Founder's story
How I started One Piece Delivery
From foreman on the big trucks to one couch in a rented van.
01Three years on the big trucks
Hi, I'm Serge Khal, the founder of One Piece Delivery. The idea for this company came to me while I was working as a foreman for a big moving company: big moves, local and long-distance, big trucks only. I worked there for almost three years, on jobs big and small, from town to town, city to city and state to state, trying to do a good job on every single one.
In that time I learned a lot. I went from knowing almost nothing about moving to being someone who could organize a big move in an unfamiliar city, with a rented truck and local helpers I was meeting for the first time.
Someone said you have to fail your way to success, and it's true. Every day in moving I faced something I had never seen before, and sometimes I failed. The best you can do is fail once and never repeat the mistake. Even the biggest companies talk about having tons of failures. I had pounds of them. Hundreds of pounds.
By the time I started One Piece Delivery, I think I had seen and moved everything: huge artificial elephants and $100,000 grand pianos, stuffed cheetahs and monster custom cabinets 12 feet tall and 6 feet wide, golf carts and every kind of motorcycle. You wouldn't believe what people ask you to move.
After two years on the road, I was promoted to work only in Florida. That was a big relief for me, my wife and our newborn daughter.
02A first company, and a hard lesson
The day my daughter was born changed my life. You stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about her and her future. New thoughts kept coming: I had to build something of my own. Maybe I should start a moving company myself.
So I opened my own long-distance moving company, believing I could build the best one in the world. Without savings and with a lot of bills to pay, that was too ambitious. I couldn't give it enough time, and I couldn't leave the job that supported us.
I ran that company for about a year and did about 45 jobs, all of them successful. Still, I realized long distance wasn't for me. If I can't guarantee safe, on-time delivery to other states, I shouldn't do it. We were great at pickups in Florida, but everywhere else you depend on contractors, and trust me, that can be very stressful.
Imagine a shipment headed to California, right on schedule. You've already called the customer with the date and time. Then, somewhere in Texas, the driver takes a well-paid job to Illinois (yes, the opposite direction), and the delivery ends up more than two weeks late.
I take every single job close to my heart. Disappointing a client and failing to deliver on time is the worst feeling.
Maybe you have to be heartless to do that kind of work, or hire someone who is. I couldn't do it anymore. I was broken and devastated, but I couldn't let go of the idea of building something of my own, something that would help people. And then I had an insight.
03One couch, one van
At the big company, the rule was that we didn't start a truck for less than a $500 job. A friend of mine needed just one couch moved a couple of miles, and I couldn't help him. So I rented a high-roof van. When I opened the back doors and loaded that couch, I saw enormous potential: about 500 cubic feet of space you could fill with all kinds of furniture.
That same day I started working on the idea. I called the company ONE PIECE, so that anyone who needs a small move (just one piece or a few) and can't do it on their own finally has an option they can afford: a company that takes care of their small job.
I brought the idea to the CEO and asked if they wanted to be part of it. They said no: too much work, not worth it. I agreed it was tons of work, and in the summer of 2018 I left. It was a great place to work, but not a place to grow.
04Here to help
That's how I started, and now I'm here to help you. We've been helping people since we opened in 2018. We're local, we're here, and we're ready to help.
Thank you for reading to the end. We appreciate your business, your time and your support.
