Inland Empire company modeled after Uber is still looking to find its footing

EZER, the Pomona company that moves goods instead of people, has yet to turn a profit. However, it’s close to closing several deals that could change that almost immediately, according to its founder and owner.

One year ago, Glenn Todd was launching EZER, a business modeled on Uber except that it would move goods instead of people.

Todd, who already owned Todd Construction Services in Pomona, said he had a “revelation” in the summer of 2015, during which he figured out that Uber’s business model wasn’t limited to a taxicab service.

“I kept imagining people standing outside of Home Depot having just bought something big, like a patio set, that they can’t fit into their car,” Todd said right after EZER began operating. “How are they going to get home? They aren’t going to fit that stuff in their MINI Cooper.

So Todd launched EZER with 23 drivers, all of whom use their own vehicles – just like Uber – to move goods around the Inland Empire.

Todd, who assumed the title of chief executive officer, envisioned potential customers besides people stuck outside of their local home improvement store. Businesses that needed to move furniture and other items from one location to another would be especially receptive to EZER, he believed.

One year later, how are things working out for the company whose name is a Hebrew word for “suitable helper?”

EZER’s business model is essentially the same as it was when it started: Drivers can work full or part-time, only goods are transported, and the minimum charge for a delivery is $28, which works out to about seven miles.

One thing that has changed is how an EZER driver can be summoned. When it started, driver access was limited to the company’s smartphone app. Now it can also be summoned via the company’s website, www.getezer.com.

On a typical day, EZER’s Pomona office on West Monterey Avenue gets anywhere from one to seven orders. The company has expanded into several other markets, with approximately five drivers in Minneapolis, three in Pittsburgh and up to 15 in South Florida.

“They came after us,” Todd said. “They heard about the business and let us know that they wanted to be an area representative, and we set them up.”

EZER has also picked up some well-known local clients, including AEG, Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario and one of the arena’s tenants, the Ontario Reign minor league hockey team. For the latter, EZER has transported a variety of items, including bobblehead dolls and bottled water, to several promotional events.

In the case of AEG, EZER’s work is limited to Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

“Within the Inland Empire, which is our base, I think we’ve done pretty well,” Todd said. “That’s where we’re concentrating most of our efforts because we know the market and we feel like this is where we have the best chance to succeed.  With all of the warehouses and businesses out here, people will always need things moved around.”

EZER is close to signing its first international agreement, perhaps as early as next month, and it’s working on deals in more than 10 U.S. markets. One in Denver, which could be final in two or three months, would make the company profitable almost immediately.

“On that one we’re getting pushed very hard by one of the largest retailers in the United States,” Todd said. “If we get it it will be huge.”

Last spring Todd predicted that EZER would  turn a profit sometime in 2018, and he says he’s sticking to that forecast. He also expects its revenues to reach $150,000 by 2019.

In the meantime, EZER has about 60 drivers in reserve, waiting for things to get busier.

One of the more frustrating aspects of EZER’s first 12 months in operation has been that it hasn’t been able to enter a lot of the markets where someone has expressed interest in setting it up, Todd said.

“It’s a major financial investment for us when we go into a new market,” Todd said. “In the case of [Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and South Florida], we found some people who are putting some of their own resources into the business and they’re growing it organically. We haven’t been able to do that in every market.”