Quick business for bootstrapping. Feedback appreciated.

[Mike.B]

After seeing this business in a few other cities, I decided to try it in my area to raise capital for some other ideas. I've researched most of the other companies doing this and have employed a few of their methods. I would still like to get some feedback here. This is not a long term business or my fastlane goal. Main thing I'd like to know is, what would turn you off to using our services. Our site is: "Removed for SEO"

Thanks

 

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[Amail]

Your site looks really nice. I like that it's simplistic theme mimics the simplicity of Ikea.

• You need some testimonials.
• In your "About" page, include photos of your truck and your driver. Maybe an action shot of the truck pulled up to someone's house dropping off their order.
• I like your countdown timer until your next trip.
• Fix your spelling error "Our shipping is cheaper than IKEA's® flate rate shipping". Nothing turns me off quicker than bad grammar or spelling on a website - it screams amateur. Think of it like a resume; no mistakes aloud.
• I don't know what Ikea's shipping rates are. You might add another field in your calculator that shows what they would charge versus what you charge.

I think it's a great idea. I don't know about it not being fastlane. I could see scaling it by buying more trucks, hiring employees for pickup and delivery, expand to other areas, and offer pickup from other stores. Showcase your unique value front and center, drum your brand into your potential customers' heads, and become a trusted operation. It's not fastlane the way Angry Birds is fastlane, but every business is different. I think you could be extremely successful starting with this model.

 

[PatrickP]

NICE website and idea to me.

I would take the clock off. It would turn me off as many people think I want it NOW! It takes that dream away. You still would only make deliveries on the day you decide but let the person talk to you and then say ok Mrs Smith I am going to push your deliver ahead and we can have it to you by Friday (or whatever day)

To me that would sound to me like WOW they are really pushing the delivery to help me out. Rather than a count down clock where I see hours and minutes and seconds and it seems so far away.

I would not use photos of the truck and driver. Couple reasons, sell the sizzle not the steak. Moving is like sausage. You likes the end result but you don't want to see how it is done.

Also trying to get an amazing photo of the driver (do you have a GREAT looking model like driver or what if a different driver shows up and they freak out a little) and truck to be as high quality as what is on your site now, I think would be about impossible. Sell the concept/dream just the way you are. Showing all the furniture at home all put together.

What about also offering to put the stuff together for the people who have it delivered?

I don't understand the order form.

What does this mean isn't this the heart of your business? Are you actually purchasing the furniture for them? If so I would not use your service. What if I send you a couple grand and you never pay for the furniture.

You can add home delivery for an additional charge
I want home deliveryHome delivery is an additional $45.00

 

[Amail]

I would take the clock off. It would turn me off as many people think I want it NOW! It takes that dream away. You still would only make deliveries on the day you decide but let the person talk to you and then say ok Mrs Smith I am going to push your deliver ahead and we can have it to you by Friday (or whatever day)

To me that would sound to me like WOW they are really pushing the delivery to help me out. Rather than a count down clock where I see hours and minutes and seconds and it seems so far away.

I see it differently. To me it shows they have a schedule they stick to. It's like advertising "We make trips every Friday", but it's more engaging to see the time ticking away. I get your point about alienating the impulse buyers. Maybe offer premium off-schedule trips for folks that Need It Now.

I would not use photos of the truck and driver. Couple reasons, sell the sizzle not the steak. Moving is like sausage. You likes the end result but you don't want to see how it is done.

If your truck is a beat up Chevy pulling an open trailer, then I agree. If it's a decent looking truck, then I say show it. I want to see there's some substance behind your nice photos, that you have the hardware to make deliveries. If you want to know what will make me trust buying from you, show me your fleet. Same goes for your driver (probably you or your SO). I'm perfectly happy seeing a photo captioned "Meet Manny, our fearless driver" with Manny smiling next to your 24' white panel truck. Or whatever. I don't think that needs to be pretty, it just needs to show you're a legitimate delivery operation.

 

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[PatrickP]

I see it differently. To me it shows they have a schedule they stick to. It's like advertising "We make trips every Friday", but it's more engaging to see the time ticking away. I get your point about alienating the impulse buyers. Maybe offer premium off-schedule trips for folks that Need It Now.

