What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture or to make significant changes in an existing business?
Since my late teens I have always wanted to run my own business and I now have many a notepad full of ideas. My dilemma had always been which idea to run with first.
A number of events, which occurred during my 2nd and 3rd years at the University of Warwick, made the decision quite clear. Finding accommodation in the local area was difficult enough but the challenge of securing housing for a summer internship, in London, left me homeless at the final hour. It was blatantly obvious that students needed a better way of finding term time and summer accommodation. With a roof over my head and well paid employment offers for graduation I still needed an extra push to act.
Enter local estate agent, “X”. Through what can only be described as a piece of administrative genius, our friends and next door neighbours were refunded twice their original deposit at the end of the tenancy period. Unfortunately for us the penny presumably dropped and our deposit was retained for reasons unknown.
Smarter Housing was limited as a registered company no more than a month after this experience and soon boasted clients formerly with agent X.
What is your definition of success and has your company achieved it?
Success can only be measured against objectives set out by the particular individual trying to define that success. Smarter Housing was founded with the aim of raising the standard of student accommodation which, to some extent, has been achieved. There is still progress to be made in replicating our success at the University of Warwick throughout the UK, although the business is now taking shape in Birmingham, Bristol and Nottingham.
Raising the standard of student accommodation remains very much a primary objective, although new goals and opportunities to succeed (or fail) are constantly emerging.
To what do you attribute your company’s recent achievements?
A combination of product and people.
How important have good employees and team members been to your success?
In the early stages Smarter Housing was very much a one man band but in recent months the company has taken on brand managers and property managers. The team have been of huge importance as they have taken on day-to-day running of existing operations allowing me to focus on expanding SmarterHousing into new areas and different markets, such as high quality residential lettings and sales.