By Elizabeth M. Mack 

Democrat staff writer

Local entrepreneur Ken Stevenson understands that moving can be a pain, so when he heard about the new moving concept BungoBox, he thought it would work well in Tallahassee.

"The traditional way to move is use cardboard boxes," he said. "You tape them together and then you can only stack so many before the bottom box becomes squashed."

But BungoBox offers stackable plastic tubs that can be rented.

"We deliver them, they pack, they unpack and then we pick them up," he added, noting that the boxes are weatherproof, durable and less costly than purchasing boxes.

"We have a simple slogan: 'Moving Sucks,'" Stevenson said, "so our mantra is we try to make moving suck less."

Stevenson opened the local franchise Jan. 1 in Midtown, 831 N. Monroe St.

The company was started in Orlando by Tom Cannon in March 2010. Today there are 12 locations — six in Florida, two in Canada and one in Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver and Phoenix, Cannon said. The company's goal is to open 100 more locations in the next five years.

The local business is truly family run, with Stevenson's wife, Connie, taking on the networking and community outreach, his son, Ryan, handling the deliveries, and daughter Sami handling the social media.

"My job is to just keep everything organized," he said. "So far, it's been great."

In this episode, CEO Marc Lore, who sold his Diapers.com business to Amazon.com for more than $500 million, mentors Tom and Bob Canon, the founders of Orlando, Florida-based start-up BungoBox.

BungoBox aims to "make moving less sucky" by offering reusable plastic bins for rent, as an innovative alternative to traditional cardboard moving boxes. With 11 locations already established, the Cannons hope to expand to 100 cities in the next five years, but they lack the cash to invest in their business. 

Can Lore, whose company Quidsi.com owns and operates mega-successful e-commerce sites Diapers.com, Soap.com and BeautyBar.com, help the Cannons make BungoBox more appealing to venture capitalists? 

Be a part of the "Bloomberg The Mentor" conversation on Twitter with #thementorbtv or follow Bloomberg TV on Twitter at @BloombergTV. See a sneak peek of the show here: http://www.bloomberg.com/tv/shows/the-mentor. 

Airs Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 9 PM ET/PT; Repeats Friday, Feb. 24 at 9:30 PM ET/PT

About "Bloomberg The Mentor"

"Bloomberg The Mentor" is an original series by Bloomberg Television featuring top CEOs mentoring small business owners across America.  Every entrepreneur hopes to strike it big, but the reality is that 80 percent of small businesses fail within the first 18 months. But what if entrepreneurs from around the U.S. had the chance to get real-life advice from some of America's best-known CEOs? 

This season, "Bloomberg The Mentor" tests that concept with small businesses from around the country.  

About Ink from Chase

Ink from Chase is a suite of business cards developed specifically for small business owners, saving them time so they can focus on growing their business. The Ink from Chase portfolio includes four cards – Ink Bold, Ink, Ink Plus and Ink Cash – with special incentives for Chase retail banking customers. Each card offers solutions for small business owners based on their spending habits, cash flow needs and the desire to earn and redeem valuable rewards based on their preferences.

Find Bloomberg Television in your area, visit http://bloomberg.viewerlink.tv/

{image_3rdbromlocalfranchise} A local entrepreneur hopes he can help cardboard go the way of the dinosaur by rethinking the way people move – with reusable plastic boxes, rather than the cardboard boxes which wind up in the garbage more often than the recycling bin. 

David Stockman, local owner of BungoBox, finds it hard to believe that — until now — there hasn’t really been a good alternative to using cardboard. In fact, “We’ve been using the same environmentally unfriendly materials for the past several hundred years,” he said.

BungoBox, a Florida company that Stockman recently franchised in Gainesville, rents reusable plastic moving boxes as an alternative to the traditional cardboard box, helping to keep that moving waste out of Gainesville landfills.

According to BungoBox, only half of the cardboard Americans use actually gets recycled. The average American moves  every more than 16 times in a lifetime, all the bubble wrap, Styrofoam peanuts and boxes can quickly add up. With our student population, Gainesville sees more people on the move than many other places.

Essentially, customers rent BungoBoxes and other moving equipment from the company, which are then delivered to their doorstep prior to their move. Once you complete your move, the company will drop by the new address to pick up the rented BungoBoxes. The simple concept has been a hit, and BungoBox, which is based in Orlando, has opened 12 franchise locations in the past 11 months.

“It ends up being a no-brainer for customers because not only are you creating a zero-waste move, it’s also cheaper than buying the alternative — cardboard,” Stockman said.