If your truck is a beat up Chevy pulling an open trailer, then I agree. If it's a decent looking truck, then I say show it. I want to see there's some substance behind your nice photos, that you have the hardware to make deliveries. If you want to know what will make me trust buying from you, show me your fleet. Same goes for your driver (probably you or your SO). I'm perfectly happy seeing a photo captioned "Meet Manny, our fearless driver" with Manny smiling next to your 24' white panel truck. Or whatever. I don't think that needs to be pretty, it just needs to show you're a legitimate delivery operation.

I probably didn't explain it very well. They can still do the deliveries say ever Tues and Friday or whatever they are currently doing. BUT they make it seem like they are making a special trip JUST for you!. It is making the customer thinks wow they are doing is special for me. If I were a customer I would think ok I sign up and they bring out my item as soon as they can. BUT if I see the timer and see 2 days 12 hours 3 mins and 20 seconds I think WTF Amazon does it next day(I realize Amazon doesn't do furniture lol)

To me I see the timer as a negative and even if not a negative I don't see how I would EVER think it is a positive when it makes me feel like I have to work around THEIR schedule.




The testimonials with a picture of the satisfied customer will show they actually do what they say they are doing. I think it would make the site look cheap and shoddy. I would think WHAT they only have one truck???? You ruin the image of WOW that the first page of the website gives you thinking it is a great professional company and then I see a pic of Lenny standing next to a pick up truck(guessing the OP doesn't have a new beautiful truck all shrunk wrapped with their company name logo etc.

Or even if they have a beautiful 20' panel truck(Not sure any woman would think ANY truck is beautiful and they make 90% of the furniture decisions) I would think WOW they really only have 1 truck they are the same as the guy who puts an ad in the local Penny Saver saying they will move my junk.

As a potential customer I just want to see what other satisfied customers think. I don't need to see a truck and some driver to ruin the dream/picture I have in my head of my brand new Ikea furniture sitting in my house impressing my guests.

 

[Chitown]

Speed ++

 

[Chitown]

PatrickP and Amail,

Speed ++ to you both for divergent, yet, valuable and incisive advice.

 

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[Mike39]

Love the web design, simple and visually appealing! Did you do it yourself or did you hire?

 

[Mike.B]

Fix your spelling error "Our shipping is cheaper than IKEA's® flate rate shipping". Nothing turns me off quicker than bad grammar or spelling on a website - it screams amateur. Think of it like a resume; no mistakes aloud.

Fixed! Thanks, didn't even notice that.

In your "About" page, include photos of your truck and your driver. Maybe an action shot of the truck pulled up to someone's house dropping off their order.

Good idea. I wasn't sure if should add more photos or action shots.

I don't know what Ikea's shipping rates are. You might add another field in your calculator that shows what they would charge versus what you charge.

I'm trying to work this in to the calculator. Not sure how it's going to work yet.

 

[Mike.B]

What about also offering to put the stuff together for the people who have it delivered?

This would take more time then we have right now, but definitely considering it.

I don't understand the order form.

What does this mean isn't this the heart of your business? Are you actually purchasing the furniture for them? If so I would not use your service. What if I send you a couple grand and you never pay for the furniture.

You can add home delivery for an additional charge
I want home deliveryHome delivery is an additional $45.00

Yes we are purchasing the items for them. This seems to be the biggest hurdle to get over. Building trust with our customers is going to take some time. We charge an extra $45 home delivery charge if the customer wants it delivered to their front door, otherwise they can pick it up at one of our local storage facilities. We are looking at getting rid of the order form all together and doing electronic invoicing. I think this will be easier for the customers.

 

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[Sasha]

Love the site, and the other comments covered all the angles I can think of except one.

Maybe it's just me, but when I go to your site all I see is a picture, your logo, and four tabs.

Personally speaking, especially if I found you organically through a google search for ikea movers, I'd close your page immediately and move on to one of the other 2-4 sites I would have most likely opened as well.

Why? Because your landing page doesn't immediately inform me what it is you do and Expedite Ohio isn't descriptive enough of a name for me to infer it from the logo on your page.

I have to physically click your about tab to find info in regards to what you do (besides it having something to do with furniture as implied via the background pic).

At the very least, the paragraph under "We Save You Time and Money" on your about page with perhaps everything in the left column (time ticker to save even more statement) should be on the home page.

