Coworking space is a business for some people and a home to many startups!
Mr. Kushal Bhargava, the Co-Founder of MyBranch sheds some light on the Co-working Industry in India during pandemic times and also shares the interesting startup story of MyBranch in this article. From finding locations, to assisting with documentation, to handling essentials and daily administration, MyBranch takes care of it all! In terms of managing and maintaining workspaces, MyBranch serves as a one-stop shop for all business needs.
To begin, a little background information about Mr. Kushal – He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a master’s in commerce degree from Mumbai University. He is also an active member of the Student’s Committee of WIRC (Western India Regional Chapter) of ICAI. He started managing a pan-India BFSI business after completing his education. An innovative and strategic thinker, Kushal sets the vision for MyBranch and supports its operations team with delivery. He also assists in developing the business and forges ties with companies. In addition, he oversees MyBranch’s ancillary businesses – Meeting Rooms, Virtual Offices, and Managed Offices.
1.What were the major challenges in terms of co-working operations during and post lockdown?
The entire country came to a standstill during the lockdown. We were no different, even though the existing clientele at the time did not decline, the offices were left vacant during the entire lockdown period. Also, when the lockdown was lifted, several restrictions were in place, most of our clients who had expansion plans became reluctant and took a step back.
2. How did MyBranch tackle it efficiently? What were the measures taken?
Not just our country, Covid has impacted the entire world at an unprecedented level. The pandemic laid an impact on business and overall operations up to a great extent. However, still, MyBranch was quick to respond in a strategic manner. During the lockdown, we gave utmost importance to brand building activities because it was supposed to be managed from the ease of our homes. We also planned supporting activities and drills for our customers. We were fortunate to not lose even a single enterprise client due to Lockdown. We maintained constant touch with all our clients and kept them informed about the new and updated office protocol. Also, we strictly followed all Covid-19 guidelines at our offices across India, as a result almost 80% of our clients started working from our offices just within two months of unlocking.
MyBranch Coworking Space
3. How was the company’s start-up journey in context to growth, team building, and customer satisfaction?
We believe, for any startup idea to become successful, the most important thing is its uniqueness and scalability. We utilized the lockdown for focusing on brand-building activities and spreading awareness about MyBranch. And even after we reopened, we ensured all sanitization and fumigation standards are met and our offices are completely safe for the guest employees.
We believe in the phenomenon of ‘Happy customers bring more business’, hence we consider our customers foremost.
MyBranch Logo
4. How do you see the co-working industry pacing ahead of a pandemic? What are the key points the young entrepreneurs, or start-ups in the industry, should keep in mind?
There is no denying that just like any other business, this industry too, has its share of pros and cons. But in the bigger picture, we think the co-working industry is going to boom because numerous offices and organizations have opted for work from home as a permanent way of working and are now seeking small office spaces at different locations instead of consolidated working space. Young entrepreneurs who aspire to enter into this business should most importantly focus on the conceptualization of their ideas. They should lay emphasis on offers leading to maximum satisfaction for the customers, in return, this can get a lot of recognition and references for future deals.
5. What were the learnings you got from your journey as an entrepreneur?
As an entrepreneur, one of the biggest learning we got was — bite only as much as you can chew. It is very important to only cater to as much demand as you can deliver effectively and efficiently. We believe in maintaining quality even if means lesser quantity. As an entrepreneur, you are responsible for all things from top to bottom, and for a business to become successful it is really important to manage all aspects efficaciously. A business can become fruitful with a multi-dimensional approach and a will to never give up.
6. Do you want to share an anecdote or inspirational story that you think would be enriching for our readers.
To us, ours is an inspirational story because contrary to what we thought, MyBranch was able to increase revenue by 8% for this financial year despite 2020-21 being such an unfortunate year in regard to business and humanity as well. This has inspired us to work towards setting up 100 branches across India.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by YourOwnROOM.
Searching for a new place to stay has always been a struggle for everyone. But now the times are changing and the days when you had to look for a broker and roam around the entire city to find a new home for yourself are going away.
Now, to help you with all this, PropTech (property technology) is driving transformation and efficiencies in residential real estate. PropTech is all the tech tools that help real estate brokers, developers, and agents fine-tune the way in which you buy, sell, rent, or manage a property.
YourOwnROOM is a PropTech residential real estate rental and property management company founded in 2016. It is an online platform where both tenants and owners can find and display places.
In this article, discover more about YourOwnROOM, its story, industry, founders and team, business and revenue model, and more.
YourOwnROOM is a residential real estate PropTech rental and property management company. It was incorporated in February 2016. The PropTech platform enables onboarding and management of residential assets in multiple formats including co-living homes, alternate assets, and family homes.
YourOwnROOM – Industry
Residential RE Rental Market is $13.5 billion as per Primus Partners, 2020 and the Shared Living market is $6.4 billion with a penetration of only 2.5%with demand being fueled by migrant millennials moving to cities. Coliving,Student Housing and senior homes will be the new reality growth drivers. Demand will continue to be fueled by Migrant Millennials.
Real estate as a sector is the backbone of the Indian economy and its market size is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030. Real Estate will grow to a $650 billion market size by 2025, growing at 19.5% CAGR, contributing to 13% of our country’s GDP and generating 75 million jobs, and almost 1/6th of this is going to be residential real estate.
The recently approved Model Tenancy Act will help bridge the trust deficit between tenants and landlords by clearly delineating their obligations and will eventually help unlock vacant houses across the country. It is a big step towards institutionalising Rental in India.
Prabhat Kumar Tiwary – Founder, CEO, and CMD of YourOwnROOM
YourOwnROOM was founded by Prabhat Kumar Tiwary, along with Sachin Joshi and Rewat Laxman, with a deep interest in Entrepreneurship, Business and Technology.
Prabhat Kumar Tiwary is the CEO and Managing Director and drives growth. He is an alumnus of Stanford Business School. In addition, he is also the COO. Sanjay Singh is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer.
The total team size is about 25 across Bengaluru and Pune, with the bulk of the team based out of Bengaluru. YourOwnROOM has a very flat organisational structure where each team member has access to the founders and leadership team. YourOwnROOM has a mix of senior leaders, experienced team members, and freshers. About 60% of the team includes freshers from various colleges.
Advisors and Mentors
The team is extremely fortunate to have some very accomplished Industry leaders who have invested in them and provide strategic direction. This includes Ravi Chaturvedi from the US who is a former president of P&G, K Narasimha Murthy who is the co-founder of a health tech company based out of the US and Venkat Shiv Dasari, who is a senior executive for an MNC IT services company.
YourOwnROOM – Startup Story
“We initially started YourOwnROOM to solve the challenges faced by singles while looking for a decent place to live. However, what got us even more intrigued is the bigger picture” says Prabhat Kumar Tiwary, Founder,CEO, and CMD, YourOwnROOM.
YourOwnROOM’s core belief is that it will no longer be just about the Asset.The Real Value of the Asset will unfold when you apply a tech-based service wrapper on top of the Residential Asset and channel it to the right unmet demand. PropTech-based Rental and Property Management companies like them will play a critical role in the next 5 years in driving transformation and efficiencies in Residential real estate.
YourOwnROOM’s vision statement says, “Our vision at YourOwnROOM is to deliver higher economic returns to our Residential Real Estate Property Owners over the Property Lifecycle using our Proptech-based Residential Rental & Property Management Solutions.”
