{"id":37698,"date":"2023-10-20T14:51:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/auto-suggest-dont-be-afraid-to-ask-for-help-says-carparkit-founder-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:51:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:51:49","slug":"auto-suggest-dont-be-afraid-to-ask-for-help-says-carparkit-founder-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/auto-suggest-dont-be-afraid-to-ask-for-help-says-carparkit-founder-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Auto suggest: Don\u2019t be afraid to ask for help, says Carparkit founder – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New startups must have the confidence to ask others for help, says the man responsible for an online community connecting drivers with car space owners.<\/p>\n

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Nick Russell, founder of Carparkit<\/a>, says he was very aware of his own strengths and weaknesses when creating the platform and called upon mentors outside his area of expertise to assist in the development process.<\/p>\n

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Among those contacted by Russell was M H Carnegie & Co investment director Mark De Ambrosis, who offered him business advice, and web developer Josh Doolan, who assisted with the look and feel of the Carparkit site.<\/p>\n

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Russell, whose background is in financial modelling, says he\u2019s seen many entrepreneurs withhold their ideas for fear of having them stolen. But he encourages startups like his to seek advice from mentors.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAsk questions if you need it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s probably my biggest advice for other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Russell has also been able to draw on the experience of those closest to him. He says his girlfriend, who works for a public relations company in Sydney, has offered her expertise. In fact, it was her brother that first inspired the idea for Carparkit.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe had just moved back from New York, and was looking to buy a place in Sydney\u2019s eastern suburb,\u201d Russell says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe was saying how much more expensive Sydney parking is than New York\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He also found parking space could add $100,000 to $120,000 to the cost of a home in the area.<\/p>\n

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Motivated by the success of accommodation-sharing platform Airbnb, Russell set out to connect car owners with people in possession of unused parking space. Carparkit allows hosts to set the price for their car spot, with Russell\u2019s site taking a flat fee of 10% from every booking.<\/p>\n

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He thinks it\u2019ll be especially popular during peak times and in areas near major sporting venues.<\/p>\n

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Just last weekend, Russell found himself unable to find a park near Bondi Beach, another locale he\u2019s looking to target.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnother thing that we\u2019re looking forward to doing next footy season is allow people to instantly be able to offer their driveway if they live nearby. For example, the MCG is an incredibly residential space,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Russell says another concern for car owners is their vehicle\u2019s safety, recalling the experience of an electrician he used to live next door to in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

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The tradesman didn\u2019t have off-street parking, and would often find valuable tools and material stolen from his ute. Russell and his partner offered him the use of their garage for $40 a week.<\/p>\n

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He says Carparkit will offer users access to secure spaces, which the company will monitor by requiring hosts to upload pictures of potential car spaces.<\/p>\n

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Car parking is just the start for Russell. Eventually he\u2019d like users to be able to share jetties and marina moorings, as well as storage facilities.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf someone has a secure lock up space, someone with a weekend boat, car or even a bike should feel comfortable using that,\u201d Russell says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd if people are comfortable in renting out their driveway or space, it\u2019ll really help them. And extra $50 a week helps.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Just like the group Russell created around his idea, the founder seems most excited about the social cohesion Carparkit will create.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur focus is to grow a community,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Do you know more on this story or have a tip of your own? Raising capital or launching a startup? Let us know. Follow StartupSmart on <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>, and <\/i>LinkedIn<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New startups must have the confidence to ask others for help, says the man responsible for an online community connecting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37698"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}