Thursday, March 05, 2009
Burning up the Web
When neighbors Ryan R. Finlay and Giancarlo Vivenzio set out to find the best energy prices to heat their new homes, they quickly experienced the drudgery of comparison shopping. Call after call to heating oil dealers. Clicking around on Web sites. “When we came down to it, there was no one place on the Internet that had all this information,” said Mr. Finlay.
So they created one. Fuelstart.com, conceived in August 2007 and launched in February 2008, aims to be a one-stop information center for consumers in search of heating oil, propane, coal, firewood, kerosene, bio bricks, pellets, biodiesel and green energy. Dealers can post their prices. Consumers can post prices they’ve encountered while shopping for fuel. Consumers can also chat in forums about energy issues, compare the costs of different types of fuel and link to energy news.
Started with less than $5,000, Fuelstart.com is a part-time pursuit for Messrs. Finlay and Vivenzio and their wives. Mr. Finlay, who has a background in systems engineering, handles sales and marketing, and his wife, Julie, a teacher, works the phones when the others are unavailable. Mr. Vivenzio, a webmaster, handles engineering and his wife, Sadie, an accountant, takes care of the finances.
About 500 unique users view the site each day, and people are using the site to run about 50,000 energy searches a month, according to Messrs. Finlay and Vivenzio. The site has also attracted some advertisers.
“Fuelstart is a good site because they’re not just focused on one source of fuel,” said Alisa A. Schumacher, chairman of Grow & Bloom Inc. of Burlington Flats, N.Y., parent company of Alternative Heating of North America, which advertises on FuelStart.com. “I expect interest will grow on his site as people are looking for the alternative sources (of energy).”
The co-founders of Fuelstart.com said they wanted a site covering many types of fuel, partly to reflect the fact that many people can heat their homes with more than one energy source. In their own homes, both Messrs. Finlay and Vivenzio have oil heaters and propane fireplaces.
Fuelstart.com gives alternative fuel dealers a way to get their prices out to the general public, but it also likely appeals to consumers because they can post prices, too, said Kelly Reynolds, president of Pro-Tech Energy in Acton, which sells wood pellets and posts its prices on Fuelstart.com.
“I think it makes the consumer more powerful,” she said. “They have the ability and are passing the word on themselves.”
Not all heating oil dealers have responded enthusiastically to Fuelstart. Some have been reluctant to tip off competitors to their prices, according to Mr. Vivenzio.
LeBlanc Oil LLC of Charlton, however, embraced it as a marketing tool, said Diane M. Learned, office assistant to founders Kenneth J. and Sandra I. LeBlanc, her brother-in-law and sister.
“We’re finding that people are using the Internet to compare (prices) ... People are just looking to save money in all areas,” she said.
Messrs. Finlay and Vivenzio have been adding features to Fuelstart.com, including free Web sites for energy dealers. Meanwhile, they are working on a business plan and contemplating an effort to seek investors, incorporate the business, beef up their computer server and expand marketing, which is currently limited to online advertisements.
“Our long-term goals are, obviously, to be able to do this full time,” said Mr. Vivenzio. “That would be great, but the main goal is to be the resource for energy information on the Web.”
http://www.telegram.com/article/20090222/NEWS/902220331
Contact Lisa Eckelbecker by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).