小企業挑戰大公司

Shoplet vs. 史泰博

????挑戰對手：史泰博（Staples，《財富》500強）、歐迪辦公（Office Depot，《財富》500強）和一大批規模更小的辦公用品商店。

????創業故事：44歲的唐尼?埃里森很清楚，1994年，他放棄在高盛（Goldman Sachs，《財富》500強 ）的工作，轉而投入競爭激烈的辦公用品市場，在外人眼里看起來瘋狂透頂。然而，隨著在線商務的興起，他再也抑制不住心中的夢想，很快便傾盡積蓄成立了辦公用品在線商店Shoplet。他說：“辦公用品行業的大佬們向網絡轉變的速度不夠快。”結果證明，這是一個非常聰明的決定。埃里森的秘訣是什么？他為顧客提供了400,000多件商品，其中包括許多環保商品。此外，他還為消費者提供免費的專有電子采購軟件，消費者可以更輕松地管理辦公用品開支。如今，Shoplet實現了“九位數的收益”，在紐約有63名員工。取得這樣的成就，誰還需要華爾街的工作呢？

Shoplet vs. Staples

????The challenge: Taking on Staples (SPLS, Fortune 500), Office Depot (ODP, Fortune 500), and an army of smaller office-products stores.

????What he did: Tony Ellison, 44, knew it seemed crazy to ditch his career at Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500)to jump into the ultracompetitive office-supply market back in 1994. But with online commerce taking off, he couldn't resist and soon plowed his savings into opening Shoplet. "The big boys in the industry were very slow to move online," he says. It turned out to be a smart bet. Ellison's secret? He lured customers with more than 400,000 products -- and plenty of eco-friendly ones. He also made it easier for them to manage their office-supply spending by offering free proprietary electronic-procurement software. Today Shoplet brings in "nine-figure revenues" and employs 63 people in New York. Who needs a Wall Street career?