 

[Mike.B]

I see it differently. To me it shows they have a schedule they stick to. It's like advertising "We make trips every Friday", but it's more engaging to see the time ticking away. I get your point about alienating the impulse buyers. Maybe offer premium off-schedule trips for folks that Need It Now.

I think it also gives the customer a sense of urgency when they see they only have a day or two left to order. I could be totally wrong on this.

 

[JasonR]

What happens when Ikea gets wind of this, and decides to change their shipping policy to lower shipping costs of individual items?

Just a thought... (I'm thinking of the Control commanded from TMF book).

 

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[PatrickP]

This would take more time then we have right now, but definitely considering it.




Yes we are purchasing the items for them. This seems to be the biggest hurdle to get over. Building trust with our customers is going to take some time. We charge an extra $45 home delivery charge if the customer wants it delivered to their front door, otherwise they can pick it up at one of our local storage facilities. We are looking at getting rid of the order form all together and doing electronic invoicing. I think this will be easier for the customers.

Why not do it the way other Ikea delivery companies do. They simply buy the furniture, give you a call and you deliver the stuff. Seem like a simple way to do things is getting overly complicated.

 

[PatrickP]

What happens when Ikea gets wind of this, and decides to change their shipping policy to lower shipping costs of individual items?

Just a thought... (I'm thinking of the Control commanded from TMF book).

I am not sure Ikea really cares about a tiny little delivery company.

Or hey maybe they will buy his company out if he is big enough

In the OP he stated it isn't fastlane just something to get going and make some money.

 

[Mike.B]

Love the web design, simple and visually appealing! Did you do it yourself or did you hire?

Actually, it's a free template. I think the guy that designed it did a real nice job. I did tweak some things and I did the coding for the order form and calculators, but I cannot take any credit for the design.

 

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[PatrickP]

I think it also gives the customer a sense of urgency when they see they only have a day or two left to order. I could be totally wrong on this.

What would motivate a person to go online, trust you with potentially thousands of dollars, with no idea who you are and if you are even going to give the money to Ikea and waiting until you delivery day - - as opposed to calling a small local moving company and saying I am going to buy some furniture at Ikea tomorrow will you bring it to my house.

 

[Mike.B]

Love the site, and the other comments covered all the angles I can think of except one.

Maybe it's just me, but when I go to your site all I see is a picture, your logo, and four tabs.

Personally speaking, especially if I found you organically through a google search for ikea movers, I'd close your page immediately and move on to one of the other 2-4 sites I would have most likely opened as well.

Why? Because your landing page doesn't immediately inform me what it is you do and Expedite Ohio isn't descriptive enough of a name for me to infer it from the logo on your page.

I have to physically click your about tab to find info in regards to what you do (besides it having something to do with furniture as implied via the background pic).

At the very least, the paragraph under "We Save You Time and Money" on your about page with perhaps everything in the left column (time ticker to save even more statement) should be on the home page.

Very little of our traffic is organic right now, but you bring up some very good points. We might have to tweak the design a little more.

 

[Amail]

What happens when Ikea gets wind of this, and decides to change their shipping policy to lower shipping costs of individual items?

Just a thought... (I'm thinking of the Control commanded from TMF book).

If I were Ikea, I would never try to fight independents delivering their product for a fee. Ikea is in the furniture sales business, not the delivery business. Delivery is an overhead expense that I suspect they'd rather not have. It would only hurt Ikea to lower their shipping fees. Let the indies handle the distribution, and enjoy the fact you have access to more remote customers.

The only thing that would hurt this business is if Ikea decided to open a store in their area.

 

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[Mike.B]

What happens when Ikea gets wind of this, and decides to change their shipping policy to lower shipping costs of individual items?

They have already adjusted shipping costs to ship within a certain distance from the store location.

 

[Mike.B]

Why not do it the way other Ikea delivery companies do. They simply buy the furniture, give you a call and you deliver the stuff. Seem like a simple way to do things is getting overly complicated.

If they buy the furniture through IKEA, they have to go to the local store or have it shipped via IKEA's preferred shippers. A lot of their items aren't available online and cannot be shipped.

