Started in 2003 by Omar Soliman and Nick Friedman, College Hunks Hauling Junk is now the fastest-growing junk-hauling franchise and moving franchise in America. Friedman recently sat down with us to talk about how his franchise compares to the competition, his goals for the franchise and what he looks for in potential franchisees.
What’s special about the College Hunks franchise?
When we began more than a decade ago, our goal was to “move the world.” It still is, and we find new ways to do that every day. It’s not just superior customer service, although that is a bedrock of our success. It’s the way we mentor young people so they learn how to run a business successfully. And it’s the way we integrate into the communities we serve, so that we’re not just a moving and removal company, but friends and neighbors.
What is the idea behind the College Hunks franchise?
Other providers of junk removal and moving services don’t inspire a lot of confidence. They’re late, or sometimes don’t show up at all. Their employees are sloppily dressed and don’t really care about good customer service. We knew that if we could offer on-time, dependable service at a good price and have clean, uniformed and enthusiastic employees, we could be a success. And we’ve been proven right.
How does College Hunks compare to its competition?
We truly believe that there is no comparison. Our “hunks” are young, energetic and neatly dressed. We inspire confidence when our trucks pull up to a residence or business. And our clients know that if something doesn’t go right, we’ll make it right, guaranteed. No other moving and removal company comes close to the satisfaction our clients report.
What do you look for in a potential franchisee?
We look for men and women who are motivated to succeed, and who have a passion for operating their own business. But we don’t just want business owners: We want franchise partners who want to mentor young people, and help grow the next generation of leaders.
Where do you see College Hunks in five years?
We are literally coast-to-coast now, with new franchise owners all across the country. Now we are working to “infill” some of the states where we have already made a good name for ourselves thanks to great franchise partners, and to enter new markets where we know we’d be a good fit for the business and residential communities.
Can you describe a typical day in the life of a franchisee?
Busy! Our franchise owners tend to start the day early, so they can be in the office and looking over the day’s jobs before the “hunks” show up for duty. Once the trucks are out, they are checking in with crews and clients, making sure everything’s going OK on each job. If not, they’ll head out to take care of any problems.
In the afternoon, our owners are working on business development. Sometimes that means a training phone call with our corporate sales and marketing staff; sometimes they’re working with us on something specific to our ever-evolving “hunkware,” our proprietary business software.
Many evenings find our owners at networking events, or the whole time (and a truck) might be taking part on a charity fundraiser or other community event.
What’s your background?
I was a senior at Pomona College when some friends and I got a beat-up cargo van to remove junk and do light deliveries for people one summer. After school I began working as a research analyst, but I realized pretty early on that a 9-to-5-desk job was not for me. I went back to deliveries and removals at night and on the weekends, and emailed my buddy Omar Soliman, who’d worked with me on it before. We decided to begin putting a business plan together, and College Hunks Hauling Junk was the result.
What motivates you to keep going?
Just looking around and seeing all the lives we’ve touched. We now have dozens of franchises, more than 30 corporate employees and a growing group of young people around the country who have worked for their local College Hunks Hauling Junk and learned valuable business skills.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
I think we would probably have worked on launching the moving side of our business sooner. Junk removal was our core service for a long time, and the moving service has been a very good compliment to that because many people need both.
Please tell us your secret to success…
Never stop looking for ways to improve what you’re doing. It’s hard to become No. 1, and you don’t want to get there and then lose it because you weren’t looking for ways to constantly be better.
What is one thing that really excites you?
Being able to come up with new ways for our franchise owners to merchandise their services back to the community. In the last year we’ve launched a smaller version of our junk-removal service, where clients can leave something out rather than have to schedule an appointment. We’ve also launched Trash Butler, a trash-removal system for condos and apartment buildings. I love the idea of taking what we do really well, and finding new ways to generate revenue while getting more satisfied customers.
Any final words for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Be ready for some long nights and weekends. Starting your own business is hard work, and that doesn’t ease up once the customers start coming in and you’re making money. But if your goal is to be in charge of your own destiny, and you’re not afraid to get good advice from people who’ve been there before, then you can make it work.
Where can people get more information on College Hunks Hauling Junk franchise opportunities?
Visit the website here.
Where can people find College Hunks Hauling Junk on social media?
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