YourOwnROOM – Name and Logo
YourOwnROOM Logo
YourOwnROOM considers tenants as their primary consumers with Homeowners, Developers, and Vendors as partners in delivering the services. The logo brings focus to 3 things – home at the epicentre, location, and vibrant colours which resonate with their young millennial tenants and homeowners.
YourOwnROOM – Product and USP
YourOwnROOM acts as a trusted custodian of residential assets for property owners and offers multi-year rental and property management services to them. It helps them get continuous cash flow, higher rental yields and higher capital appreciation from their residential assets. Their rental management services include finding KYC-verified tenants, drafting and executing rental agreements, move-ins, rental collection, service request management, renewals, and exit settlements.
Their property management services include property onboarding, offboarding, audits, maintenance, and project management across painting, interiors, and civil work. The company partners with PropCo companies and Developers as Asset Managers to increase the sales velocity, rental yields, and capital appreciation of their residential asset portfolio.
The company’s biggest differentiator is its prop-tech platform. It integrates their golden execution capabilities and helps them deliver better management for their Asset Owners and a better living experience for consumers. This provides it with the foundation to profitably scale its business across multiple cities and multiple residential asset formats.
YourOwnROOM – Business and Revenue Model
YourOwnROOM’s core business is automated and runs on its PropTech Platform which is also one of the startup’s biggest differentiators. In addition, it uses several tools to manage CRM, IVR, and Ticket Management. The startup has also built an integration with KYC systemsand various payment gateways. YourOwnROOM also has an online method to sign agreements with its tenants, owners and vendors.
YourOwnROOM Revenue and Business Model involve 3 steps:
1. Onboard Property
It signs a 3-5 year MoU with owners to manage their propertyand rentals. With developers and propcos, it signs a 5-7 year MoU for the same.
YourOwnROOM onboards the property on its PropTech Platform and conducts quality assurance checks.
It gets into an arrangement with the owner and seeks 30-45 days to rent out the property to tenants.
YourOwnROOM assists the owner to onboard the property by conducting a quality check, helping with repairs, and helping procure furniture and appliances.
2. Onboard Tenant
YourOwnROOMactively scouts for suitable tenants, run marketing campaigns and organizes site visits.
It books a tenant and signs a rental Service Agreement. This is done between the tenant, owner, and YourOwnROOM
It then onboards the tenants into the property.
3. Engage Tenant and Asset
The tenant will pay a fixed rental to YourOwnROOM through the tech platform.
YourOwnROOM pays rent to the Owner minus its commission.
In addition, the tenant pays for admin and move-out charges and service requests (requests for repair work and other complaints) after 14 days.
YourOwnROOM manages service requests, audits, renewals, exits, and refills.
The owner and tenant interact with YourOwnROOM using the technology platform, which includes the interactive tenant and owner dashboards.
YourOwnROOM acquired its initial 100 tenants mainly through word of mouth, social media sales, and a strong direct sales team. Getting customers to buy their business model was key, as co-living in the early days was a developing concept with only a few options. The company’s initial inventory was of very high quality and located just 15 minutes from the business parks, which accelerated the sales process.
YourOwnROOM – Challenges Faced
“Most challenging part of our business was to build long term trustamong our tenants and homeowners” says Prabhat Kumar Tiwary, Founder, CEO, and CMD, YourOwnROOM.
The real test of the business was to have repeat customers. For the first 2 years, YourOwnROOM focused heavily on picking the right asset, managing the same and servicing its tenants. This built great trust among tenants and homeowners which was key to building long-term associations. Today most homeowners sign over 5-year rental and property management contractswith YourOwnROOM.
YourOwnROOM – Growth and Turnover
The company’s Asset Under Management is 1 million square feet valued at over Rs. 400 crores ($50 million) spread across 500 properties in Bengaluru and Pune. YourOwnROOM’s annualised revenue run rate is about Rs. 10 crores. It is operationally profitable and will be EBITDA positive in the next 3-4 months. Post that, the company is looking for a multi-city expansion which will help fuel its growth.
YourOwnROOM – Funding and Investors
YourOwnROOM has raised a total funding of $1.3 Million from Angles in US and India.
Date
Stage
Amount
Investors
2019
Seed
$1.3 million
Angels – US and India
YourOwnROOM – Awards and Recognitions
YourOwnROOM received several awards. The most prominent ones are:
It was an honour for YourOwnROOM to get recognized by International Brand Equity in the India Properties Award – 2020 as the Best Coliving Company in South India. The award was felicitated by Senior Politician Tanveer Ahmed. Grabbing the award for best Coliving company in India in one of reputed India’s National Real Estate Awards platforms is proof of the credibility of the company.
Your Own Room Received ETNow Award 2019 for Excellence in Real Estate as the Company of the Year (Co-living Spaces). This is one of the most significant achievements for the company in Real Estate.
YourOwnROOM received Paul Writer’s 50 hottest Brand for 2019. YourOwnROOM was proud to share the stage with Brands like Swiggy, BYJU’S, BigBasket and the like.
Over the last 6 years, they have built a well-established business model, growth, profitability, governance, and brand. This has stood the test of time, especially COVID. It also built a Proptech platform that will drive operational consistency and performance and allow them to profitably scale across cities, offerings, and asset formats.
Increase the sales penetration of rental and property management services in Bengaluru and Pune.
Offer Property Manager Tech Services to PropCos, Developers, and Channel Partners to exponentially scale.
Expand their presence in Hyderabad and Chennai.
Upgrade features and UX of Proptech Platform (Portal, Mobile App & BPE) and make it SaaS enabled for Property Managers to manage multiple asset formats.
To support the company’s growth, they are planning to raise a Series-A investment. The company is looking for strategic and institutional investors who can provide them with the capital, connections, and guidance to scale their business. Investments will fuel growth and they plan to invest in developing their offerings, adding new cities, new partnerships, digital marketing and taking their PropTech Platform to the next level.
FAQs
What is YourOwnROOM?
YourOwnROOM is a residential real estate PropTech rental and property management company. The PropTech platform enables onboarding and management of residential assets in multiple formats including co-living homes, alternate assets and family homes.
Who founded YourOwnROOM?
YourOwnROOM wasfounded by Prabhat Kumar Tiwary, along with Sachin Joshi and Rewat Laxman,with a deep interest in Entrepreneurship, Business and Technology.
When was YourOwnROOM founded?
YourOwnROOM was launched in 2016 and is headquartered in Bengaluru.
How much is YourOwnROOM’s turnover?
YourOwnROOM has an annualized sales turnover of Rs. 10 crores ($1 million approx).
Who are YourOwnROOM’s competitors?
YourOwnROOM has the following competitors in the market:
India is fast becoming a startup hub with many startups coming up with innovative and fresh ideas. In the year 2018, more than 1200 startups came into being. With the growing number of startups, and also freelancers, the need for working spaces has risen. To meet this growing need for working spaces, co-working spaces are coming up. Co-working spaces provide small entrepreneurs and freelancers an ideal workspace and work environment.
Work Studio Coworking, a Patna based startup has come up with the vision to build a vibrant community of businesses and startups in Tier-2 and Tier-3 Cities. The company strives to make a business-friendly environment where budding organizations can grow together.
We want to provide a professional and business-friendly environment so that people need not look towards big cities for employment and can get jobs easily in their home towns.
