אינטערסאנט, אבער פארוואס זיך אליין באשרייבן?

http://www.vosizneias.com/61023/2010/07/28/williamsburg-ny-35-years-of-friendship-is-fueling-transportation-service

Williamsburg, NY - As 10-year-olds they rode yellow school buses together every morning on the way to yeshiva.

Now, 45 years later, two boyhood friends from Williamsburg are running their own bus company, taking on the airlines, Amtrak and other big commercial bus operations.

''I love it…It's my passion to satisfy people,'' said Menachem (Sol) Wollner, co-owner of Vamoose Bus, which he started with his pal and business partner Zanvel (Sam Bluzenstein in 2004.

''In Yiddish it's called ''lev tov;' it means 'good heart,' '' he said. ''It is my livelihood; I was a passenger, I was a manager, I was a bus driver, I'm a mechanic…I know every aspect.''

The Brooklyn duo decided six years ago to leave their jobs in the bus industry to start their own company - challenging bigger business like Greyhound, Bold and the so called Chinatown bus services.

Today, they run 50 buses a week between their bus stop on 31st Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan and stops in Bethesda Md. and Arlington Va.

''I saw (other bus companies) and I though, 'Hey, everybody's standing in line, pushing, they want their luggage, '' said Bluzenstein, who drove and managed school buses in Williamsburg for 20 years.

''I thought, 'I can make it go more orderly; I want to make sure my customer doesn't have the anxiety.''

So Bluzenstein risked it all, invested his life savings and maxing out his credit cards to start his own point-to-point bus line from New York to Washington area.

''My wife was ready for the worst,'' said Bluzenstein, who sunk $300,000 into the business and enlisted his old friend Wollner as a partner to run the customer service side.

It wasn't easy at first.

For three years, Wollner and Bluzenstein lost money, cutting costs by working out of their cars, taking reservations on their cell phones and loading the luggage themselves.

But for the past two and a half years Vamoose Bus has turned a profit and now logs 500 reservations a day on its website for the $30 one-way tickets.

Both men say it's their friendship that has seen their business through.

''Since 10 years old we knew each other,'' said Bluzenstein. ''I knew he's a natural in this and I don't have to explain to him what to do.''

''We used to ride the bus, we grew up together, and we're still together,'' added Wollner. ''The only thing is we are soul mates.''