As a venture capitalist operating within the property sector, I am always on the look-out for great businesses to invest in.
Some are quite conventional, tried and proven; while others are new innovative business models that seek to disrupt the market. My latest venture, the online estate agency eMoov.co.uk falls into the latter category.
We have entered a digital age where creators can go straight to the end user without the need for an intermediary. The rapid rise of crowd funding sites means that the customer will soon choose which products reach the marketplace, services such as YouTube allow musicians to reach an audience of millions without the backing of a major record labels, and streaming services allow people to watch their favourite shows whenever they want. Whether we like it or not, things are changing.
For this reason, I believe we need more disruptive business models that empower the customer by offering a fully customisable service for a reasonable price. At eMoov the objective is to make selling a house as simple, enjoyable, transparent, and reliable as shopping on Amazon. With 95 percent of all house searches starting online, customers are wondering why it shouldn't stay online for the entire process. The technology is certainly here to do it (as the creators of online travel, insurance, and recruitment businesses have demonstrated). And tech-savvy consumers are ready to embrace it.
And as the technology improves, online estate agents are only going to get better. Customers can go online, post details of their house, upload photos, name their price and click enter. They can not only add the "list my house" service to their shopping cart, but also related services like conveyancing and boxes for moving. Or they can go on to their smart phone and download the mobile app and sign up in a seamlessly integrated process: no queues, no travel times, no waiting around. Customers can also customise the amount they would like to spend on advertising their property.
The price charged is thousands less than a conventional estate agent, and through emails and mobile applications, agents can keep customers in the loop throughout the process - offering complete transparency.
I believe that this money-saving option will encourage traditional high street estate agents to evolve their business model or cut their pricing. I expect some to set up their own online estate agencies, while others will seek to improve the range of services that they offer, thinking creatively about what it is that their customers need in the 21st Century.
Certainly, there will always be a place in the sector for the highly discerning consumer looking for a bespoke, hand-held end-to-end service, where full fees are justified. But it has to be a high quality service. In my view, that kind of service lends itself more to the top tier' of the market in terms of value. It is the rest of the pyramid below that is the most ripe for disruption, and where full fees are being charged for a mediocre service, smart consumers will look elsewhere.
Real estate is entering the digital age with the rise of fully interactive and integrated end to end property services. This can only be viewed as a progressive step forward in a sector that has been crying out for change. It won't be long before the tides turn and estate agency goes through a long awaited revolution. Don't wait for that to happen, start thinking outside the box' now.
Follow Faisal on twitter at @FaisalButt_ or learn more about him at www.faisalbutt.com
Comments
Yes!!! Lets destroy the high street one small business at a time! Lets take the variety and personality out of services on offer and force people to feel that everything they sell or purchase should be done so on an ipad. Lets conduct our entire lives online in front of screens where we forget what it is to interact properly with each other.
And whilst doing this, lets keep saying 'its what consumers want' so that we feel we can justify trying to remove all forms of traditional customer service from our country.
I do not see this any differently than for any other industry. Doctors now have to worry about Dr. Google.
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