A self-taught entrepreneur, Joe Elias never had previous
industry experience before starting his companies. What he did have – and still
possesses – is a sense of finding and perfecting a niche. The skill served
Elias well when he started a driveway coating business in high school, and it
continued to drive him as he started and grew a landscaping company upon
graduation, and then added new home design and construction to his list of
entrepreneurial endeavors. Elias’s most recent venture is 4Sale4Now.com (www.4sale4now.com), which is
revolutionizing the way buying and selling is done on the Internet.
Unlike auction sites (such as eBay and its competitors),
there is no bidding on 4Sale4Now.com. Instead, each product and service is
listed with an initial discounted price, and that price gradually decreases.
The idea for 4Sale4Now.com was hatched much like Elias’s
other businesses. He didn’t have experience in the industry, but he thought
there was a better way. In this case, that better way was an alternative to the
traditional online auction sites like eBay and its myriad of competitors. Elias
woke up early one morning in 2006 and started outlining the idea for
4Sale4Now.com and soon had four pages of notes about the concept and how it
would work. A patent for the site’s technology was granted last year.
There are three types of pricing discounts sellers can
offer. They start with the original price and then they can drop that price in
two percent increments up to 10 percent off, five percent increments up to 25
percent off and 10 percent increments up to 50 percent off. Regardless of when
they choose to make a purchase, consumers always save money.
4Sale4Now.com has new and used products, and there are also
items like event tickets, vacations and services. Overall, there are 38
categories of products and 14 categories of services. Consumers can even perform
an advanced search for services offered in their local area. Car rentals
agencies, landscaping services, fitness centers, restaurants and hair salons
are among the types of local businesses that offer their deals. Elias recently
added real estate to the menu of services available.
“Everyone loves a good bargain. What we are introducing is a
new experience in buying and selling that is fun, exciting, simple and
cost-effective,” Elias said. “When you go into a store, you don’t stand in line
with people trying to outbid you. We don’t think you should have that
experience online either. It’s the natural way to shop”
That Elias started an Internet company though he did not
have experience with an online business is not a surprise. Since he was a
teenager, he has demonstration a passion for entrepreneurism. In high school,
instead of flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant of bagging groceries,
Elias found an alternative method of earning money – coating driveways. He
bought a used pickup truck with a tank that mixed the tar, posted flyers in
mailboxes and started to generate business.
“I thought there was a need for this type of service, and
that I could provide it at a fair price,” Elias said. “I hired a classmate to
help me. I never had what most people would consider a typical job for a high
school student.”
I’ve always liked to work on my own and I relish the
satisfaction of doing a good job. The more praise and reward that I received
from customers, the more jobs I wanted to do. That led Elias to open a
landscaping business in 1988. Never mind that he had no experience in the
field, and he was just 19.
“I taught myself the ins and outs of the business by walking
around nurseries looking at plants and trees, pouring myself into books and
talking to experts in the industry. I also bought drafting supplies and started
drawing landscape designs,” Elias said. “I bought more trucks and the
appropriate equipment, and one job led to another.”
Word spread about Elias’ quality of work, and the
landscaping business grew. He frequently found himself landscaping new homes
and observed the construction process.
“I felt that I could design and build houses better than
what I was saw, so I bought a one-acre lot in Barrington, sought the guidance of a friend
who was an architect and drew up plans, and I built my first house in 1990,”
Elias said.
Elias’ debut in new home construction was not a standard
three bedroom, two bath home. It was a 10,000-square-foot mansion that sold for
$1.2 million. He caught the home design and construction bug, buying and
renovating houses and apartment complexes, and building more new homes. Then he
started designing and developing entire subdivisions.
Elias no longer has the driveway coating business. He sold
that a long time ago. He still owns and operates Everything Under the Sun
Landscaping, Planned Development and Construction (a commercial and land
development company) and Vintage Inc. (an architecture, design and building
company). One of Elias’ first investment properties was an old theater that
once showed silent movies. He refurbished it as it looked when it was first
built, complete with period design features. Elias incorporates unique design
features in his homes, thus the name Vintage Inc.
Now 37, age and experience are no longer obstacles that
Elias must overcome. When he was a teenager and twentysomething, though, it was
a different story.
“My age was a challenge when I first started the landscaping
business and the new home building and design company,” Elias said. “Some
people were skeptical about trusting such a young guy with a high-dollar
project, especially at an age when many of my former high school classmates
were still in college.
“I gained a reputation as a hard worker who did quality
jobs. I was proud of the work I was doing, so I posted signs in the yards to
promote my business. I kept my trucks and equipment in excellent condition, and
I presented myself in a professional manner,” Elias said. “What I didn’t have
in age and experience, I made up for in professionalism. I built my businesses
on word-of-mouth exposure. There was no Internet at the time, and I didn’t
advertise in the Yellow Pages.”
Elias’ mind consistently spins thinking of ways to evolve
his companies. Considering the current real estate market conditions, Elias
felt that 4Sale4now.com would be an ideal venue for people to sell their homes.
He introduced the concept on 4Sale4Now on February 7, including a $1.9 million
property and a $2.2 million in Huntley (which is located in suburban Chicago). Not only do
sellers get 24-hour exposure online and offer a starting price that decreases
over time (creating a sense of urgency among prospective buyers), but they can
also plant a sign in the yard that details the starting price, and the
subsequent price drops if the home has not sold. Essentially, the sign
represents a screen shot of what is seen on 4Sale4Now.com. 4Sale4Now.com also
sends out a local mailer to 20,000 homes featuring the screen shot of the
listing.
As for 4Sale4Now.com, Elias’ staff is already working on
versions 2.0 and 3.0 to make the site even better for buyers and sellers.
“I am always looking at something and asking how it can be
improved,” Elias said. “That is the approach I take with my existing
businesses, and that is what runs through my mind when I observe things in
general. I wouldn’t have become a successful entrepreneur if I was content with
the status quo.”
