Summary
Welcome to the Startup Junkies Podcast!
We had the opportunity to meet with James Farmer of EasyBins for episode 273! In this post-pandemic world, getting things to your doorstep sometimes is the only way to go. Look no further than EasyBins! Learn how James and his company are bringing hype back to the dinner table and making things easy, not just convenient. Don’t miss this episode!
Thanks for tuning in!
Shownotes
(1:44) Introducing James Farmer and EasyBins
(3:06) Why their Model Works
(7:24) Power of Word of Mouth & Competitive Pricing
(10:05) The Story Of James Farmer
(16:48) What It Costs To Be Up At Night
(21:24) Success in 5 Years
(28:50) Fighting Scammers
(32:13) Beyond Delivery
(36:38) Changing Habits From Restaurants To Dining Room Table
(42:40) Customer Logistics
(46:14) Wrap Up & Advice
Links
Quotes
“There’s a difference between convenience and easy. And it’s EasyBins, not ConvenienceBins.” (2:43) – James Farmer
“The first couple people you hire are going to set your culture.” (12:53) – James Farmer
“[On competitors] Do things they’re not doing.” ( 23:43) – James Farmer
“Food is one of the very few things that we derive identity from. We have a relationship with food.” (25:53) – James Farmer
Eating In with James Farmer of EasyBins
“We want to do things that help people eat at home. Our hero is the dinner table.”
(24:03) – James Farmer
Between Amazon Prime, streaming networks, and online shopping, the days of not having to leave your house are upon us! On this episode, we throw back to our time with James Farmer of Easybins. Whether it’s convenience, a last-minute necessity, or the only way to shop in a pandemic world, Easybins is gonna be here to stay. See how it all started and where it is going from James alongside our hosts Jeff Amerine and Michael Iseman.
Getting things quickly and to your front door is not new. What James and EasyBins offer is more than that. Although the world is evolving around us, the panic and alarm of remembering you forgot something from the store in the middle of the night stays the same. The items you need from the grocery store you cannot get at a 24-hour drive-through. Rather than setting the alarm clock for 5 am and hoping you can grab what you need in time, you now have access to an entire team of people who do it for you…all while you are asleep!
EasyBins is a grocery store but, as James said, while the stores close down, his opens. They are up until midnight every night and have your order to your door by 6:00 am the next morning. This is all without any type of subscription fees, order minimums or other things that could add friction.
“We said, ‘What’s really good about grocery? How do we make it better?’ And we built a grocery store around that.” (2:24) – James Farmer
While other stores have a model where things can be scheduled and delivered, the EasyBins approach was a very deliberate choice. This is a competitive market, and they needed an advantage. Besides the market being crowded, most companies really nailed it, James added. Seeing that household penetration was rising rapidly and that the leverage and scale of companies in that sphere would likely “demolish” them, that left them to think outside the box.
Then it hit them, nighttime. That was the only space seemingly untouched by these companies. Another unique aspect of this service is that it would not technically be “on-demand.” Although when you fall asleep it may feel like 5 seconds between ordering on your phone and the next morning, it still is giving EasyBins between 6-8 hours to complete your order. Taking away minimums and their route and batch technique lend them into a category closer to UPS than Instacart.
Going back in time a bit, James attributed the success of this startup to two different things, including his background in accounting and past work experience. He believes you can learn many things after you graduate, but the language and building blocks of accounting would have been challenging to develop later on.
His work experience with Walmart, Kroger, and Harvest Group helped him hone in on healthy company culture. Whether it was setting mission statements, knowing when and who to hire, or making big decisions, he was able to look back at a business structure he admired and once was a part of. With a startup, all decisions made on the front end are constantly changing, but when bringing on a team, he mentioned, he wanted to wait and make sure he was hiring the right personalities and positions.
“The first couple people you hire are going to set your culture.” (12:53) – James Farmer
Before having a team, James and his wife would work out of their garage through all hours of the night. The shift from being the president of Harvest Group to dropping off groceries on front doors was initially really hard but it was also really refining for him.
The biggest surprise has been the customer base. It is a fantastic dispersion of average incomes. The competitive prices alongside ease has made it a staple for the middle-class family needing a couple of extra things for their week.
At the end of the day, the hero for EasyBins is the dinner table.They want people to invest in making their own home a place of dinner parties, slow nights, gathered family friends, and more. By championing the idea of eating in, they not only adjusted to a pandemic world but also are bringing a preference back to the American home.
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