It once took a staff of five to do what George Pocisk can do by himself today.
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Wheelchairs Plus.net is selling the Everthere carriers on its Web site to be used with personal scooters such as the Invacare Zoom 220 shown above. The two companies have benefited tremendously from Web sales.
Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff
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The 58-year-old, who is the director of sales and marketing for the Martinez-based startup company Everthere Carriers LLC, has latched onto the Internet - a medium that is proving to be a powerful tool for Everthere and other small businesses.
"In the older days, I'd mail something then call back in a week. And if the mail didn't get there, I'd mail it again. And then when they got it, they'd have to keep it on their desk in front of them," said Mr. Pocisk, a Columbia businessman who joined Everthere this year.
With e-mail and powerful Web applications, Mr. Pocisk can take a potential buyer from zero knowledge to a complete understanding of Everthere's folding cargo carrier in 10 minutes.
"This way, if I want to send a brochure, I zip it to them and they look at it right while we're talking," he said. "It's a lot easier to get their attention and keep it."
Mr. Pocisk's tactic of e-mailing information, directing prospects to online demonstrations of the carrier and keeping up communication is proving to be a success.
"May has by far been the best month ever," said Mr. Pocisk, who has managed to bring on a new retailer every week during the past four weeks.
Those new retailers have a certain synergy with Everthere - they rely on the Internet to make their sales, too. Everthere sells primarily to retailers instead of individual consumers.
Augusta-based Wheelchairs Plus, an online retailer of medical supplies, recently signed on to sell Everthere carriers to consumers looking for an easier way to transport wheelchairs and scooters.
Without the Internet, Wheelchairs Plus wouldn't move the carriers, which would in turn hurt Everthere.
"The Internet is 99.9 percent of our business. If we were here trying to live off of (selling to) the Augusta community, we couldn't do it," said Wheelchairs Plus President Michael Osbon.
Everthere, which has two full-time employees, and companies such as Wheelchairs Plus, which employs five, are able to market to the world and expand their offerings with a lot less time and money then their more traditional counterparts.
"I know how much hard work there is when it's standard brick-and-mortar - the dollar doesn't go as far and there's lots of overhead," said Mr. Osbon, who recently shipped an order of medical items to Romania.
For Mr. Pocisk, who for years did much of his work on paper, running sales for a modern business is more efficient.
"I never print anything. Everything I send via e-mail I immediately put in an e-file," he said.
E-mails can be read at the convenience of the recipient, can be stored easily and provide a record of the communication.
"Most of my customers would prefer to work over the Internet because they're busy, too," said Mr. Pocisk, who gives company President Steve Threet an electronic copy of all of this online communications.
Having a strong presence on the Internet also helps to spread the word about the company, Mr. Threet said.
"All (retailers) have to do is put our product on their Web site. That's their only investment," he said. "It builds a customer base for us and gives us a lot of good exposure."
But as one of Everthere's online retailers found out, selling products online isn't always easy, because buyers have to be convinced of how a product works and why it's worthwhile.
"The challenge on this product is how we express it online, but we have been - thank you, Lord - fairly successful with ways to do that," said Ken Geers, the president of Cincinnati-based online retailer Sporto Motoring Accessories Inc.
To solve the problem, the company took an array of photographs that the company posted online to provide an animated demonstration of how the product works.
"So they can appreciate that it really folds," Mr. Geers said.
Fortunately for Everthere and its online retailers, more people are buying from the Internet with every passing month.
According to a recent Department of Commerce report, e-commerce during the first quarter of 2005 was up almost 24 percent from the first part of 2004.
That type of growth is expected to continue for the near future, said Scott Devitt, an analyst for the Baltimore-based Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc.
"That's a net positive for all of the companies participating in that sector," Mr. Devitt said.
With the scope of Everthere's Web presence growing daily and a new company Web site on the way, it will be easier to bring the company's many new products to light, Mr. Pocisk said.
"It's a very helpful, useful tool that can communicate the concepts of our products very quickly," he said.
The company's lift device, designed to raise and lower the carrier from ground level to accommodate scooters and wheelchairs, is under development, and company officials hope it can be ready by August.
The company is also working toward getting college and professional team logos on the covers for its cargo carrier. Officials hope the team covers can be ready for the fall football season.
Despite the usefulness of the Internet, successful businesses still need to follow some traditional steps to keep the money coming in.
"You still need to do work and respond quickly if customers need something," Mr. Pocisk said. "Service is still the word."
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
