Tired of constantly asking his cousin to buy and send him fitness gear from the States, entrepreneur Shaun Greenblo decided to find an easier way to help people receive the items they wanted from other places.
Cuzin.com launched on December 1, on the back of an overwhelming 1-month pre-registration phase that saw the company receive 15,000 signups. The business, a platform that makes it easier for family members and friends around the world to send each other products, may only be in its beginning stages, but Shaun has been on the road to this point for some time.
Shaun began his own Personal Training business at age 18, earning more in an hour than most of his University friends were bringing in working nights at restaurants and bars.
“I learned in this business that relationships are the core to good business,” Shaun tells Dynamic Business. “I also learned that the health industry was incredibly competitive and difficult to scale, so I knew quite quickly that this was not a long-term prospect for me.”
Co-Founder, CEO, Cuzin.com
Shaun joined Investec Bank as part of the company’s Property Private Equity group. It was towards the end of Shaun’s undergraduate degree and he was keen to get some experience in the corporate structure, but it wasn’t long before he found areas lacking. Helping manage a Property Fund with around $300 million under management, the restrictive nature of the business showed Shaun the door.
“I never felt that I could let my true colours shine and hated the fact that you had to jump through so many hoops to get where you wanted to be, even if you were better than those ahead of you,” Shaun says. “The day I left that office I promised I’d never wear a suit and tie again.”
A self-described “mad runner”, Shaun found himself spending more and more money on fitness gear. In an attempt to get some of the latest products and to keep his spending down, Shaun began to rely on his cousin overseas.
“I was sick of paying double the price for models that were already outdated in the U.S. So in 2011 I started calling my cousin Julian in Los Angeles,” Shaun says. “Every 2-3 months he’d receive a phone call from me, asking him to head down to the Asics outlet store and buy me the latest Gel Kayano shoes. I’d usually get him to get me a couple of new pairs of running shorts, singlets or jackets at the same time.”
Communicating back and forth, filling out shipping forms, waiting in line at FedEx, dealing with exchange rates and packing products quickly took its toll, and both Shaun and Julian began to tire of the process. Thus, Cuzin was born.
“Our platform facilitates the matching, communication, payment and shipping of the items you love, to your doorstep,” Shaun says. “Through the help of some incredible partners, we’ve managed to create a safe, secure and fun site where people can turn to get the things they love from around the world, knowing at the same time they’re helping a ‘cuz’ out by paying them a tip.”
Shaun joined forces with Lance Kalish, a fellow experienced entrepreneur who successfully set up U.S. health and beauty brand Yes To Inc. The fact that Lance had lived overseas for quite some time, sending friends and family products from San Francisco, meant the project resonated very quickly. Lance came on board with his business partner, Ido Leffler.
“Ido joined the team as an Advisory and we raised some money from some amazing Angel Investors in both Sydney and San Fran to help us build Version 1,” Shaun says.
Revenue is earned by charging Cuzin users a service fee: a variable percentage fee of the item cost, depending on both the size and price of the item. Shaun says this is included in the ‘Shipping and Handling’ fee applied to each transaction in order to present buyers with a simpler offer.
Set up in an office in Sydney’s CBD, with only four employees, Shaun says that Cuzin’s aim is to “stay as lean as possible” as they continue to expand the business. Business growth for the company has been organic so far, initially focused on proving the concept from within Australia. 2015 will see Cuzin expanding its presence overseas, gathering more supply from the U.S. and U.K.
“There is no limitation to our market growth, as being a marketplace business both sides are fuelled by real people,” Shaun says, clearly thrilled with the company’s potential.
“We have built our technology and logistics systems so that they can easily scale internationally and have built our partnerships on this basis. Our focus is to continue improving the user experience, reducing shipping costs for our customers and to maintain a secure, safe environment for our members to communicate and transact. We’re unbelievably excited.”
As the online sector continues to grow in size and importance, Shaun believes it is imperative for businesses to open themselves up to “thinking outside the box” and to embrace a trial and error formula.
“No textbooks have been written citing centuries of empirical evidence,” Shaun says. “Facebook Ads are 2 years old and the algorithm is changing every few months, integrating with partner APIs are never a known quantity, and forming new business relationships on LinkedIn has no tried and tested success methods. We are learning every day, and that is what makes it so exciting.”