The concept of co-working spaces has gained good popularity all over the world around the past couple of years and the trend has been well received by Indian startups too. India is the 3rd largest startup hub and the 2nd largest freelancer workforce in the world, as such there is huge scope for growth of co-working spaces in India. The potential demand for seats in the co-working space is more than 3.5 to 4 million.
Currently, the potential market size for the co-working segment across India currently stands in the range of 12-16 million.
Segment
Market size
Freelancers
1.54 Million
Startups
0.1 Million
SMEs
1.5 Million
Enterprise
10.3 Million
Total Market Size
15.5 Million Approx
According to a report published in Harvard Business Review, people working in coworking spaces have a feeling of more meaningful work, more job control and sense of community as compared to those working in regular offices.
Work Studio Coworking – Founders
Alok Kumar, Rahul Samrat, Sonu Saurav, Ishan Paul &, Prakhyat Kashyap are the founders of Work studio co-working.
Alok is an engineering graduate from GIT Jaipur.
Rahul is an engineering graduate from Bhagalpur college of engineering technology and worked as a project engineer at Wipro prior to founding Work Studio.
Sonu is an alumnus of Patna University.
Ishan is an engineering graduate from Dehradun Institute of Technology.
Prakhyat is an MBA from Lalit Narayan Mithila University.
Work Studio Coworking – The Idea and Starting Up
In the last few years, Patna has emerged as a buzzing startup community and looking for work-space was an issue that the startups faced. With a view to cater to this demand for well equipped and well-managed work-spaces, Work Studio Coworking was started.
Being an entrepreneur we had the calculation ready for the requirements of the city. We analyzed it well, pitched it with some investors and got some seed money to start with. It is a great excitement to bring something new for our home town. Although it was a common concept in metros but bringing it to our state really excited us.
Work Studio Coworking – Name, Tagline and Logo
The founders wanted the name to be professional, unique and something that defines their work completely. It was Rahul who came up with the name ‘Work Studio Coworking’.
The company’s tagline is “where business grows together”.
Work Studio Coworking’s logo was designed by Alok. The logo has 6 hexagons which define the networking and collaboration of businesses. It seems all the different entities working together and help others to be completed which is our vision to bring all the resources together. Also, the logo has a mouse which defines our working structure.
Work Studio Coworking – Services
Work Studio Coworking is the largest coworking space in Patna and in Bihar as a whole. Work Studio provides all kind of office spaces like flexible seats, open dedicated seats, luxury seats, virtual office. The services offered include separate meeting rooms, conference hall, event hall cafeteria, game zone, HD projector, zero electric charges, free high-speed internet and also medical checkup facility. The space also has facilities like printing, scanning, lockers, oven, refrigerator, etc.
Work Studio Coworking started their 1st unit in Kankarbagh Patna with multiple offerings like an open desk, dedicated desk, open dedicated desk and premium of about 100 seats. The unit was started on 1st April 2018 and after 4 months the unit became profitable. Later on another unit of Work Studio with 100 seats more on 15th November in Ranchi. It got completely occupied just after the launch. The company also has units in Gurugram. There are 3 more units under construction which will be launched in upcoming months.
Work Studio Coworking boasts of a great community of around 200 people which is continuously increasing as per the units.
Work Studio Coworking – Revenue Model
Work Studio Coworking has a unique model where it provides full-fledged office space with all the services included, to company, startup, freelancer or any sort of business at such an affordable cost which may cost three times if they set it up themselves.
The company offers daily pass at INR 250/day. Depending on the services included, the other plans are Flexi Plans at INR 3500/month, open dedicated plans at INR 4500/month and dedicated Plans at INR 5500/month.
Work Studio Coworking has not raised any major funds to date.
We have received initial funding over our particular units. So we are still bootstrapped in a way.
Work Studio Coworking – Customer Acquisition
We promoted heavily by not investing but by asking people to change their profile picture of Facebook with our backdrop and it worked.
Work Studio Coworking got amazing mouth to mouth advertising and got a lot of recombination of clients. The company also keeps conducting a lot of community events which made the place one of the most happening places in the city. The ambiance is full of positivity which keeps people inspired and this is the biggest publicity trick.
Work Studio Coworking – Challenges
Many people in the tier 2 and tier 3 cities are still not aware of the concept of coworking space, which posed a challenge for Studio Coworking spaces.
It was very difficult in the initial days to make people understand what is coworking. People were not understanding the concept we were promoting. Later on, we promoted as affordable office, fully furnished office and many other ways.
Although the industry is full of big and small players, the uniqueness about Work Studio Coworking is that they are focusing mainly on tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Work Studio Coworking – Future Plans
Work Studio Coworking currently has multiple units in Panta, Ranchi and Gurugram and all are occupied. The company is all set to launch new units in the future.
Work Studio Coworking – FAQs
What is Work Studio Coworking?
Work Studio Coworking is the largest co-working space in Bihar.
Who are the Work Studio Coworking founders?
Alok Kumar, Rahul Samrat, Sonu Saurav, Ishan Paul &, Prakhyat Kashyap are the founders of Work Studio Co-working.
What are some coworking spaces in India?
Some coworking spaces in India are Work Studio Coworking, WeWork, Innov8, Red Bricks, Skootr, Investopad, awfis, Smartworks, GoodWorks, Workafella, Hive to name a few.
The concept of co-working space dates back to 1995. But it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it has gained popularity in the last decade. To make the co-working industry more sophisticated, Ritesh Malik founded Innov8 in 2016.
Innov8 is a premium coworking space provider in the country. In recent times, it has emerged as a leading brand in the coworking space standing on a strong footing in the Indian startup market space. It’s not widely known but India is the 3rd biggest startup hub in the world! This germinates the apparent need for relevant workspace in the country.
Innov8 was launched with the vision to provide the best infrastructure in town & supremely innovative design facilities to the members working in the workspace. This will lead them to work to their fullest potential while leading an equally balanced work-life with the finest and top-notch office spaces.
Website
All in all, Innov8 provides cool and sophisticated co-working spaces to facilitate the process for the startup ecosystem and the merging freelancer’s culture in the country. Since its inception, it is based on the core value of building world-class products at a superiorly value-conscious price with top-notch service. This is now the fundamental strength of this venture. The company, by and large, focuses on scaling its business model to deeply assist in integrating more verticals under the shared economy space in the country.
“At this time, Innov8 coworking space is helping startups and freelancers by providing them an ergonomically designed workspace that has exclusively been curated for better work-life.”, says the founder, Ritesh Malik.
Founders of Innov8 and team
The founder of Innov8 is Ritesh Malik. He is a doctor by profession and is a graduate of Dr. MGR Medical University in Tamil Nadu.
Ritesh Malik – Founder and CEO, Innov8 Coworking
Dr. Ritesh Malik is an Indian doctor, entrepreneur, and investor. He runs a virtual Startup Accelerator in India, currently investing in and mentoring 11 startups across various industries. He was the first investor & mentor of FIN ROBOTICS, which became the first Indian hardware product company to raise a Series A venture funding.
He did his MBBS from a rural medical college, Theni, and an internship from Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi. His parents are doctors; his father is a pediatrician & mother is a gynecologist. They have a secondary healthcare hospital in Delhi called Radix Healthcare. He also studied for a short time at the London School of Economics and completed a semester at Harvard University.
How was Innov8 Started?
