Cool Company of the day: PODS
"Cool" comes in many forms. PODS hits the "Cool Company of the Day" list largely due to the sheer convenience of their innovative moving and storage service. (But it’s cool also based on the growth potential.)
You may have seen the PODS ads on TV or perhaps your neighbor has one of the crisp white PODS storage containers setting temporary roots in their driveway.
Moving has to be one of the most stressful undertakings known to man and PODS makes things just a little less crazy. Take this scenario…
The old way: You pack and box your possessions while slowly your home’s creature comforts give way to cardboard boxes everywhere and a sense that your closing days in this home will be like living in a shipping and receiving warehouse. The already difficult experience of moving is made all the more challenging as you realized the mover’s arriving tomorrow and you have three day’s work to do. You rush rush rush, frenzied to have everything finished in time.
The PODS way: They drop off a clean storage container the size of an empty truck trailer in your driveway. They hand you the key. You fill it with your possessions at your leisure, organizing things to your liking at your own pace. When you’re done, you call PODS and they come by to pick it up and transport it to your new location. They provide all of the materials you’ll need to do the job, including padding to keep things from being damaged in transport.
No more renting a U-Haul. No more rushing for the can-I-trust-these-guys-with-all-of-my-belongings movers. No more clutter in your home as you spend your last days in it. Instead, everything goes into the PODS storage container and moves when you say so.
And at a business level… PODS is a fast-growing franchise that’s serviced well over 300,000 customers so far…
So let’s add this up:
Convenient + Franchisable + Growing Fast = A Very Cool Company.
April 24th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
I love the concept, but would you make enough money at it?
Figure the huge warehouse space they have to rent, employees, truck and box purchases, along with truck maintenance. Then also a franchise royalty fee. If they have 300-400 rentals at one time, I don’t see a great rate of return on it.
Love the concept, but worth the money???
April 30th, 2006 at 8:59 am
I think that P.O.D.S. is not only a great concept, but one that can keep its expenses in line. I agree that the may have overhead that seem to be high, but I am assuming that the price of their rentals will reflect that.
In regards to the expense of their equipment, the boxes themselves are probably almost maintenance free, they will actually only need a few medium duty vehicles to move them around, and very little staff to process the orders.
Compared to a U-Haul that has to have its own fleet mechanics, repair facilities, and extremely high rates of liability insurance, I would recommend this type of service for anyone that does not have the family and friends available for several days at a time to help them move.
I am going to recommend to my parents who are moving soon to look in to this company where they live.
May 10th, 2006 at 11:58 am
PODs is a great concept. In fact, the only problem is there are basically no more franchises left. Start up costs are a little steep — probably about $1.5m for a single franchise, but the potential is huge, especially now that they have a national network and the moving part of the business is taking off. Definitely a cool company.
May 11th, 2006 at 11:21 am
There are other companies out there that are comparable to PODS such as Go Mini’s. One of the comments said that the only problem is that there may not be any POD’s franchises left. You may not have that problem with Go Mini’s. This may be a viable alternative. They use the same concept but have a different delivery method whereby they use a flat bed truck to deliver the Go Mini.
Dan
August 18th, 2006 at 10:53 am
I was completely impressed by the service provided by this company… PODS! They did everything they said they would. The Drivers were clean, neat and professional, both in Detroit and Palm Beach. I have never dealt with any company that has the kind of person working for them like this. And the PODZILLA was awesome! It lifted my units (it took a 3 16′ PODS to hold all my belongings) straight up into the air and set them gently straight down onto the truck bed! It was cool! We have told everyone we know about PODS… and there are so many different way one can use a portable storage unit. The business potential must be endless!