eBay Etailer copes with growing pains as it expands

[mandy]

Dyscern, which each week sells more than 1,400 iPods, PDAs, GPS devices, digital cameras and BlackBerrys, mostly through eBay, has in a few years gone from being a small home business to one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country, according to Inc. magazine, with projected sales of $12 million this year. It has done that largely on the backs of family and friends.

Their rise as an eBay success story illustrates the growing pains felt by many companies that begin as mom-and-pop shops and grow quickly into much-larger businesses. As Dyscern looks beyond eBay and its own modest Web site, its owners are preparing to face bigger challenges, such as whether they need to hire executives with expertise their team doesn't have.

"As we look to future growth . . . we will bring in other professionals who have experience and fill in the team," Canty said. "These people will likely be found outside of our friends-and-family circle." ...

full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...01278.html