If you’re wondering how was Innov8 started, we have got you covered. All of it started while founder Ritesh was in medical school and he sort of developed a keen interest in the divine field of entrepreneurship. During his college days, Ritesh had successfully managed to attend a short Marketing Science 101 course at the prestigious London School of Economics during one of his summer breaks. That’s where he learned deeply about how Silicon Valley was booming and buzzing with startup ventures and sustainability modules every day.
It is also during this time that he foundedGuerilla Ventures in 2013 which is an angel fund. This venture has invested in more than 45 startups across various sectors including healthcare, information technology, innovation, SaaS, etc. After being a successful investor for quite a few years, Innov8 owner Ritesh Malik again felt the entrepreneurial itch! And that’s how he went on to start the startup in Delhi in January 2016.
Innov8 CEO and founder Ritesh says: “The office space was in the heart of Connaught Place in Delhi, and it was fully sold out within 30 days.”
Soon after Ritesh launched Innov8, the venture was picked up by Silicon Valley incubator Y Combinator for the 2016 batch.
“We were told we should do large centers because with small centers we will not be able to become a $1 billion revenue company. At YC, we learned that to be huge, we need to have large campuses,” said Ritesh Malik, owner of Innov8.
Followed by this event, the startup went on to set up a 500-seater campus in the IT hub of the country, Bengaluru, which also sold out in just two months. As of today, from typically 25,000-27,000 square feet co-working spaces, the company is gone further deep in the game and is now setting up 50,000 square feet spaces around the country.
Innov8 Logo
Seeing this level of the upping game, it wouldn’t come as any surprise to us that Innov8 is now aiming to do one lakh square feet workspaces soon. They have been successful in creating a coworking space in Hyderabad for about 80,000 square feet. This was the time when established players like WeWork had already established its space in the city.
The startup has immense competition in the coworking market but the rising demand for coworking spaces always exceeds the supply of these spaces. Hence this is where they step in and conquer. Innov8 Coworking was acquired by OYO for $30 million on Mar 15, 2019.
Innov8 – Business Model and Revenue Model
Innov8 typically operates on an asset-light business model which means that it leases the working spaces for up to 10 years.
“Our focus is on doing larger campuses because we feel that if we do larger campuses in a particular area, the economies of scale will kick in and we end up making more money out of it, as well as the community building factor plays along with it,” added Ritesh Mallik, the founder of Innov8.
Innov8 – Competitors
Though the competition is huge and cut-throat in the coworking space market, the company’s biggest competitors are the ventures called Awfis and 91springboard.
The funding amount of Innov8 lies at $4 million. In 2018, it raised its pre-Series A round of funding for $4 million led by the Credence Family Office. Also, the existing investors participated in this funding round.
The company is backed by high profile angel investors including Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder, Paytm; Rajan Anandan, Head, Google India; Anand Chandrasekaran, Global Director of Platform and Product Partnerships, Facebook; and Girish Mathrubootham, Founder and CEO of Freshworks, among others.
Innov8 Coworking was acquired by OYO for $30 million on Mar 15, 2019.
Innov8 – Growth
Operates in more than 13 cities across India
Has an overall capacity of 6,000 seats
Has a wide network of more than 190 clients
Its clients include RBL Bank, food delivery major Swiggy and Vice Media to only name a few
Its centers are built with facilities like nap rooms, rooftops, recreation facilities, refreshments, and printing services
Has approximately 95% occupancy across all centers
Innov8 – Future Plans
“We have almost 95% occupancy across all our centers, which is one of the foremost markers of our success. With the domain expertise our investors bring on-board, we look forward to leveraging their support, as we build a leading platform offering collaborative space for growth and innovation in India. By the end of this year, we will have 24,000 seats, with 30-32 centers” concluded Ritesh Malik.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Strata.
Lack of access to data-driven insights and expertise often leads investors to make unsafe choices in the real estate industry. Sudarshan Lodha and Priyanka Rathore noticed this problem plaguing the industry in their span of careers in commercial real estate.
Thus, Strata was born with the idea to democratize investment opportunities in CRE (Commercial Real Estate) and unlock value for investors, at scale. Strata’s goal is to achieve this with the in-depth real estate expertise and strong data analytics foundation through its fractional investment model.
StartupTalky interviewed Sudarshan Lodha (Co-founder, Strata) to know the Success Story of Strata along with getting a glance on Strata Business Model, Funding, Revenue Model, How Strata Started and more….
Strata offers investors an opportunity to invest in premium commercial properties at affordable prices with data driven insights. Fractional ownership in commercial real estate provides platform where number of investors join together to invest in a real estate asset so that all of them can benefit from a share of the income that the asset generates, and any appreciation in the value of the property.
Strata’s Mission – Accessibility, Transparency, Affordability in Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Investment
Sudarshan Lodha (CEO) and Priyanka Rathore (COO/CTO) are the founders of Strata
Strata Founders – Sudarshan Lodha and Priyanka Rathore
Sudarshan Lodha (Co-founder & CEO, Strata)
Sudarshan is the CEO of Strata and handles the forefront of the business. Sudarshan Lodha, a successful lawyer, brings over 9 years of leadership experience in real estate & private equity law, having successfully handled several complex legal cases and venture capital transactions, representing private equity deals worth over $1.4 billion.
Priyanka Rathore (Co-founder & COO/CTO, Strata)
Priyanka is the Co-founder, COO/CTO of Strata and takes care of the tech and operational bit of the company. Priyanka has over 8 years of experience in financial planning and analysis with D.E. Shaw and WeWork. As the lead real estate analyst, her in-depth understanding of deal economics and real estate portfolio management played a vital role in WeWork’s expansion in India.
Strata’s journey began in 2019. The idea for Strata came from the personal experiences of Sudarshan and Priyanka. Their career in the commercial real estate industry showed them that most investors in India were uncertain about investing in real estate. It is mainly because of lack of awareness, knowledge and inaccessibility of smart data in real estate that can help to decide on investments.
In addition, when it comes to commercial real estate it is always seen as an investment category for investors falling in the top of the pyramid. This is where Strata’s fractional investment model and offerings come into play. It allows one to invest and own a share of prime commercial property at minimal capital.
There were three ideas that Sudarshan and Priyanka had in mind regarding fractional investment –
1. Reducing the high capital requirement – At Strata, the ownership of premium commercial properties are broken down into more easily investable portions or ‘fractions’ which come in small ticket sizes. Not only does this make commercial real estate more accessible, but it also means that an investor can diversify their investments across multiple properties and locations, thus reducing their risk.
2. Brings in expertise – Finding the right commercial property to invest, takes time, resources, and ample expertise. Strata’s team scours hundreds of properties and measures over a dozen different parameters before zeroing in on one that has the best combination of yield, stability, and value appreciation.
3. Improves liquidity – Owning to the easily transferable nature of the fractions, Strata brings liquidity to an otherwise rigid marketplace. Investors can list their fraction on its proprietary resale market, sell their holdings offline through a personal network or via Strata’s dedicated secondary window.
Word of mouth helped Strata acquire its first 100 investors. Strata’s business model is B2B, hence speaking to investors at personal level acquainted them to the idea of fractional investment whilst building confidence and trust in the brand. The concept of fractional investing is very big in USA and Europe and since the Strata team are bullish on B2B investment themselves, making these HNI investors understand the model was quite easy.