 

[Mike.B]

What would motivate a person to go online, trust you with potentially thousands of dollars, with no idea who you are and if you are even going to give the money to Ikea and waiting until you delivery day - - as opposed to calling a small local moving company and saying I am going to buy some furniture at Ikea tomorrow will you bring it to my house.

Unfortunately I can't answer this. I believe we are going to have to build trust with people and build a name before people start to trust us with large orders. I have been studying other businesses that are doing this very same thing to get some ideas.

 

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[mayana]

Delivery is an overhead expense that I suspect they'd rather not have

I would say that you are right on the money here. Ikea has been successful because they are as efficient as possible. Their core competency is not furniture in general, but furniture that is appealing and can be packaged into space efficient boxes that can maximize the way a container is filled. I wouldn't think that they would care about you delivering their products.

 

[PatrickP]

If they buy the furniture through IKEA, they have to go to the local store or have it shipped via IKEA's preferred shippers. A lot of their items aren't available online and cannot be shipped.

No they don't. That is like saying if you buy it from IKEA you can't take it home yourself. You just go to IKEA with them and you bring it to their house. In my opinion NO WAY someone is going to trust you with hundreds if not thousands of dollars of their money hoping you are going to buy their furniture for them. BUT I have been wrong thousands of times so let's see if it works.

 

[PatrickP]

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Just had a thought! What if you worked WITH IKEA or another similar company(sorry never been to IKEA don't really know exactly what it is) you offered to delivery for FREE if the person gets your service of putting the item together.

Imagine the exposure IKEA or a competitor would give you hey we have FREE delivery when you get the assembly package. Think of how many people NEVER go to IKEA, like me because NO way I am going to pay for something and then have to assemble it. OR all the people who do NOT own a truck/big car so they can't get the thing home.

 

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[PatrickP]

I just talked to a friend of mine who owns 8 brothers helping others moving company. In his opinion from being in the moving business for 35 years, his words, NO Fing way anyone is going to pay the delivery fee BEFORE the items are delivered.

I never thought about that hurdle.

 

[Mike.B]

No they don't. That is like saying if you buy it from IKEA you can't take it home yourself. You just go to IKEA with them and you bring it to their house. In my opinion NO WAY someone is going to trust you with hundreds if not thousands of dollars of their money hoping you are going to buy their furniture for them. BUT I have been wrong thousands of times so let's see if it works.

You do go to IKEA to buy yourself, or you have it shipped. Making a trip for one persons order would be a losing proposition.

 

[Mike.B]

I just talked to a friend of mine who owns 8 brothers helping others moving company. In his opinion from being in the moving business for 35 years, his words, NO Fing way anyone is going to pay the delivery fee BEFORE the items are delivered.

I never thought about that hurdle.

I beg to differ. These companies are making it work.

Home
Omaha Modern is THE source for IKEA furniture in Omaha!
Expedite STL
ModernLV - Bring IKEA to Vegas
Blue Box Delivery - Your IKEA Kansas City Delivery Alternative
Solierun offers an Ikea shopping service, an Ikea delivery service, an Ikea furniture assembly service, and now an Ikea shipping service for consumers of Ikea and ready to assemble furniture retailers.

And we've started to get orders! I really think it's all in building a name people can trust.

 

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[Mike.B]

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Just had a thought! What if you worked WITH IKEA or another similar company(sorry never been to IKEA don't really know exactly what it is) you offered to delivery for FREE if the person gets your service of putting the item together.

Imagine the exposure IKEA or a competitor would give you hey we have FREE delivery when you get the assembly package. Think of how many people NEVER go to IKEA, like me because NO way I am going to pay for something and then have to assemble it. OR all the people who do NOT own a truck/big car so they can't get the thing home.

I do think this has potential.

 

[PatrickP]

I beg to differ. These companies are making it work.

Home
Omaha Modern is THE source for IKEA furniture in Omaha!
Expedite STL
ModernLV - Bring IKEA to Vegas
Blue Box Delivery - Your IKEA Kansas City Delivery Alternative
Solierun offers an Ikea shopping service, an Ikea delivery service, an Ikea furniture assembly service, and now an Ikea shipping service for consumers of Ikea and ready to assemble furniture retailers.

And we've started to get orders! I really think it's all in building a name people can trust.

WOW so VERY glad to hear it Mike! Getting orders that fast is impressive.

Keep up the great work and keep us updated!