Check out BungoBox here before your next move.

BungoBox, founded in May 2009, rents reusable plastic boxes to save consumers time and money over traditional moving methods. The edgy and innovative company, with a slogan of “We Make Moving Less Sucky,” takes the hassle out of rounding of moving materials by delivering its stackable moving boxes to a customers’ doorstep. (A large box of about 2.5 cubic feet rents for $1.75 a week.) Once they’ve been unpacked, BungoBox picks them up at the new residence.

"Our boxes rent for a quarter a day, so you can pack up a two-bedroom apartment for less than $80 on a one-week minimum," says Tom Cannon, BungoBox co-founder and CEO. “It’s a simple concept that is transforming the moving industry.”

BungoBox, launched the franchise option in late 2010, and co-founders Tom and Bob Cannon were overwhelmed when they received more than 100 franchise applications. The fast growing, Orlando-based company has opened an average of one new location per month. 

“Things are moving even quicker than we could have expected,” says Cannon. “We have a list of more than 100 franchise prospects and investors from around the U.S., Canada and Western Europe. ”We don’t see the growth slowing down any time soon.”

About BungoBox:

BungoBox is an innovative company that is transforming the traditional moving process. Committed to helping consumers save time and money with an eco-friendly alternative to cardboard boxes, BungoBox has 12 locations (11 franchise locations and one corporate location). For more information, visit www.bungobox.com.

To download product photos, please visit www.bungobox.com/about/press.

In this role, Cannon will work alongside Central Florida’s top business leaders to help guide the Orlando Regional Chamber into the future. Orlando, Inc. is one of four lines of business of the Central Florida Partnership and is specifically focused on Regional Entrepreneurship. A “Five-Star Chamber" - the highest level of achievement awarded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – they are positioned to serve the growing needs of businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the Central Florida Region. Working together with BusinessForce (Public Policy Advocacy), myregion.org (Regional Research & Resolves) and Leadership Orlando (Regional Leadership), the Central Florida Partnership is moving "Ideas to Results."

Based in Orlando, Fla., BungoBox is an innovative company that is transforming the traditional moving process. Committed to helping consumers save time and money with an eco-friendly alternative to cardboard boxes, BungoBox has 11 locations (ten franchise locations and one corporate location). For more information, visit www.bungobox.com.

What was it like being participating in Orlando Inc's Shark Tank at the BIG Summit? Were the judges responsive to your business plan? The experience was awesome; even better than expected. I thought it would be great to get the word out about BungoBox. The sharks have been awesome, we have been discussing possible investment with them.

Did anything about their feedback surprise you? Yes, I thought that I would get some great advise, which I did. However, the high level of interest in our company was a surprise. Mainly because we considered the event to be more of an exhibition. 

I understand that since you won the Shark Tank contest, you had the chance to sit with Kevin Harrington for some mentoring time. What is the number one tip that Kevin gave you? We have had the chance to sit with Kevin and his team on multiple occasions. They have a tremendous business acumen, and know how to scales businesses and products quickly. They number one tip: is to go for it and go big!

Other tips you found useful? The power of the team and having the right   investors with the right influence is a tremendous asset

Anything else you'd like to include? The event was awesome. The full results of the events are yet to be realized. I cannot express how appreciative we are that Orlando, Inc included us and we will be forever thankful. 

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"We have a passion to help those who are less fortunate," says Rachelle Petrescu, founder and president of The Ephraim Project. In addition to the year round clothing drive, her program offers bus passes, a resume service and aid in applying for food stamps and disability. 

If you would like to volunteer for the Ephraim Project, contact Rachelle “Ray” Hood at rachelle_hood@yahoo.com or 407-451-0242. For more information, visit www.theephraimproject.org.

Collection points:

CityArts
Fry Hammond Barr
IZEA
Knight
Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission
Odyssey Creative
Solaire at the Plaza
Morris Publications
Baker Barrios
Consensus Communications
Foley & Lardner
de Beaubien, Knight, Simmons, Mantzaris & Neal, LLP
Your Office
55 West
Envy Labs
Old Towne Brokers
Resources Consulting Group
Paramount at Lake Eola

One of the “Sharks,” Kevin Harrington, chairman and founder of TVGoods, Inc., is known as a pioneer and principal architect of the infomercial industry. In 1984, he produced one of the industry’s first 30-minute infomercials. Since then, he has been involved with more than 500 product launches that resulted in sales of over $4 billion worldwide with 20 products that reached individual sales of over $100 million.

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