Strata’s transparent and data driven business model has helped it a lot in retaining clients. Strata’s Dashboard tracking system helps investors to track their investments. It’s exclusive partnership with PropStack has helped it a lot in order to keep the transparency with the investors
Strata – Products/Services and USP
Fractional investment allows the ownership of a fraction of a property by the investor. It is a very popular type of investment avenues in the USA. Whereas, fractional investment is one of the fast evolving investment concepts in India. Many people in India still don’t know that they can own a premium commercial properties at an affordable pricing. There is a misconception that commercial properties are only for HNIs.
Fractional investment solves the misconception and democratizes the ownership of premium properties in an inexpensive manner. Investors earn higher rental yields and much better capital appreciation in the commercial properties which is not possible in case of residential property investments.
At Strata, the unique part of the business is that it is pure play backed by data. Data driven investment approach with insights on properties, locations, pricing and building specifications give a confidence and build trust among the investors. In addition to it the investment process are fully transparent in nature. Strata’s platform provides access to detailed reporting and fair pricing, declared upfront.
Strata title is a form of ownership devised for multi-level apartment blocks and horizontal subdivisions with shared areas. The word “strata” refers to apartments being on different levels. Lots are either apartments, garages or storerooms and each is shown on the title as being owned by a Lot Owner.
Strata Logo
Strata’s logo represents a robust and stable shape enclosed with Strata’s initials, conceptualized from the floor plans of the opportunities offered for ownership and growth by the organization.
Strata – Business Model and Revenue Model
Strata’s business model is B2B. Strata’s foundation is based on strong data analytics through its fractional investment model. Fractional ownership in commercial real estate provides platform where number of investors join together to invest in a real estate asset so that all of them can benefit from a share of the income that the asset generates, and any appreciation in the value of the property.
Strata’s Revenue model comprises of Management fee and profit share/performance fee.
Strata gets 0.5% to 1% as an annual property management fee from the investors. The management fee is a monthly charge on gross rent enjoyed by the investors. It is designed to cover the management of the SPV(Special Purpose Vehicle i.e. a partnership firm formed among the investors) and its assets.
Whereas the profit share/performance fee is payable on exit. This has been designed to reward investors, should the investment offered by Strata prove to be successful for the investor.
Strata is backed by marquee investors SAIF Partners, Mayfield Ventures, and PropStack. It recently raised Rs 140 crore to acquire 3 pre-leased warehouses amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Considering the current scenario, rising volatility of the equity markets, extended periods of low interest rates and assets failing to offer intended results are driving investors, especially the long-term ones in deploying their funds in the asset class that is more reliable and offer better returns. With more and more awareness on the benefits of investing in premium commercial real estate through fractional route will help the industry to grow.
As a brand, Strata is focused on bringing in transparency and a data-driven approach to investments in real estate. Strata’s team is razor focused on growth and plan to cross 200 Cr. in AUM in 2021 and touch 1000 Cr. by 2022.
We are thus aiming to create India’s largest tech-enabled real-estate investment platform with our fractional investment model – Says Sudarshan (Co-founder & CEO, Strata)
Strata aims to create India’s largest tech-enabled real-estate investment platform with its fractional investment model. It plans to do this by expanding Strata’s partner base and by continuing to offer investors the best opportunities in commercial real estate. Strata’s team is razor focused on growth and plan to cross 200 Cr. in AUM in 2021 and touch 1000 Cr. by 2022.
Additionally, the team is also excited about the strategic investment from PropStack as it will help Strata get exclusive CRE intelligence and analytics, which in turn, will allow it to have an edge over other platforms in the ecosystem. Strata have over 1,500 users and has over 150 active investors on the platform.
Currently, Strata is operational in Bengaluru and Mumbai, It aims to create new investment opportunities in premium commercial properties and expand to other metro cities while strengthening the existing tech stack.
“Strata is constantly innovating and something we hope to soon offer is the ability for investors to finance their investment with a personal loan” – Says Sudarshan.
Strata – FAQs
What is Strata?
Strata offers investors an opportunity to invest in premium commercial properties at affordable prices with data driven insights. Fractional ownership in commercial real estate provides platform where investors join together to invest in a real estate asset and share the income that the asset generates.
Who are the founders of Strata?
Sudarshan Lodha (CEO) and Priyanka Rathore (COO/CTO) are the founders of Strata
What is fractional ownership in real estate?
Fractional ownership in commercial real estate provides platform where number of investors join together to invest in a real estate asset so that all of them can benefit from a share of the income that the asset generates, and any appreciation in the value of the property.
How does Strata make money?
Strata’s Revenue model comprises of Management fee and profit share/performance fee. Strata gets 0.5% to 1% as an annual property management fee from the investors. The profit share/performance fee is payable on exit.
Who is the CEO of Strata?
Sudarshan Lodha is the co-founder and CEO of Strata.
The Real estate industry is undergoing an innovative transformation. There is a sudden change in the industry from the traditional ways towards a new and innovative way which is through Virtual Reality. VR has also transformed the functioning of the industry.
VR technology has helped the Real estate agents and companies in getting more clients, delivering top-end services, and growing their businesses. Let’s look at some of the ways Virtual Reality is transforming the Real estate industry.
Virtual Reality has made house tours much easier. Everyone would want to take a look at the Real Estate and only then proceeds with the buying of the property. Many a times pictures wouldn’t be satisfactory nor would you get a clear understanding of the structure of the property.
There are a lot of other problems faced as well which includes lack of time to visit the place, unable to travel if the property is far away. All these problems existed in the Real Estate industry and now with the use of Virtual Reality, these are eliminated.
VR helps you visit the property virtually and makes you feel like you are physically taking a tour of the property. All these are possible even without stepping out of your house.
It helps you visit multiple properties within a matter of time and later decide on visiting the place. It helps you save a lot of time and provides you a clear idea.
Virtual Furniture
A real estate place filled with an adequate amount of furniture will always look better than an empty Real estate space. A Real estate space filled with furniture would be easier to sell and would impress you more than an empty one.
According to a report by the National Association of Realtors, 77% of the Real estate agents have claimed that a home filled with furniture has helped the buyers to imagine their future homes.
Filling actual furniture in a newly built house or an empty house is going to be a lot of investment and would cost more for the agents. Virtual Reality helps in showcasing virtual furniture which helps the buyers to imagine their future home and picturize it in an easier way.
Selling an architectural idea has always been hard. Most of the time the design which is sketched by the architecture would be satisfying but sometimes the end model wouldn’t come up to your expectations.
If it is a bigger project you can find architects or developers coming up with a small model of the project with the roads, community, buildings, etc. in a miniature form. For the interiors most of the time the developers would have to invest in setting up a similar design in a showroom.
This again would require a lot of investment from the developers and would consume a lot of time. Virtual Reality helps in solving these problems and would help in visualizing the interiors and exteriors of the properties which are yet to be constructed.
Through Virtual Reality, the client can easily set his expectations and he would know what the end property or the model would look like.
In most cases when you move to a new house, you would find it hard to locate the switches or the settings of the devices in the place. The Real estate agents or the owners of the space will have to keep on communicating with you according to your requirements and most of the time it won’t be possible.
All of your queries and problems being answered would depend on the availability of the owner or the agents. Here, Virtual Reality will help the tenants in effectively communicating with their owners or agents.
A Virtual tour about the settings of the house, the uses of different switches, and other technical settings will provide clarity for the newly moved-in tenants. It will be a little bit time-consuming but will avoid a lot of confusion and help the new tenants to get used to the place much more easily.
