The Built World is a Non-Consensus Goldmine
In venture investing there is a group of investment opportunities that do not confirm to the norm, and is called the non-consensus market.
“By definition in venture capital, if you are doing it right, you are continuously investing in things that are non-consensus at the time of investment. And let me translate ‘non-consensus’: in sort of practical terms, it translates to crazy. You are investing in things that look like they are just nuts” – Marc Andreessen – VC thought leader
The built environment or built world is ripe for these non-consensus opportunities. The opportunity is there because the scale of this market is pegged at $40 trillion. A big market with $1.4 trillion dollars in annual spending results in many great investment possibilities.
Cart-Away focuses our interest on the concrete portion of this built world. In a Fortune Business Insights™ report, titled, “Ready-Mix Concrete Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis” it suggests that the market size was $633.4 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $1,227.2 billion by 2027. Most of the concrete industry’s distribution and supply chains conform to a standard delivery practice – We would place the ready-mix business model squarely in the consensus category.
Cart-Away is a non-consensus way of delivering concrete
Ready-mixed Concrete (RMC) is the most consumed product of the built world, and represents $50 billion in annual revenues. The consensus in the industry is that concrete is delivered by a large ready-mix truck. There are thousands of batch plants and delivery trucks supporting the 400 million cubic yards delivered in the U.S. each year. Cart-Away breaks with the consensus to solve the problem of less-than-truckload deliveries. Cart-Away has proven that ready-mix delivery can move down-market and make smaller deliveries profitable. Delivery services that move down-market have a history of building from non-consensus ideas. In 1945 U-haul broke with consensus and said that do-it-yourself household moving could be done with a tow-behind trailer. Most moving industry experts thought that the U-haul idea was nuts. U-haul’s (AMERCO) market cap is over $9 billion as of June 2022. We have watched taxi services and food delivery move down to the point of allowing delivery by privately owned cars. Like Cart-Away, these non-consensus investment ideas have proven successful.
Cart-Away is the U-haul for ready-mixed concrete deliveries and a non-consensus player in this vast RMC marketplace. The difference between the 1945 move by U-haul and the Cart-Away Supply of today is that our established traction proves that we are not crazy. Cart-Away has grown a self-delivery trailer idea into a $458 million dollar industry, with a network of over 400 locations.
The built world has problems that Cart-Away can solve
Sometimes the best representations of consensus lives within the “legacy” companies. There are long-standing problems with legacy RMC delivery. None of the big concrete suppliers want small loads because that hurts their margins. And that is just one problem they must overcome. It is from these problems that Cart-Away has found great success. Those who study non-consensus opportunities look for several problems in a legacy model. And then they ask: “Are there any of the following problems that need a solution?”
We can solve the issue of the Built World
Labor Shortage: Driving an expensive concrete delivery truck requires a special license and a skilled driver. There is a major short staffing issue in the legacy RMC business model. Cart-Away is a self-delivery business model. There are no drivers because the customer uses their own vehicle to pull the ready-mix trailer to the job site. Many Cart-Away million-dollar producers use less than two semi-skilled workers in the operation. The job skills require the ability to attach a trailer and to push buttons on our batch plants.
Environment Concerns: A 80,000lb concrete truck sucks down a gallon of diesel fuel every 3 miles. And these trucks belch out a ton of CO2 each year. It doesn’t matter if they are delivering 8-yards or 1-yard, the results are the same. Cart-Away solves the small load (under 4 cubic yards) portion of the ready-mix delivery industry, with less than 20% of the air quality impact. Adding to the environmental impact on the planet is the crushing weight of heavy trucking on the streets and sidewalks of the built world. Cart-Away allows for ready-mixed concrete delivery over sidewalks and driveways without damage. There is no damage to city streets from heavy trucking when small loads are delivered with a Cart-Away system.
Thinning Margins: The economics of big concrete trucking requires that these companies sell huge volumes. The struggle to get big jobs causes competitive pricing pressure to drive down the margins. The latest industry data puts gross margins in RMC companies at $12.75, and that has been declining for several years. This drop may be why there is such a push to consolidate legacy RMC into massive international juggernauts. Cart-Away has grown success in the downsizing of the delivery process and with a self-delivery model. There are no drivers or expensive trucks to cut into profits, so this allows the gross margins to be many multiples higher than a traditional RMC company.
Underutilized Assets: Pickup trucks account for 20.57 percent of all vehicles in operation, according to analysis by Experian Automotive. Most every contractor has at least one of these light-duty trucks in their fleet.
Millions of available tow vehicles
There are millions of pickup trucks with a rear ball-hitch that hardly ever gets used. These underutilized vehicles are the perfect towing vehicle for a self-delivery concrete enterprise. From contractors, to city workers, to DIYers, the Cart-Away trailer can be hitched and towed to their job site with their own truck. The inventory of available towing vehicles allows Cart-Away to take advantage of an underutilized asset base that is waiting for a reason to work.
Investment money is chasing the Built World
There are billions in private investment money attempting to find solutions in the built world. The federal government has agreed to spend trillions of dollars to improve our infrastructure issues. All of these investments can improve or exacerbate our climate and supply chain issues. One investment company that works in the built world space has suggested: “For investors and asset managers, climate risk is increasingly becoming a threat to their portfolios. The solution? Technology (of course) and the wholesale adoption of new business models and practices to create a more sustainable and resilient built environment.”
Cart-Away Supply is more of a “Picks and Shovels” business opportunity than a technology investment. Cart-Away is a non-consensus solution that actually falls into the category of a new business model and practice for a more sustainable and resilient built world. The time is NOW to invest in Cart-Away.