Building a business
Lauren McKay has a passion for two things: housing and people.
After completing her PhD in sustainable housing and behaviour change in 2010, and taking a month-long entrepreneurship course at California’s Stanford University, it’s not entirely surprising that the Victoria alumna went on to found the unique home management database, HomeOversite.
Launched in April, the website provides a paperless record keeping system for homeowners. Lauren says it allows subscribers to “oversee and engage” with their property, through accessing detailed information about it online. Homeowners can store anything from insurance, compliance and construction documentation and maintenance information, to warranties and smaller items like contractor’s details and paint colours.
Lauren, 31, established the business after working as a project manager. “I realised there was a heap of information that was just chucked in a drawer or lost, and being a homeowner myself I wondered what do you do with that stuff?”
Lauren says building a business is very much a learning process. “Typically you don’t tend to learn these things in school. But it’s been amazing how many successful people have been willing to sit down and have a chat and help me work through any problems.”
The skills she learned as a post-graduate building science student have given her a good foundation. “The way that you’re trained to think when doing Honours and a PhD is very useful. It encourages you to look at things differently, it gives you research skills and presentation skills, which are really important because ultimately you’re designing to solve a problem for people, and you’re always communicating and selling.”
Lauren says HomeOversite is still evolving, and is being tailored to meet the needs of clients. She envisions growing a client base all over the country and including property owners living abroad. “I’m passionate about people and property. I want to improve the way people experience living in homes, and get them more engaged, that’s my long-term drive,” she says.