Company name: Doorsteps.co.uk
Founder: Akshay Ruparelia
What is Doorsteps.co.uk?: The company is an online estate agent that has been dubbed the ‘Uber’ of the property world by many experts. It aims to revolutionise the property selling market.
About Akshay Ruparelia
From selling sweets at school from the tender age of 12, he then, aged just 19, (who is also a carer for his two deaf parents) launched his company in December 2016, having deferred entry to attend university at Oxford or UCL in order to develop his company. Whilst still completing his exams, he sold his very first property for over half a million pounds. Having been in business for just over a year and a half, he has managed to already create the 14th largest estate agency in the country in what is known for being an incredibly competitive sector. Doorsteps.co.uk is currently valued at over £12 million, and with the company also rating within the top 5 in the UK for its customer service, you can expect that this valuation will continue to increase.
How does the company work?
As previously mentioned, the company works in a similar way to Uber, in the sense that Akshay employs self-employed property consultants, who will work on an ad-hoc basis, depending upon how many properties the company is selling at that moment. There is only a £99 upfront cost, with no commission taken if a property sells through Doorsteps.co.uk. This is dramatically cheaper than the average commission most estate agents will charge on a property, equating to around 2-3%. In London, this would mean that this could be a cost of around £10,000. As you can see, this means that the cost of overheads is reduced considerably, and gives buyers much more control over the property process, as well as at a far cheaper rate. In fact, Akshay’s company provides a 97% discount on home-selling.
How he came up with the idea
The idea initially came to Akshay after experiencing moving homes as a child. He was appalled by how high estate agents were charging for commission on properties, especially when he saw the job that there were doing seemed relatively simple. His plans came into fruition during his second year of A-levels, where he developed the hybrid model concept of the business, making it both an online and offline agency, with modern technology at the very heart of it.
Plans for growth
Akshay is extremely determined to turn the company into the number one estate agent in the UK, by working with a laser-sharp focus. Currently, the young entrepreneur works seven days a week, working between 9 to 11 hours in his Harrow-based office, and then 3 at home too. His aim is to continue providing the best customer service in the property selling market at an affordable rate.
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