College Hunks Hauling Junk: What does the company do?
You can watch an interesting coverage on College Hunks Hauling Junk here
College Hunks Hauling Junk is founded in 2003 by childhood friends Nick Friedman and Omar Soliman. The company helps customers moving to another location, as well as removing junks from customers’ premise.
It’s all started modestly, with a cargo van borrowed from Omar’s mom who runs a furniture store. Before the beginning of a removal empire, Nick and Omar were doing odd jobs – working at the mall, CD store, etc. With the cargo van, they take odd jobs initially done in their neighbourhood to a new level – thus College Hunks Hauling Junk was born.
In 2007, the Washington D.C.-based College Hunks Hauling Junk takes on the franchising world, and in 5 short years, it has grown into a formidable franchise company. According to Entrepreneur.com, Collage Hunk Hauling Junk now has 108 US-wide locations, from which 92 are franchisees’ and the rest is company owned.
Lessons learned
College Hunks Hauling Junk solves a simple problem that not many really care about. The company is successful because it answers problems better than its competitors.
As we all know, moving is a real nightmare. It’s a stressful process and any help is much appreciated. That’s where College Hunks Hauling Junk moves right in: The staffs help customers to move their belongings in such a way that customers are actually relieved having their stuffs handled by the pro.
It sounds like a been-there-done-that idea, but you don’t have to do things differently to be successful; you only need to focus on doing things better than the rest.
From the Cool Runnings video, here are some tips on how to establish a business like College Hunks Hauling Junk – and be successful:
Tip 1: In a “dirty” industry, you should set high business (and aesthetic) standards
The staffs breathe “fresh air” – clean cut, with clean uniform. When your business is dealing with junks and any other not so clean stuffs, taking care the “small stuffs” – looks, cleanliness, etc. – can make a real difference.
Tip 2: Add more fun to the business
Working with College Hunks Hauling Junk is all fun; it’s like a fraternity. The company creates fun working environment that is responsible in relieving employee’s stress. The company also runs get-together activities that are also fun for its customers.
Tip 3: You don’t have to be cutting edge
You don’t have to be cutting edge; you don’t have to be tech-savvy. You can actually get business ideas that might be in your own backyard and turn them into a big business – what you need to focus on is how to unearth them and add more value to them in such a way that you have the competitive advantages over the rest.
Takeaway
Just like in any successful business, you need to work hard, do the right thing and do things right. Business opportunities come and go, but what makes a difference is your mindset; work on that and you’ll start seeing results – just ask Nick and Omar!
Check out what College Hunks Hauling Junk’s co-founders have got to say about their success
Ivan Widjaya
Learning from College Hunks Hauling Junk
Disclaimer: I receive incentives to share my views on this particular blog post, but all of the opinions are my own. My blog is a part of an online influencer network for Business on Main.