Order a pole barn from DIY Pole Barns, and you get free delivery of a kit to your building site complete with building plans and telephone support, all for much less than a local lumberyard will charge. DIY owner Mike Gilmore believes his firm is one of only two pole barn kit sellers in the U.S. It seems to be a concept that works, because in less than two years in business, he has shipped kits to 42 of the continental 48 states.

"We are a material broker, which saves the customer money," says Gilmore. "We purchase material direct from manufacturers and have them ship it right to the customer. That eliminates the cost of shipping to us, unloading, storing and then reloading and paying freight to the customer."

Gilmore relies on preapproved regional suppliers and national suppliers for trusses and metal roofing. Orders for poles and other lumber go through regional networks of lumberyards with the closest lumberyard handling delivery of poles.

DIY has building plans in stock or will create a customized plan. Once the customer has selected a plan, they place an order and a contract is signed. Payments are made in advance, which also holds down costs.

"We supply building plans, lists for what materials are used where, and blueprints with delivery," says Gilmore. "Plans are usually sufficient to get building permits. If blueprints are needed, we sell them and then credit the purchase against the rest of the package when it is ordered.

"The largest pole barn we have sold to date was 60 by 150 by 14-ft.," says Gilmore. "The smallest was 34 by 32-ft. with garage door. As an example of how it works, we recently had a customer place an order, and we had ordered his poles 15 minutes later, his trusses within 45 minutes, and all siding and roofing within two hours."