8 and 9 only!!

Project 2A: Business Model Analysis for “The Housing Hawk”

Group 10: Turtle Shell

Introduction

The Housing Hawk is a business venture started in 2011 by Sally Burns. Ms. Burns was one of 15 winners of the Regnier Venture Creation Challenge in 2012. The Housing Hawk is an online database of apartments and homes that connects students to off-campus housing options. It currently serves the Lawrence, Kansas area. It was recognized, in part, for its highly scalable model. The initial business plan anticipated expanding to 40 university markets.

Nine Blocks of the Business Model

· Key Partnerships - The most important partnerships The Housing Hawk has are with the property managers in the Lawrence areas. These property managers will have several rentals that they may wish to place on the site, forming the largest part of their business and revenue.

· Key Activities - The Housing Hawk must maintain its website and database, attract new rental placements, and provide customer services to property owners/managers and renters.

· Key Resources - The website and underlying database are the most important, since the business is almost entirely conducted using these. The business plan and skills of their owner is also a key resource.

· Value Propositions - For property owners and managers, they focus on great service and tools to help track and manage correspondence with potential renters. For renters, the main appeal is an easy process, good user experience, and large number of properties with lots of pictures and information.

· Customer Relationships - The Housing Hawk provides mostly self-service options to their renters, but some personalized service is offered when needed. Through their Facebook page, they also offer a type of community platform. They offer more personalized service to property owners and managers, with some online property management features.

· Customer Segments - One segment is comprised of potential renters, mostly students. The other segment is comprised of the property owners and managers.

· Channels - A website and an online database is the primary channel for The Housing Hawk. They also use social media, such as a Facebook page, for marketing. Since they are looking to attract college students, these are good channels to use.

· Cost Structure - The Housing Hawk has a value driven cost structure. They are not trying to minimize costs, but rather focusing on the value provided. Their costs are fairly fixed, since it does not cost them more to have more properties listed or more renters using their site.

· Revenue Stream - The Housing Hawk offers a free service to students and other potential renters and charges fees to property managers and owners who wish to list and advertise their properties on the site. For a higher fee, a property can be more prominently featured.

Problem/Solution Canvas

Sally Burns, founder and owner of The Housing Hawk, said that she started the venture after a difficult renting experience. In talking to other students, she found that many had similar stories. The start of a good business model is a problem to be solved – a ‘job to be done.’ To solve the problem, the business must find a solution that customers want and that could make their lives easier.

The problem was students not being able to find off campus housing. The Housing Hawk solved that problem through their easily accessible website matching students with houses or apartments in their price range and bedroom requirements.

Previously, there were no websites catering specifically to students. Finding a place to live off-campus could be a time-consuming and tedious process. Alternatives included forrent.com, apartmentguide.com, and newspaper listings. The Housing Hawk provided a novel and attractive solution because it focused on a specific market – students – and delivered in an appealing way – a searchable online database. In providing a solution for students and other potential renters, The Housing Hawk also provided an attractive product for those wishing to rent properties.

Customer Profile

There are two types of customers for The Housing Hawk: a renter and a property manager. The renter is likely to be a student. The student will want a simple process for finding a place to rent. They will likely be on a budget and need to share the space with roommates. Because multiple people will be looking at the property, the list of needs could vary. The group will want to try to find a property that meets as many of their needs as possible. They will not have a lot of time to look, may not be familiar with the area, and may not have much experience renting a place to live.

The property manager will want a way to promote their property in a competitive market. They will also want to find good tenants. They may have multiple properties and will want tools to help them manage and keep track of them all.

If we were to extend the business to the Kansas City area, we would interview students and local property managers. We would find out how they currently look for properties and what is good and bad about those solutions. By trying to attract students who are active on campus, we could get earlyvangelists that would spread the word to others. Customer service and a good selection of properties would be key to getting them to promote the service to others.

Customer Problem Presentation

List of Problems	Today’s Solution	New Solution
Students want to review several options.	Look in multiple places – Craigslist, newspapers, etc.	One centralized database.
Students have varying requirements for a property.	Visit multiple rentals until one is found that meets criteria.	Search on criteria and see pictures of available rentals.
Searching for a property takes time, and time is money.	Students may need to take time off work, and multiple visits required for all roommates.	All roommates can look at the same properties online.
Students may be inexperienced in renting.	Ask for help from parents and friends or relatives.	Rental documents online to be reviewed in advance.

Hypothesis and Assumptions

The hypothesis for this venture is that students will use a free, simple, online tool to find rental properties and that property owners and managers will pay to place their properties on the site in order to rent to these students. The most crucial assumption to test is that there is a current problem in finding rental properties. We can test this by reviewing the currently available resources and talking to students and people with property to rent. Another crucial assumption is that property owners and managers will pay a fee to have their property listed. Again, we can talk with potential customers. We could also build a prototype site with minimal features and begin looking for earlyvangelists to use it.

Resources

· http://info.umkc.edu/blochnews/2012/05/01/venture-creation-winners-announced/

· http://www.entrepreneurship.bloch.umkc.edu/e_scholars/e_scholars_ventures.asp#

· http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-housing-hawk-lawrence