During the virtual tour if a client wishes to change the design or add a piece of new furniture in the design, He/she can add it at that moment. This will help the buyer in adding his designs. He/she will be able to edit the interiors or bring small changes to the exteriors according to his/her preferences.
If a person is taking a virtual tour at a house and likes the furniture used in it, they can later go online and shop for similar products.
FAQ
What are the free Virtual Tour Software?
Lapentor, Marzipano, Makevt, Vtility are some top free Virtual Tour Software.
How much does real estate virtual tour cost?
The average cost to receive a Virtual Tour of a property is $350.
Do virtual tours help sell houses?
Virtual tour is a great way to generate interest of the buyers, as it provides buyer a clear idea of the property.
Conclusion
Virtual reality has transformed the real estate industry making the work easier and in a convenient way. It helps both the buyers and agents to save their time. Virtual Reality has already started to change this sector. In the near future, we will be able to see much more inventions and VR becoming more common in many sectors.
Godrej is known to be a pioneer in many products that we use in our daily life. Godrej Group is an Indian Conglomerate company that is owned by the popular Godrej Family. The main founders of Godrej is Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej, establishing the company 1897. Godrej has makes products in various sectors such as consumer products, FMCG, industrial engineering, appliances, furniture, security, real estate, agricultural products and more. Godrej is known to have more than 500 million Indian customers with over 10 million turnover in 2020.
Godrej is one of the oldest brands in India and has loyal customers from more than a hundred years The most popular subsidiaries and acquired companies are Godrej Industries, Godrej Consumer products, Godrej Agrovat, Godrej and Boyce and Godrej Properties. More than 20% of its business is done overseas because it is present in more than 60 countries. The headquarters of Godrej is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It has more than 1.1 billion consumers globally. The company trusts have 23% holding of Godrej, are known to invest in the sectors of environment, health and education.
The Godrej Group has huge footprint that extends beyond the earth because its engines now give power to many of India’s space missions. Godrej is one the most trusted brands in India and is supporter of the World Wide Fund in India and has helped develop an ecofriendly business in the town of Vikhroli in Mumbai. The Godrej Group is broadly divided into two major well-known companies which work independently: Godrej Industries and Godrej & Boyce.
Godrej was originally established in 1897 by the brothers Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej from the well-known Godrej Family line. Ardeshir Godrej was originally a lawyer who went on to give up the profession to practice lock making. The company then becomes big after Godrej introduces the first ever lock with lever technology in India. In 1902, Godrej manufactures the first Indian safe and by 1920 starts its own soap company using only vegetable oil which gives the company all the more boost. By 1955 the company had started producing its own typewriter which at that time became popular.
The company kept growing for the next twenty years with inclusion of trucks, the Godrej Agrovet limited, etc. Godrej got its first subsidiary the Godrej Properties limited in 1988 and became the first company from India to introduce PUF or polyurethane form. In 1994, the company acquired Transelektra, formed an alliance with Sara Lee USA and renamed Translektra to Sara Lee USA. The Godrej Soaps was renamed as the Godrej Industries Ltd in 2001. In 2013, the company introduced Godrej global solution limited which offered BPO solution.
The History of Godrej Group
The company merged its food business with Godrej Tea and renamed it to Godrej Beverages & Foods limited. Godrej also launched FreeG which is the county’s first non-web based mobile browsing experience in 2014. The most recent advancement of the company was in 2020, when it started the Godrej Housing Finance in order to provide affordable home loans. One of the main contribution of Godrej is the refrigerator that the company without any CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon), HFC (Hydro fluorocarbons) and HCFC (Hydro Chlorofluorocarbons).
The success of the company is because of the mergers, its subsidiaries and acquisitions and recent joint ventures which are cleverly chosen by the company. Another person who has helped the company grow to new heights is Adi Burjorji Godrej. Under his guidance the company emerged as a FMCG market and turned the then ₹10 crore turnover to $5 billion conglomerate. He expanded the company in Zambia, Senegal and Kenya with the acquisitions of their personal care companies.
Godrej Industries Limited is a one the biggest and number one manufacturer of various different chemicals that are used in over two dozen companies. The headquarters of Godrej is located in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company is also known to manufacture edible oils, fatty oils, Glycerin, fatty alcohols, vanaspati and other bakery fats. The company was known as Godrej Soaps until 2001, after which the company split into two big corporate companies called Godrej Consumer Products and Godrej Industries. The company is well equipped to deliver the products which are superior quality at competitive prices.
Godrej Industries
Godrej Industries is interested in many sectors such as consumer goods, real estate, agriculture, chemicals and financial services which has been successful because of its subsidiaries and associate companies across 18 countries. Besides that the company also works under four divisions which are Corporate Finance, corporate HR, Corporate Audit and Assurance, Research and development. Godrej industries have two manufacturing plants in Valia (Gujarat) and in Vikroli, (Mumbai). Its international quality products are exported to more than 40 countries in North and South America, Asia, Europe, Australia and Africa.
The companies further has its own subsidiaries which are:
The company is a sector that is dedicated for animal feed, agriculture and agribusiness. Agrovet is the market leader when it comes to poultry, processing, and animal feed and oil palm plantations. The company is also the largest oil palm developers in the country.It has oil plantation is states like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Goa, Maharashtra, Orissa and Mizoram. It had four automated plants in cities like Bengaluru, Kharagpur, Baramati and Erode in order to reach the demand of the ever growing market of animal feed. The company is also well known for animal feed and poultry in Bangladesh.
The company also has a history of joint ventures with companies like Tyson foods from America, through which it manufactured and marketed packed and processed poultry and other vegetarian products. One of the most well-known brands of this is the Yummiez and Good Chicken. It also is a key player in the Agri inputs business as it has come up with new agro chemicals and has a strong market share amongst the plant growth promoters and soil conditioners. Godrej Agrovet has over 300 employees with a network of 10,000 rural distributors in various industries.
All about the Godrej & Boyce company
Godrej and Boyce
Godrej and Boyce is a flagship company of the Godrej group company that manufactures products like locks, refrigerators, washing machine, air conditioners, home security system, furniture and safes and products for institutions like furniture for offices, audio visual products, security products, beverage vending machine, etc. and industrial products like process equipment, industrial storage products, and precision equipment. The company is headquarters Pirojshanagar, at Vikhroli in Mumbai. G&B has so far filed for over 209 patents and has been granted 77.
The turnover of Godrej and Boyce is Rs 11,000 crore in 2020, its employees are more than 14,000. The G&B is present in over 10 different industries like complex engineering solutions to consumer goods like appliances, furniture and security solutions. The products of Godrej and Boyce are also sold in countries like Europe, US, Middle East, Africa and South East Asia. Over 616 million Indian are known to use the company’s products. The G&B have been constantly innovating from the past 123 years and have managed to provide us with new products, solutions, fulfilling aspirations of their customers and helped them lead a secured life.
The main subsidiaries and acquisitions of the company are:
Godrej Infotech Limited, a subsidiary of Godrej and Boyce which is one of the main subsidiaries of the Godrej Group. This company had already started in 1897 and was initially the High tech engineering department under the consumer products and then became thee IT sector of Godrej and Boyce. Godrej Infotech is mostly known for its software services and consulting and became a separate company only after April 1999. The company headquarters is located in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Godrej has a 15 year partnership with Infor Partner Network, in order to sell wider range of products in countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. It so far has received many certification for Analysis, Design, Coding, Testing, Delivery and maintenance of commercial application software, ERP consultancy and facilities management services. They also provide its employees with constant training to help develop their skills and to get professional excellence.
