College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk and Moving

37 So, we quit our jobs, we went in full-time as junk haulers and movers, and were able to get our first truck and our logo and website. We were met with some skepticism; people would say, ‘You’re going to quit your jobs to haul junk? The company’s going to be called “College Hunks”? Are you throwing away your college degree to start a trash business? You sure about that?’ But we used that as motivation to keep going and keep building. NICK FRIEDMAN, COLLEGE HUNKS’ PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER Florida.It ended upwinning first prize ahead of about 150 entries.That gave us a littlemore confidence in the idea-a little bit more credibility for the concept. But we still graduated fromcollege and got ‘regular’ jobs after school,becauseweweren’t ready to start the business on a full scale. “This was in 2004.About sixmonths into the corpo- rateworld,I emailedOmar,who is nowmybusiness partner,and said,‘What’s our timeline for launching this business because I’mgetting kind of antsy sitting in this cubicle,’and he emailedme back in all capital letters: ‘MYTIMELINE’S RIGHTNOW! LET’SDOTHIS.’ “So,we quit our jobs,wewent in full-time as junk haulers andmovers,andwere able to get our first truck and our logo andwebsite.Weweremet with some skepticism; peoplewould say,‘You’re going to quit your jobs to haul junk?The company’s going to be called “CollegeHunks”?Are you throwing awayyour college degree to start a trash business?You sure about that?’ But we used that asmotivation to keep going and keep building. “Whenwe first started,wewere doing all thework ourselves,sowere driving the truck,answering the phone,hauling the junk.We had the 800 number routed to our cell phone and peoplewould call to complain about erraticdriving from the number on the backof the truckand I’d be the one in the driver’s seat apologizing from the other end,saying‘We don’t condone that type of driving in our company.We’ll tell the drivers to be safer when theyget back to the office.’ We probablyfired ourselves three or four times that first year. “We started to burn out a little bit,because there’s