Purchasing for a Start-Up. (E-Fusion Conference: Retail; Technology).

P.T. Cruisers with laptops and debit cards for customers are just a few of the technologies that helped start-up property/casualty insurer American Skyline Insurance Co. creatively tackle its problems.

American Skyline, which tailors its services and products to urban America, had the advantage as a startup of building technology systems from scratch. But there were other challenges, said Earnest Hines, president and chief executive officer.

To deal with the challenges, the company first sifted through a barrage of available technology and carefully chose which technologies fit the business at an affordable price. American Skyline wanted to avoid the pitfall of spending more money on maintaining a system than on new systems. The company started with $1 million when the business began operating two years ago, Hines said. Last year, the company spent less than $1 million.