.
How do you manage it now?
You can medicate or go to therapy, but I chose to embrace it as a gift.
I know when I’m interested in a subject, I can have a maniacal focus, and that serves me well. But I get distracted easily.
I’m out for a walk right now because it would be hard to sit for this interview; I’d rather move around. I actually have my assistant schedule my calls for when I’m in the car, because I think differently when there’s movement.
When I go on vacation, I ask my assistant to change my password on my email and social media accounts, so I’m not distracted away from my family.
I also tend to drink a lot of coffee, which has a similar makeup to some of the medications they give adults with ADHD to help them focus.
Why did you want to go from one brand to many?
With my ADHD brain I was craving a new outlet for my creativity. We were looking for another business for many years, and in 2010 I happened to get my house painted. I got some referrals from friends and the first few places I called were very mom and pop, needed days or weeks to finish, and were not very professional.
Then I called one guy who came in a shiny van, wore a uniform, and said he could paint the whole house in a day. I didn’t think it could be done, so I put him to the test, and after I came home at the end of the day to an immaculate home freshly painted from top to bottom, I bought the company.
And then a few years later the same thing happened when I tried to get my gutters cleaned and struggled to find someone who could bring that professionalism, but there was one company that was doing it. After meeting them we merged, and I eventually bought Shack Shine.
What about the fourth business?
We went into the moving space thinking we could consolidate home services, and after eight years we realized the business just didn’t have the happiness factor.
When junk disappears, when your home gets painted or cleaned, you’re excited by the transformation. Moving is a stressful experience, even when it goes well. It’s a tough business, and we gave it eight years to try and fix those problems before throwing in the towel and selling it at break-even.
It was a challenging time, but it was one of the best things that ever happened to us.
How so?
One day there may be a fourth business, or a fifth, and now we know we’re looking for an industry where our customers feel good about the work we’re doing for them.
We learned that no matter how much money we could make or how much we could grow, we can only operate what I would consider a “happy business.”
Where did this appreciation for failure come from?
As my career grew, I realized I’m good at learning from failure. In fact, I wrote a book about it, “WTF?!: Willing to Fail.”
Most of our franchise owners come to us saying they always wanted their own business but only pursued it after they got laid off or some other seemingly negative change in their life.
People don’t often choose entrepreneurship — it’s scary, it costs money, there’s lots of risk and no guarantees — but every successful entrepreneur starts somewhere, often after some kind of failure.
Are you concerned by the country’s declining productivity and innovation?
Not at all. These things go in cycles, and the numbers are lower for good reason; it’s been easier for people to find good jobs.
When I was in that McDonald’s drive through, I couldn’t find a summer job, and I was forced to create my own. Everyone fears AI, and there are some scary parts, but the opportunity is yes, people will lose their work, but they’ll be forced to think differently. The biggest periods of innovation, if you look back in world history, have all come out of challenging situations.
It’s easier today than ever to start a business thanks to the internet and AI and the ability to reach people. It’s easier to run my business today at $750 million in revenue than when I was at $1 million, thanks to technology.
What about tariffs?
We are affected by them, but I try not to think about those macro things I can’t control.
There’s a company I invested in on Vancouver Island called Mint Cleaning, and they used the tariffs as an opportunity to tell a story about Canadian pride in the media. Their business has doubled since appearing on Dragon’s Den less than a year ago, thanks in part to the tariffs.
Had you invested in companies prior to joining Dragon’s Den?
Not a penny.
I’m lucky I was seated next to Arlene; she gave me lots of advice and coached me through it.
How did you end up on the show?
I applied for season one, and I know now I wouldn’t have had the time to dedicate to it.
By the third time I applied I felt like it was something I really wanted at this stage of my career; I want to take what I’ve learned and help Canadian entrepreneurs learn from some of my failures.
My second season premiered this week, and I’ve loved every minute of it, because I feel like I can make a real difference. I’ve also had the chance to learn from the other dragons.
I recently had lunch with Jim Treliving of Boston Pizza, he’s 84 years old, and he’s still very active in his businesses. I realized that’s what I want; I want to also be 84 years old, with that big smile, still involved in building a great business.
