| In the beginning, all Brent Gensler was trying to do | | | | a bundle. He figured out how to combine |
| was find a bargain-priced sofa set. | | | | shipments for a minimum number of trucks from |
| He ended up with an online furniture retailing | | | | factory to seaport and from the West Coast to |
| business, Minneapolis-based DefySupply.com, which | | | | the customer. |
| grossed $720,000 in its first 12 months and is on | | | | That done, he spent three months in Asia |
| track to approach $1.5 million revenue in 2009, its | | | | contacting upwards of 250 furniture |
| first full year. | | | | manufacturers before selecting 50 companies in |
| The attraction: deep discounts on sofas, dining | | | | China. |
| sets, patio sets and other furnishings | | | | As he navigated the logistics labyrinth, Gensler |
| manufactured in China, one order at a time, and | | | | learned the hard way that there can be |
| shipped directly to the customer. | | | | frustrating and sometimes expensive glitches. |
| It's an uncommon business model that operates | | | | Several clients have complained to online |
| without expensive warehouse networks and | | | | consumer websites about lengthy delivery delays, |
| inventories or the standard array of trading | | | | damaged goods and furniture that did not match |
| companies and other middlemen to mark up the | | | | the color which customers thought they'd ordered. |
| price. | | | | In response, Gensler has replaced several |
| The journey from sofa shopper to furniture | | | | transportation vendors and added color swatches |
| entrepreneur has all the elements of a saga, | | | | to his website to pinpoint customer preferences |
| including months in the library researching the | | | | and avoid disagreements. |
| complexity of the shipping channels and a few | | | | His efforts have paid off with a collection of |
| months more spent in Asia seeking | | | | favorable online reviews regarding the style and |
| manufacturers that offered both good quality and | | | | quality of the furniture, assets that make even an |
| a willingness to build products one order at a time. | | | | eight-week delivery delay "worth the wait," as a |
| "It sounds crazy now, but it made perfect sense | | | | New Jersey customer put it. |
| at the time," said Gensler, 25. "I just didn't | | | | There have been some painful surprises along the |
| understand how much I didn't know." | | | | way, however, notably the discovery that |
| It started with a job offer from a financial | | | | different carriers charge different rates according |
| management firm in San Francisco following | | | | to ZIP codes. |
| Gensler's 2007 graduation from the University of | | | | "Early on I picked the wrong trucker to haul a |
| Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in business. | | | | sofa set from Los Angeles to Chicago," Gensler |
| Before he made the move, however, he began | | | | said. "It cost me $1,300 for a set I sold for |
| shopping for furniture. | | | | $1,200." He since has automated the process so |
| He wound up with a serious case of sticker shock: | | | | that the ZIP code automatically dictates the |
| "The $3,000 relocation money they offered | | | | lowest-cost carrier. The upshot: The same |
| wouldn't buy much more than a sofa set," Gensler | | | | delivery today would cost about $365. |
| said. "I had no idea how expensive furniture was." | | | | Then there was the time he mistakenly shipped a |
| So he contacted some furniture manufacturers | | | | sofa to Miami that was meant for a buyer in St. |
| he had encountered in China during two summers | | | | Louis. At the time, he was trying to run the |
| spent in Shanghai and Hong Kong during college as | | | | business himself -- handling sales calls, notifying |
| an intern with an international real estate firm. He | | | | manufacturers, arranging shipments and managing |
| had made the contacts while checking out | | | | the website. |
| upholstery manufacturers for his family's | | | | "Because of the time differentials and the growing |
| Minneapolis upholstery fabrics business. Gensler | | | | business, I was working 20 hours a day" and |
| was impressed with the bargain prices offered at | | | | making himself sick in the process, Gensler said. |
| the plant, and asked several manufacturers if | | | | He knew he needed help. |
| they'd be willing to sell him a sofa at those prices. | | | | A year ago he opened a warehouse in China and |
| "They told me they'd build me a sofa, but I'd | | | | hired bilingual Chinese to inspect products and |
| have to figure out how to get it here," said | | | | coordinate shipping and soon after hired a |
| Gensler, who was pretty much oblivious to the | | | | systems engineer to automate the entire logistics |
| difficulties involved. When several of his friends | | | | operation. Today he has eight employees in China |
| expressed an interest in a similar deal, however, | | | | and six in the United States. |
| the idea of simply buying a sofa set morphed into | | | | The business was financed by the generous bar |
| the founding of DefySupply early in 2008. | | | | mitzvah gifts Gensler received and plowed into a |
| First, however, came more than three months at | | | | mutual fund that grew enough to keep |
| the library researching the complex world of | | | | DefySupply afloat. It helps that he's learned how |
| distribution channels, shipping costs and currency | | | | to skimp. |
| fluctuations. | | | | "When I was in Asia looking for manufacturers, I |
| Gensler calculated what various carriers charged | | | | always stayed in the worst hotels and ate the |
| for overseas and on-land trucking. He discovered | | | | worst food," Gensler said. "It turned out to be |
| that packaging was critical, and that breaking a | | | | worth it. |
| larger piece into two smaller packages could save | | | | |