Godrej InfoTech is known to have a dedicated team that is experts in providing business and tech solutions for the projects, real estate, construction, oil and gas. The company has so far worked with over 200 industry customers and has manufactured chemicals, automotive, machine equipment, metal fabrication, heavy engineering, printing and publishing, Food and beverage and textiles. The company also provides various services from Business process, consulting, infrastructure management, implementation and global rollout, application support and maintenance, mobile development and training.
Godrej Consumer Products is one the most leading company that manufactures consumers and personal care products. The company’s total sales is Rs. 10,314 Crore while the market capitalization id Rs. 72,080 Crore. The company is headquartered in Mumbai Maharashtra. Godrej Consumer Products include soaps, hair colourants, toiletries, Air freshener and liquid detergent. The company owns popular brands such as Cinthol, Godrej no 1, Godrej Shikakai, Godrej hair dye, Renew, Ezee, etc. IT has manufacturing firm across India like Malanpur (Madhya Pradesh), Guwahati (Assam), Baddi (Himachal Pradesh), Pondicherry, Chennai and even in Sikkim.
Few of its international acquisitions include Keyline Brands limited from UK in 2005, Rapidol Limited in 2006, Godrej Global Middle East in 2007, Argencos in Argentina, Cosmetica Nacional from Chile and Frika hair from South Africa in 2015. The company was ranked 6th in the Best Employers Study conducted by Hewitt Associate and Economic Times, it also considered to be the 9th greatest place to work according to Great Places To Work survey. The company became even bigger in 2010, with its acquisition of Sara Lee Corp. Godrej Sara Lee is now open of the leading household insecticide player in India with brands like Good Knight and Hit.
The consumer goods by Godrej Consumer Products
Godrej Properties Limited
Godrej Properties is the real estate sector of the Godrej Group. The company’s headquarters is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company was established in 1990 under Adi Godrej. Godrej properties is currently working on upcoming projects on over 89.7 Million square feet of land. The company is so big that it is also listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National stock exchange (NSE). It currently operates in cities like Chandigarh, Bangalore, Chennai, Mangalore, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Mumbai, Kolkata and Pune.
The company has so far brought over many innovations, sustainability and excellence to the real estate industry. The total sales of the company is Rs. 2,817 crore, while its market capitalization is up to Rs. 32,259 crore. Until now, the company was awarded with over 250 awards and recognition such as The Most Trusted Real Estate Brand in 2019, The Real Estate Company Of The Year in 2019 as well and The Economic Times Best Real Estate Brand of 2018. The company has a 123 year long legacy of providing its customers with cutting edge design and technology.
The headquarter of the Godrej Group is in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
What are the subsidiaries of Godrej Industries?
Godrej Agrovet
Godrej Oil Palm Limited
Godrej International Limited
Godrej Realty Private LTD
Godrej Investment Pvt. Ltd
What are the two other subsidiaries of Godrej and Boyce?
They are Godrej Aerospace and Godrej Precision Engineering.
How many customers does Godrej Group have?
Godrej is known to have more than 500 million Indian customers with over 10 million turnover in 2020.
Conclusion
Godrej Group is an India conglomerate that offers various products in countless categories. With a revenue of more than 4.1 million US dollars, the company is growing at a fast pace. In India, Godrej is one of the oldest and the most trusted brand because of the quality of products is offers. Over past 120+ years Godrej has expanded to over 60 countries and ensures that their customers buy their products wherever they go. The company has over 500 million and is continuing to expand the horizon internationally. The success of the company is because of strategic acquisitions and subsidiaries that the company has accumulated over the years.
Finding aroommate can be tough and sometimes feel overwhelming. Whether you are looking for a place to live in or seeking someone to live with you its important to find a compatible match. Whether you moved in to a new city or you are looking for a roommate like Rachel, here are the top websites to find a perfect roommate for you.
Sulekha is a Chennai-based service directory and a reliable site to find roommate anywhere in India. Sulekha is a digital platform that provides services across 40 cities. Sulekha was founded in 2007 by Satya Prabhakar and currently serves in 5 countries India, United States, Canada , UK, UAE.
Sulekha is one of the largest service platforms in India. It has evolved from a local business listings site to a technology-driven matchmaking platform.
Olx is the fastest growing trading network headquartered in Netherlands and was founded by Fabrice Grinda, Alec Oxenford. OLX started operations in India in 2006.
Olx has also started its Roommate service in India and is currently operating in 20 states across India.
FlatMatch matches you with a suitable flat according to your requirements and with a compatible flatmate based on your personal preferences. FlatMatch was founded by Paresh Bansod and Buddhabhushan Naik. Their mobile app was launched in the market in November 2020 and now they are operational all over India with a special focus on Pune and Mumbai city. It is one of the few apps to find roommates in India.
Indianroommates Currently operates in 21 countries across the globe including India. With over 5,00,000 registered members, they make finding your perfect room or getting your room rented a fast and easy process. Indianroommate is a very reliable sites to find an Indian roommate across India or other countries.
Indianroommates
Flatmates
Flatmates is India’s most popular platform to find a room, PG, or a roommate. Flatmate was founded by Tanuj Chopra in 2015 and is headquartered in Asia pacific.
Flatmates Website
RentRoomi
RentRoomi is roommate finder service which helps you find available roommates or rooms in India. RentRoomi was founded by Nitin Sharma in 2016.
Roomster is the world’s largest social network for connecting roommates. It is available in 192 countries with 18 native languages. Roomster became the first roommate matching service to reach the Asian country back then. Roomster entered India in 2016 and witnessed success.
Roomster Website
Finding a perfect roommate to share your apartment is far more challenging than it seems. Whether you are looking for a place to live in or seeking someone to live with, its important to find a compatible match. We hope these sites to find roommates will help you in your quest to finding a perfect roommate for yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
What is the best site to find a roommate in India?
Some websites to find a roommate in India are:
Sulekha
Olx
FlatMatch
Indianroommate
Flatmates
RentRoomi
Roomster
What is the difference between a roommate and housemate?
In technical terms, a roommate is someone you share a room with while a housemate is someone you share a house with. But in general people use the term roommate to refer to anyone you are sharing a living space with be it a room or a house.
Is it better to live with a roommate or alone?
That is a personal choice but having a roommate helps with the bills and is less lonely.
Technology has dramatically changed the way real estate projects are marketed in the industry. Out of the various aspects of marketing, satisfaction is the priority for almost every organization. As for, customer engagement, virtual tours have proven to be a really effective tool for real estate companies.
Gone are the days where people had to live in a hotel or a location to find out if it’s actually suitable. It is not easy or convenient for customers to visit every hotel before making a decision.
The solution?
Creating virtual tours for your business and customers so they can check out a location without actually visiting.
The developers realized that 360- degree virtual tours are a good marketing strategy when added with eye-catching visuals and animations. All they need to do is to share these virtual tours over the internet and it can help strengthen their overall marketing strategy by conveying the message to the buyer.
What is Teliportme?
Teliportme is a virtual, cloud-based software with intuitive features. Its user-friendly design allows for a truly immersive virtual tour experience for users.
It is ideal for real estate agents, hotels, businesses, travel agencies and restaurants. It has an unlimited free version that allows for 360 – degree camera functionality, unlimited embed functionality, and delivers your videos in 4k resolution.
