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Before 1-800-GOT-JUNK? was a success, its founder Brian Scudamore hit a stretch where he could barely afford to pay his staff. He had to forego his own salary and would write himself a check each payday and then stuff it in his desk, unable to cash it.

Eventually there were 17 paychecks in his desk. “And they weren’t big paychecks,” Scudamore said.

The junk removal company with the catchy name now has 1,000 trucks in almost 200 locations across three countries, and Scudamore has no trouble paying his staff or himself.

Scudamore related the story while talking, via videoconference from Vancouver, with students in the “Entrepreneurial Mindset and Innovation” class. He talked about the importance of having a vision while starting a company, and maintaining a belief that things will work out when hard times hit. Scudamore also emphasized the importance of learning from failure and mistakes.

“Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you they’ve been on the verge of bankruptcy a ton of times,” said Scudamore, whose company never filed. “I believe every mistake I made was a great mistake.”

Scudamore has created success by looking at a situation and figuring out how to do it better. The idea for his junk removal company came when he saw a beat-up waste removal truck in a McDonald’s drive-through and thought he could do the service better. Started as the Rubbish Boys, Scudamore bought a pickup truck for $700 while in college and broke even six weeks later. Scudamore later launched WOW 1 DAY Painting and You Move Me after having unsatisfactory experiences while hiring painting and moving contractors at his home.

A recurring theme in Scudamore’s talk was the importance of creating a culture by hiring the right people and treating them right. A litmus test for Scudamore is whether his employees are people he’d invite to a barbecue, including such traits as a good sense of humor and the ability to provide good customer service. Scudamore said he hires first on attitude and then trains on skills. He also said he recruits for core values of passion, integrity, professionalism. “You can’t compromise on people you bring in.”

Scudamore also recommended the book, by Michael E. Gerber, as a “must-read,” saying that years ago when he first discovered the book he read it twice in one sitting.

Scudamore was invited to speak to the class in part because he is featured in the  being used as part of the curriculum in our “Entrepreneurial Mindset and Innovation” course.

Learn how to take the “Entrepreneurial Mindset and Innovation” course in spring 2014.

Before 1-800-GOT-JUNK? was a success, its founder Brian Scudamore hit a stretch where he could barely afford to pay his staff. He had to forego his own salary and would write himself a check each payday and then stuff it in his desk, unable to cash it.

Eventually there were 17 paychecks in his desk. “And they weren’t big paychecks,” Scudamore said.

The junk removal company with the catchy name now has 1,000 trucks in almost 200 locations across three countries, and Scudamore has no trouble paying his staff or himself.

Scudamore related the story while talking, via videoconference from Vancouver, with students in the class. He talked about the importance of having a vision while starting a company, and maintaining a belief that things will work out when hard times hit. Scudamore also emphasized the importance of learning from failure and mistakes.

“Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you they’ve been on the verge of bankruptcy a ton of times,” said Scudamore, whose company never filed. “I believe every mistake I made was a great mistake.”