Franchising USA have your say Tania Venn, Director of Public Relations, You Move Me The vision of a world- class, customer-focused moving brand came to entrepreneur Brian Scudamore during his own experience with moving. The movers he hired were unprofessional, broke things, and failed to demonstrate the standard of care one should expect from a moving company. In today’s competitive landscape a moving company cannot afford to be anything but exceptional. This notion gave Brian the inspiration to launch his third service-based company, You Move Me. The challenge Brian faced was how to develop and launch a new brand in a tired, aging industry and at a time when the economy was still struggling to recover from the worst recession in more than 20 years. Brian had two aces up his sleeve that he was certain would result in a win for the new brand. The first was his talent for transitioning unappealing, flagging businesses into unique, even sexy, customer-centric brands. Brian is widely known as the pioneer of professional junk removal after he founded 1-800-GOT- JUNK? and became the first to organize a dishevelled North American junk removal industry. In 2010, Brian was so impressed by an innovative local company that promised to paint his house in just one YOU MOVE ME IS OUT TO MOVE PEOPLE, NOT JUST THEIR BOXES
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Franchising USA
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Tania Venn, Director of Public Relations, You Move Me
the vision of a world-class, customer-focused moving brand came to entrepreneur brian Scudamore during his own experience with moving.
The movers he hired were unprofessional, broke things, and failed to demonstrate the
standard of care one should expect from a moving company. In today’s competitive landscape a moving company cannot afford to be anything but exceptional. This notion gave Brian the inspiration to launch his third service-based company, You Move Me.
The challenge Brian faced was how to develop and launch a new brand in a tired, aging industry and at a time when the economy was still struggling to recover from the worst recession in more than
20 years. Brian had two aces up his sleeve that he was certain would result in a win for the new brand. The first was his talent for transitioning unappealing, flagging businesses into unique, even sexy, customer-centric brands. Brian is widely known as the pioneer of professional junk removal after he founded 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and became the first to organize a dishevelled North American junk removal industry. In 2010, Brian was so impressed by an innovative local company that promised to paint his house in just one
y o u m ov e m e
iS oUt to move PeoPLe, not JUSt their boxeS
Franchising USA
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of valuables, how our furniture will fit into our new home, how to get the move done before the kids come home from school, and maybe even what to do with the pet bird during the process. Stress is the common denominator with moves and You Move Me was built to tackle it.
You Move Me’s mission statement is “We move you, not just your boxes.” It’s a short statement, with a promise to take care of your stress and emotional well-being, leaving you moved - both physically and emotionally—by the service. The customer experience starts with a personal
welcome call from the You Move Me team to confirm the details of the move. On the morning of the big day that same team contacts the customer for their coffee order, because keeping the coffee maker out would just get in the way (and besides, who has time?). As a token of the company’s thanks, and to brighten the customer’s new home, they leave behind a beautiful housewarming plant. The kids can be occupied with one of You Move Me’s cool wardrobe boxes, which double as a children’s space-themed play fort. There are four quality promises at the core
day that he bought the company and began franchising WOW 1 DAY Painting.
The second ace up his sleeve was the older sibling of You Move Me, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. With close to 200 franchises across three countries and recognition in the media as a top performing franchise with a high franchisee satisfaction rate, there was no shortage of proven, scalable systems for the younger brand to leverage.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 14 percent of Americans move every year. Whether they are moving locally, across the country, or even off the continent, that’s 47 million people at any given time on the move. They’re all looking for a dependable, professional, affordable moving service, and there are many companies vying to be the first in line. Stepping into this industry as a newcomer requires a stellar service offering and a fail-proof plan (which turned out to involve a precedent-setting move in the franchise world – but more on that later). Brian spent the better part of a year working closely with a group of executive leaders and franchise owners on the You Move Me brand philosophy, customer focus, and competitive advantages. As many great entrepreneurial companies have demonstrated, a guiding mission statement is a powerful tool for alignment and vision. For You Move Me, the mission statement came from a dedication to customer need. A simple Google search will tell you that when it comes to moving, the customer’s need is to mitigate stress. Moving is seldom easy. We are dealing with a range of circumstances, from moving as a result of a break-up to downsizing from the family home where we raised our children. Even in the most positive of circumstances, moving is stressful. There’s the worry about breakage
“there are four quality promises at the core of You move me’s customer service: on-time service; clean, shiny trucks; friendly, uniformed movers;
and up-front rates.”
Franchising USA
of You Move Me’s customer service: on-time service; clean, shiny trucks; friendly, uniformed movers; and up-front rates. You Move Me specializes in local moves and offers customers a full service, including packing, moving, and all the supplies required.
Developing a fresh new alternative that suited North American movers was one half of Brian Scudamore’s strategy. Part two was launching a brand destined for success. The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch recently posted a story about failed franchises and found through the research firm, Frandata, that between two and ten percent of franchises close every year for various reasons. There was no question Brian and his team would leverage the franchise infrastructure and systems at 1-800-GOT-JUNK? and WOW 1 DAY Painting. To ensure You Move Me had the best chance of success, Brian came up with a unique strategy to seed the growth of the new company: he offered the first moving franchises to the top performers from his well-established brand, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?.
“According to the U.S. census bureau, about 14 percent of Americans move every year. Whether
they are moving locally, across the country, or even off the continent, that’s 47 million people at
any given time on the move.”
“We knew we couldn’t fail with the combination of this fun company that is dedicated to the needs of the customer, in the hands of our very best 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchise partners. And so we offered them the exclusive opportunity to become the first franchise owners,” Brian Scudamore explains.
In April 2013, You Move Me had an unprecedented launch with 25 franchises opening in major metros throughout the U.S. and Canada, effectively bringing the new service to 40 million people overnight. The company took the franchise opportunity to the public in October and expects to have 30 franchises in operation, and revenues of $5.7M, by the end of the year. The goal for 2014 is 50 franchise partners and revenues of $14M.
In today’s world competitive distinction is
critical to the success of any brand. You Move Me demonstrates how leveraging the success of one company can give sister companies a head start toward growth. “At 1-800-GOT-JUNK? we like to say that we make the ordinary business of junk removal exceptional. That customer focus has yielded amazing results for us, and we are taking that same approach with You Move Me,” Brian Scudamore says.
