Spotlight: Junkluggers Lugs Away Your Unwanted Junk


Spotlight: Junkluggers Offers Junk Hauling Services to Help You Get Rid of Unwanted Junk

Junk removal may not be the most exciting sounding business idea. But it’s still a necessary service for a lot of people. So that means it can be a profitable business idea for entrepreneurs willing to do a bit of hard work.

The Junkluggers & Luggers Moving provides both junk removal and moving services to customers in several different markets through a franchise system. Read more about the business below in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

Junk Hauling Services and Moving

Provides junk removal and moving services.

Founder and CEO Josh Cohen told Small Business Trends, “We offer eco-friendly junk removal services and moving services, including packing, unpacking and delivery. Aside from select hazardous materials, we can lug away just about anything, from furniture and appliances to electronics and concrete, among other items. In addition, we also provide an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional junk removal, donating, recycling and repurposing on average 70 percent of the items we remove to local charities and recycling centers and keeping tons of junk from landfills each year.”

Business Niche

Providing an eco-friendly solution.

Cohen explains, “We do our best to keep as much out of the landfill as possible, with a goal of keeping 100 percent of items picked up out of the landfill by 2020. Currently we donate or recycle as much as possible and dispose of items in the most environmentally friendly way.”

How the Business Got Started

Because of a simple idea.

Cohen says, “In 2004, I was 21 and studying in Australia during a semester break from the University of Connecticut. A friend mentioned that he made $100 hauling away a refrigerator from a neighbor. I thought, ‘Hey, I can do that!’ After I returned to the United States, I hit the streets handing out homemade fliers all around town. Soon the phones began to ring and I quickly realized there was a demand for a reliable, professional and eco-focused junk removal service.”

Junklugger Junk Hauling Services - Truck

Biggest Win

Starting a franchise program.

Cohen says, “Junkluggers began franchising in 2013 after I realized I was spreading myself a little too thin while overseeing operations in Connecticut, New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey. Cut to a few years later, and The Junkluggers is operating franchised locations all over the country with many more to open in the coming years! We have the experience, the corporate team, and the passion to help others achieve their dreams of small business ownership in this growing service industry.”

Biggest Risk

Selling off corporate locations to franchisees.

Cohen explains, “It was a profitable chain of locations and short term we gave up a lot of cash, but to take things to the next level, it was a great move.”

Lesson Learned

Take the hiring process seriously.

Cohen says, “Having the wrong people and having them on the wrong seats on the bus really slowed down our progress. While there are so many good people that may be qualified on paper to become a part of your company, you have to make sure you jive and can work well together towards common goals.”

Junklugger Junk Hauling Services - Service with a Smile

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

A company boat.

Cohen says, “I would take the team out on it all of the time to fish and hang out and build morale and team camaraderie. I would also use it as a remote office to do some thinking and strategic planning.”

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Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program

Images: The Junkluggers & Luggers Moving; First and third images: Founder and CEO Josh Cohen

3 Comments ▼

Annie Pilon Annie Pilon is a Senior Staff Writer for Small Business Trends, covering entrepreneur profiles, interviews, feature stories, community news and in-depth, expert-based guides. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring all that her home state of Michigan has to offer.

3 Reactions
  1. If you’re willing to work hard and do things other people don’t want to do, there will always be a market for that.

  2. With the new trend on minimalism, the amount of junk that needs to be moved is getting bigger. I guess this is a great service to have at such a time.

  3. And while you and your team are out on the boat all of the time, bonding and thinking of strategic moves, I am sure you will be picking up trash out of the waters….