Home Business Profile: ParkatmyHouse

Anthony Eskinazi
London, UK
ParkatmyHouse
www.parkatmyhouse.co.uk
 

What does your company do?
ParkatmyHouse is a new innovative service which aims to provide affordable and penalty-free parking by enabling property-owners to rent out their empty driveways, garages, car parks etc. to drivers needing somewhere to park.
Motorists and cyclists on their way to work, a big sports match or a hospital appointment for example, can arrange to use a property-owner’s space on a one-off or regular, short-term or long-term basis.

When did you start it?
The idea for ParkatmyHouse was conceived in June 2006 during my post-university gap year. The concept was born out of the frustration of constantly driving around the block for that elusive parking space and always leaving public venues and events early just to avoid the car park congestion afterwords.

What were you doing before you started your home business?
Before ParkatmyHouse I had recently graduated from university and was planning a career in chartered accountancy.

What made to make the switch?
I saw an opportunity and thought it was worth a shot. I didn't have any dependents and I knew that setting up an internet business was relatively low cost. It is quite common to hear "I thought of that years ago" or "I wish I had pursued....". I wasn't prepared to look back five years from now and have similar regrets.

What made you think of this idea?
Back in May 2006, I was on my way to the AT&T stadium in San Francisco to watch a Giants baseball game. As any sports fan knows, trying to find a parking space near a stadium on a match day is usually a futile exercise! After noticing an empty driveway close to the stadium, I realised that there was a win-win opportunity for both drivers and home owners with a spare parking space if only there was a way to introduce them.

How many people work in the business?
There are currently three people in the business.

How do you market the business?
Our best marketing channel is through our current user-base. We provide a rich set of tools and services to help them promote the service which ultimately benefits them by increasing the number of parking space enquiries they will receive.

What is your customer base?
Our customer base spans every home-owner with spare parking as well as any driver that is frustrated with the excessive costs and lack of supply of parking. ParkatmyHouse provides a money making (for home owners) and money saving (for drivers) approach to parking.

What’s next? What plans do you have for the coming year?
Now that the team has grown, there are plenty of opportunities to grow the business both domestically and internationally. We are obsessive about the product and continuously listen to our tens of thousands of users on how we can improve the service to help them make or save more money.

Best home worker tip:
Focus, show commitment, listen to your customers and make sure your product is awesome! Listen to your super customers, the ones that use your product the most as they are likely to know the features that require improvement.