Elevator Pitch is a regular feature on Lifehacker where we profile startups and new companies and pick their brains for entrepreneurial advice. This week, we’re talking with Steve Hooker, CEO of online engagement platform Resimax (and Olympic pole-vaulting Gold Medallist!)
In 128 words or less, explain your business idea
Resimax Group started in the property space a decade ago and has since earned its place among Australia’s largest and leading property groups. With a family of brands covering every facet of the property spectrum, our goal is to provide homebuyers with a one-stop-shop. We believe if you want a job done best, you do it yourself, which is why we cover our customer’s needs at every stage of the property journey. We’re bringing this philosophy to a new level with our Tick Homes subsidiary, a building model geared 100% towards first home buyers. By understanding the pain points of the competitive home buying demographic, Tick Homes removed all the gimmicks and delivers exactly what first home buyers are promised.
What strategies are you using to grow and finance your idea?
We recently launched Tick Homes as a way of addressing the pain points found in the first homebuying process. The Tick Space is the physical extension of that idea: a virtual experience centre featuring everything first homebuyers need, all in one enormous space. Using cutting edge, world-first technology, buyers can walk through a life-size floorplan of their chosen home projected in a 1:1 cinema. They can pay a virtual visit to land estates, and can even explore home fixtures, fittings and colours to see how they will look on different facades. The idea is to create a customer experience of ‘Apple meets Ikea’ but for home buying – designed to simplify and celebrate the journey of purchasing a first home. It is literally all you need under one roof.
How do you differentiate your business from your competitors?
No one else in the property space was really offering an end-to-end solution for buyers – so we decided to do it ourselves, expanding the Resimax offering across the entire property spectrum. Since launching in 2008 we have expanded and diversified to become one of the only developers to have a presence in all areas of residential property industry from land acquisition all the way through to sales and rental property management.
What’s the biggest challenge facing your business?
The property game is complex and can be confronting for a first-time buyer. It’s the biggest investment someone is likely to make, so we need to focus on how we service buyers and make the process easier for them. We’re challenging the status quo through a customer-centric approach focused on delivering exceptional value and experience to buyers, and we think Tick will go some way in helping achieve this.
What one phone, tablet or PC application could you not live without?
Slack – Resimax was a business built by team members solving problems around a table. Now that we have grown we don’t have a table big enough. We try and keep this spirit of collaboration alive through our use technology. Slack keeps the team up to speed on developments within the business and keeps the spirit of Resimax alive as we grow.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Chase your ideas to see where they can end up and don’t be afraid of the challenge, let it give you energy.
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