*By Carlo Versano*
Before there was KonMari, there was 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
Brian Scudamore started the junk removal service as a way to pay for college, using his pickup to haul people's unwanted and unloved things from their homes. Since then, he branched out into house painting (WOW 1 DAY PAINTING), moving (You Move Me), and home detailing (Shack Shine) ー a thriving home improvement business under the umbrella of his company, O2E Brands.
Scudamore, whose new book "WTF?! (Willing to Fail)" documents his struggles and successes as an entrepreneur, told Cheddar that it's especially important for business leaders to highlight the ways in which they've stumbled now that social media seems to add a patina of success and happiness to everything. Nobody seems to post photos showing themselves in the midst of making a mistake, the CEO said.
"I've had plenty of dark days," Scudamore said, including bouts of depression and anxiety attacks as he worked to get his business off the ground. "I did fail a lot in the early years."
He advised entrepreneurs toying with their big idea not to worry about catching lightning in a bottle. Instead, tweak, iterate, make it better. Scudamore thinks of his stable of brands as children, he said. Sometimes they stumble and as the parent, he has to pick them back up. And, just like a parent, he still makes mistakes, too.
Scudamore's main business of junk removal has been lifted by the popularity of Marie Kondo, her book and subsequent Netflix ($NFLX) show, in which she urges people to tidy their homes by asking themselves whether items "spark joy."
While the concept is trendy now, a similar mindset has been around for decades. The success of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? is indicative of a "keeping up with the Joneses" problem in our consumer culture, Scudamore said, where we keep buying and collecting without giving much thought as to what we already have.
Does that make Scudamore the original KonMari evangelist?
"Marie Kondo's got it figured out," he said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/1-800-got-junk-ceo-says-failure-is-key-to-finding-business-success).
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
