EDITOR'S NOTE: Building a Business is a yearlong series in which The Augusta Chronicle follows the progress of a local startup company, Everthere Carriers LLC, as it attempts to take its fledgling product to a national market. The following is the third story in the monthly series. >
Steve Threet used to run his startup company when he wasn't at his day job. Now that company is his day job.
Business is picking up for the Martinez-based Everthere Carriers LLC, and that means somebody has to start putting more time into the company, which makes hitch-mounted folding cargo carriers and accessories.
Last week, then, Mr. Threet, the president of the company, quit his supervisory job at Savannah River Site and was given a severance package as part of a plan to cut 1,200 jobs at the site.
With two children in college, Mr. Threet said, a part of him would have liked to stay at SRS, but the time had come to make a choice.
Although he expects it to be years before he can start making money from the carriers, Mr. Threet said he's confident he made the right choice.
"Sometimes the safest decision isn't the best decision. We're starting to see orders pick up on a daily basis, and we're getting more calls from vendors. Somebody has to be there to make that happen," he said.
What started two years ago as an idea for a convenient cargo carrier is now a $250 product being successfully mass produced, accessorized and marketed.
Over the past several months, as hundreds of the carriers have been sold at shows, over the Internet and through catalogs, talks have been under way with several major retail chains and companies with large vehicle fleets that might be in need of carriers.
The company already is in the Sportsman's Guide catalog and a Jeep enthusiast's catalog called Quadratec, and on Web sites including Etrailer.com.
Such retailers are causing sales to soar for Everthere's carrier, with twice as many units selling in February as in January.
The company's growth has meant that Mr. Threet is busier than ever on the phone, meeting with potential buyers, traveling to trade shows, or working on business planning and product development.
"I expect the next six months to be very busy. I'll be working out there six days a week, whatever it takes to make this thing succeed," Mr. Threet said.
One upcoming event that might give the company an added boost is the April 1 launch of its line of waterproof storage bags that fit inside the cargo carriers.
"We believe the bags complement the carriers quite a bit," Mr. Threet said.
Company officials are also working to expand their company's offerings in other ways.
Along with mechanical engineer John Evans, of the Atlanta-based design firm Robert Evans Co., Everthere is creating a lift system that will raise and lower the carrier to the ground.
The device would be perfect for transporting wheelchairs, scooters, bikes or other heavy objects, Mr. Threet said.
"It's a neat idea," Mr. Evans said. "There's no installation requirement for a car with a trailer hitch."
Mr. Threet said he's hopeful that a prototype will be completed this week and that he can make some sales of a finished product at a medical trade show in August.
Although things are going well for the company, a major challenge that has cropped up has been the price of aluminum - from which Everthere's carriers are made. If the price of the metal keeps going up, the price of the carrier must follow, Mr. Threet said.
Aluminum prices have increased more than 50 percent since the beginning of 2003, according to metals trading company Kitco Inc.
Mr. Threet said things will be fine if aluminum prices remain stable, but if prices continue to rise the company might be forced to more aggressively seek cheaper ways to manufacture their carriers, he said.
"One dollar may be the difference in someone buying or not buying. How do you judge what five to eight dollars is going to do?" Mr. Threet said.
Despite the rising cost of making the cargo carriers, the company is poised for success, he said.
Priorities for the company during the next month will include continuing to attend trade shows, enticing major retailers to pick up Everthere's products and continuing to develop the lift device.
Reach Adrian Burns at (706) 823-3352 or adrian.burns@augustachronicle.com
Building a Business
Building a Business is a new, yearlong series in which The Augusta Chronicle follows the progress of a local start-up company, Everthere Carriers LLC, as it attempts to take its fledgling product to a national market. The following is the first story. Updates will be made monthly.
• Series will follow company's journey
• Area men get education in business as they mass-produce novel carrier
• Go to manufacturers, designers with ideas
• Trade show marketing is success for local business
• Patent process is easier with help
• As sales grow, Everthere is turning into full-time job
• Product's success is dependent on testing
• Local business picks up by latching onto Internet
• Company revamps Web site to draw business
• Everthere settles into new offices
• Negotiating lease can be challenging
• Family support is important to fulfilling dream
• Work-life balance is one key to success
• Licensing lets buyers tote interest
• Logo-product partnership is beneficial to both sides
• Everthere Carriers staff works together for success
• New hires ease burden of increased workload
• Everthere Carriers takes new product to health exposition
• Preparation is important at trade event
• Firm wrestles with issue of foreign labor
• Cheap overseas work has its drawbacks
• Everthere Carriers bids farewell to productive 2005
• Everthere Carriers has come a long way
• Q&A with Everthere's Steve Threet