Create live or private virtual tours on Teliportme
It is a premium virtual tour software because its comprehensive toolset is equipped with features for robust marketing and branding. Apart from creating virtual tours, it also features tools for live tours and private tours.
You don’t need to have any advanced technical knowledge to create virtual tours. All you need is to simply capture and upload panoramic pictures and Teliportme will automatically set up everything.
You can share your virtual tours with anyone using a public link including your social media channels with custom thumbnails.
Virtual Reality Player
Your customers will experience 360 – degree photos in virtual reality directly from their mobile devices.
World-class support
If you have any issues, the Teliportme team will address your queries within 24 hours. Support is provided through both email and phone.
Teliportme – Pricing Plans
Single – $79/ lifetime
1 Brand account
10 live virtual tours
3 GB storage
Double – $158/ lifetime
10 Brand accounts
20 live virtual tours
6GB storage
Multiple – $237/ lifetime
25 brand accounts
40 live tours
9 GB storage
Teliportme – FAQ’s
What is a Virtual Tour?
A virtual tour is a collection of 360 degree photos linked together with “hotspots”. These hotspots are used for navigation and allows a viewer t experience the space virtually. These tours can include branding, contact info, videos, URL links, location information, images etc.
What are hotspots? How to add and edit them?
A hotspot is an interactive element that you add to your virtual tours. It consist of an icon and an optional label which triggers a variety of actions, when clicked.
What is Horizon Correction?
Sometimes taking videos on a 360 camera can be difficult as the camera gyro stops giving you the right readings if the camera is tilted in anyway. Horizon correction removes any tilts and slants to create perfect panoramas that you can use for your tours.
What is the difference between private, public and unlisted virtual tours?
Public tours are visible to everyone. Private tours are only visible to the owners of the account when they are logged in, whereas unlisted tours are only visible when you have access to the link of panoramas or tours.
Is Teliportme virtual tours MLS compliant?
Yes- they are MLS compliant. After you create a tour and are ready to share, you will be given an option to choose the MLS link after which your virtual tour will become fully MLS compatible.
Teliportme – Conclusion
No matter how descriptive your listings are, you cannot expect your customers to make a decision without physically checking them out. However, physical inspections take time and effort, and you might lose out a few customers in the process.
With Teliportme, you have complete control over your real estate projects as you offer your clients virtual tours that can be viewed on their own devices. Teliportme will set up everything up once you capture and upload your panoramic images.
Since it offers unlimited embed, you can easily use YouTube videos and more, in just a click. Your clients can enjoy these tours as Teliportme easily integrates with Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go.
Real estate is one of the most competitive markets on the planet. One of the biggest challenges of being a real estate agent is to be found by homebuyers. You may be new to the industry or you may have some experience as an agent, and finally want to establish your presence online.
But as a real estate professional, you may not have time to test your online strategy as well as manage your business. When you focus on your business, you might ignore your online presence or it might not be suitable to your needs.
So what can be done?
Let’s face it. After 2020, this industry has become even more tighter and marketing strategies that were useful just a few years ago might be on shaky ground now.
However, it’s time to break the cycle. The first and foremost thing you need to balance your time between your business and your online presence is a solid marketing plan. A plan that you can execute every single week and within minutes, will keep you from falling back into the vicious cycle.
This step-by-step marketing guide will help you generate leads, turn them into paying clients and help people buy or sell homes.
The first step of execution is to find out Who your target audience is. Before going forward with any marketing plan, you need to segment your audience. For instance, you may come across buyers who are willing to buy a space right now, or some who might be buying a home in a few months.
The key here is to provide information to buyers and sellers that is relevant to their stage in the real estate process. If your marketing message tries to appeal to everyone in your database, then it is likely that your message will be ignored.
Step 2: Which platforms should you use?
The short answer is, everywhere. Omni platform marketing works wonders for people who want to build a marketing strategy from ground-up.
After you have figured out your audience, it is time to communicate your ideas with them. So, the more platforms you use to out up your message, the more leads you will generate.
However, if even you market the same thing, it is important to tailor your message for each social platform. For example: A great twitter post might not be as effective on Facebook or LinkedIn.
So how do you make your content relevant on Facebook? You will want to use hashtags and tagging brands to increase engagement. On LinkedIn, you might want to include stats and data and use a research-focused approach.
If you are serious about your real estate business, then this should be a no-brainer. The centerpiece of your marketing strategy should be your website. How else will people find you, after all?
A good looking website will show your customers that you are a professional as well as help you rank better for local search terms. Most people will visit your site to see home listings either for buying or selling. Make sure that your website is up to date with photos and information, like the address, nearby locations, transport details etc.
This section must be easy to browse and should load quickly. Overall your site must be responsive and as speedy as possible. The faster your website loads, the likely you are to lose clients who are impatient to wait for the information. Having a minimalistic website with clear site navigation will be a big help in keeping users on your website.
Finally, it is important that you provide your contact information and in such a way that it can be found within mere seconds. You might lose valuable business if your customer decides to leave your website because they couldn’t find your information.
Step 4: Establish an online presence
After you set up your website, the next step is to establish your online presence and one way of getting your name “out there” is being active online.
The key to great marketing is, momentum. The ultimate marketing plan for a real estate agent includes weekly content and marketing campaigns for each life cycle in the real estate journey like, coming soon, just listed, just sold etc.
For instance, before you even list a space or house for sale, you can create a buzz amongst your clients with a “coming soon” campaign. If you are lucky then you might even get the home sold before listing, and can start a conversation with potential buyers as to what they are looking for.
Another way to engage with your audience is to establish yourself locally, by commenting on blog posts, forums and groups about real estate. Include a short write-up about your services on your comments and you might convert a simple reader to a potential customer. However, avoid spamming links to your website or anything that is not relevant to the conversation. You want to be insightful and helpful, and not annoying while you conduct your business online.
Step 5: Nurture leads through E-mail Marketing
This final step will take your casual customer base of FB, Twitter or even your website and convert them into paying clients. That’s the end result a real estate agent should be looking for and it only takes 5 steps to get here.
The best way to build an email-list is to ask permission from your clients once they sign up on your website. Having pre-written automated emails that go out when a lead does something specific will help you tremendously. As email-marketing has very high open rates, you can use it to engage and re-engage your leads.
Welcome emails – Welcome your customer once they sign up. You might lead them up to your website and offer them exclusive first-time deals to instantly nurture your relationship
Information request emails – Did a house that meets your client criteria pop up on the market? Then send them an email attached with pictures. You can send multiple people the same email, and with email automation you can personalize it to each buyer individually without spending anytime.
Re-engagement – If someone inquired about a house that they are willing to buy but aren’t responding to your calls. You can send them an email exploring their options to see if they are still interested in buying.
Email newsletters are another great way to keep your leads informed about the market. Tips for buying and selling, new listings in the area, or links to your blog posts and videos will allow you to send the right information to the right person.
The Bottom Line
Each marketing strategy is personalized. It all starts with knowing who your audience is, engaging with them and finally converting them into paying clients. Optimizing your website and having a marketing strategy every week will help you not only minimize the time you spend online but will let you focus more on your business.
A poorly thought out marketing plan could be costly. No matter what strategy you choose to use, never expect a quick return. As the age old adage goes, Slow and steady wins the race.”
If you use the proven, real estate marketing strategies in this article, you will get more leads, close more deals and your entire approach will be cost-effective.
Yash Gupta
