October 28, 1999

Ten Fast Facts

ServiceStop WHO: An Internet startup company founded last year by Jon Clemens. WHAT: Produces a Web site dedicated to linking busy professionals with personal services that can be delivered to their home or workplace. WHERE: In a former candle factory on First Avenue in Seattle.

Fast Fact #1: ServiceStop went on line in September and currently features about 60 vendors.

Comment: Food accounts for about two-thirds of ServiceStop's business. Other categories are gifts, car care, clothing, health/wellness and miscellaneous.

Fast Fact #2: The company's Web address is ServiceStop.com.

Comment: Anyone can log onto ServiceStop's free site and place an order. However, Clemens and his two partners, Jeff Callender and Dan Kaltenbach, consider busy professionals their primary market. They reach that market by pitching their Web page to human resource managers, who then promote it to employees as a fringe benefit and plug it to management as a way to help workers handle long hours. In addition, employers can "co-brand" with ServiceStop, which will customize its home page to include a company's logo and other features such as employee of the month -- all at no charge. So far, five companies are participating.

Fast Fact #3: Clemens got the idea for ServiceStop while working for Ernst & Young's Middle Market/Entrepreneurial consulting practice.

Comment: Itching to launch a business of his own, Clemens decided to "start it where my pain was." And his pain stemmed from trying to accomplish everyday tasks such as laundry and lube jobs while devoting long hours to a demanding career. Clemens says people spend an average of an hour a day obtaining goods and services. ServiceStop can shave that to minutes by offering convenient Internet access to a directory of vendors who deliver products and services to work and home.

Fast Fact #4: None of the partners is older than 30.

Jeff Callender, director of technology, Jon Clemens, CEO, and Dan Kaltenbach, director of operations at ServiceStop.

Comment: Good thing. The old brick warehouse in which they work has no elevator. They must enter through a loading dock and climb five flights of stairs to reach their fifth-floor office. "That's our health benefit," quips Clemens. Although they like the funky feel of the battered wood floors and high ceilings, the real reason they chose this location is cheap space, explains Clemens. "We like to have our investors come here because it shows we're spending their money wisely."

Fast Fact #5: Besides the partners, the company has only one employee.

Comment: "You've met us all," Clemens tells a visitor after a quick round of handshakes with the three partners and Mike Burchett, sales manager.

Fast Fact #6: ServiceStop earns revenue by charging vendors a small percentage of every order.

Comment: The company finds vendors through referrals, via the Yellow Pages and "by driving around," says Clemens. ServiceStop thoroughly investigates each vendor it features, says Kaltenbach, and will work with customers to ensure satisfaction should a complaint occur. ServiceStop maintains a large file of potential new services. "We have 150 in the que right now," says Kaltenbach. They range from aquarium cleaning to acupuncture to keg delivery.

Fast Fact #7: ServiceStop expects steady growth to bring black ink in two to three years.

Comment: The company's current vendors have a limited range, with services available only in downtown Seattle and certain Eastside locations. However, ServiceStop soon will expand its vendor roster to cover the entire Greater Seattle area, then launch a San Francisco site sometime next year. Ultimately, the company hopes to roll out pages in every "wired" city in the country.

Fast Fact 8#: Clemens exhausted his personal savings to start the company.

Comment: Callender (lead software developer) and Kaltenbach (director of operations) came aboard after Clemens asked for their input on his business plan. Both left steady jobs -- Callender was a senior software developer at QPass and Kaltenbach was a senior business analyst with Brueggeman and Johnson -- to roll the Internet dice. Along the way, ServiceStop has gained funding from friends and family and a smattering of private investors.

Fast Fact 9#: ServiceStop's business plans calls for a public stock offering.

Comments: "We're focused on going public (but) we don't know when yet," says Clemens. Although none of the partners are opposed to getting rich, they say they are primarily driven by the adrenaline of starting a business. "It's scary," says Clemens, "but it's fun and it's what we want to do."

Fast Fact 10#: ServiceStop's headquarters is just south of Safeco Field.

Comment: "We watch the roof open and close all the time," says Kaltenbach. They also can peer into the stadium from their conference-room window. They think the tiny patch of green they can see through an entry gate is somewhere behind the pitcher's mound.