A Richmond company is expanding its “junk empire” by franchising its brand and services to other areas in B.C.
505 Junk, a waste-disposal company started by two Kwantlen Polytechnic University students in 2011, just had two franchises open, in the Fraser Valley and Tri City area.
“There is a big demand in the industry. We hope to provide our services to more people and help more business owners succeed,” said Barry Hartman, co-founder and CEO of the company.”
“It’s just the beginning. We want to open about 75 locations across North America in the next five years.”
All the franchises will be based on 505 Junk’s business model, which has proven to be successful based on the company’s rapid growth in the past few years.
This includes a special delivery truck, designed by the company itself, which can measure the exact weight of the waste, providing an accurate charge for customers.
“It’s very fair for the clients. A lot of customers tell us that they like to be charged by exact weight so they don’t have to play a guessing game,” said Hartman.
The company also sets itself apart in the market by making a big effort to go through all the “junk” they are called to remove, and to recycle or donate as much of it as they can, minimizing the stuff that goes into the landfill.
“People’s concept of junk is different. Some junk can be very useful,” said Hartman, pointing at some furniture in his meeting room that was “saved” from a junk heap.
505 Junk also provides training and support to its franchisees, as well as testing for new prototypes.
“We really want to make sure that we’re providing the best support for our franchisees so that they can reach their goals as well,” said Hartman.
“The number one focus is to continue to expand while providing the right kind of coaching and support for the franchisees.”
Running a franchise is different from just running their own business, but Hartman calls it an “exciting challenge”.
“It’s really exciting in the sense that we get to work with really motivated people, who are driven to build their own businesses,” said Hartman.
“It’s really important to find the right people that are motivated and determined, and who share our values of environmental responsibility, treating the customers with respect and really focussing on the growth side of it, so that we can all grow together.”
He and Scott Foran, another founder, knew that they would franchise the brand from day one, when they were writing the business plan in their parents’ basement seven years ago.
“My dad was laid off around 50 years old and he started a franchise selling cruises. And I saw their life just change in a positive way. They were responsible for their own business and hiring their own people…” Hartman recalled.
“So we wanted to be able to provide the same opportunity that we created for ourselves to people across Canada.”
He said one of the new franchise managers, Harjot Bains, started at the company as a truck driver more than a year ago but always wanted to own his own business.
“We could not be more pleased to see him becoming a business owner now,” said Hartman.
“One of our company values is to provide career paths for our members, no matter what position you started in and what degree you have.”
He added that the company chose the first two franchise locations as a start because of their fast growing communities; “A growing population means growing junk and debris.”
