{"id":42554,"date":"2023-10-20T15:22:03","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/brisbane-startup-gives-venue-hire-industry-peer-to-peer-makeover-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:22:03","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:22:03","slug":"brisbane-startup-gives-venue-hire-industry-peer-to-peer-makeover-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/brisbane-startup-gives-venue-hire-industry-peer-to-peer-makeover-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisbane startup gives venue hire industry peer-to-peer makeover – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Brisbane-based entrepreneur is aiming to redefine the venue hire industry in Australia by giving it the peer-to-peer economy treatment.<\/p>\n

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Use Our Place is a community marketplace connecting owners of unique spaces and people who are looking to put on an event.<\/p>\n

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The events can range from weddings, photo-shoots and corporate launches, and venues include farmhouses, studios, and even laneways.<\/p>\n

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The startup launched in a proof-of-concept phase this month, and co-founder Paul Carr says it\u2019s had a positive reaction from the industry so far.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s really exciting that we\u2019ve been getting interest from industry folk as well,\u201d Carr says. \u201cThey\u2019re really excited about having this platform. It\u2019s a big scrapbook where they can view listings.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Through the platform, users can browse listings of potential locations and receive quotes from the hosts. Payment is then withheld until after the event has happened.<\/p>\n

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Carr says it\u2019s a cheaper option compared to more traditional methods.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s more affordable, and it\u2019ll be even more so in the coming months,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Density is the key<\/b><\/h2>\n

The biggest challenge is getting enough hosts and users signed up to ensure there is the range and diversity that\u2019s required for a startup like this to be successful, Carr says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have to get that density, if we don\u2019t have that then there\u2019s no use to them,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need massive saturation, having choice is the key.\u201d<\/p>\n

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To try to get the potential hosts on board, the Use Our Place team has been reaching out to new clients and ensuring the options are there when it fully launches.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGoogle is our best friend,\u201d Carr says. \u201cBut we want it to be mainly peer-to-peer, a sharing economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The idea first came to Carr at the end of last year when he saw the money that was on offer for venues that hire out for events as a secondary income source.<\/p>\n

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He toyed with the idea of buying a property and listing it on Airbnb during the week and hosting events on the weekend, but his mentor, Rapid Growth Group co-founder Adrian Brown, had a different idea.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe pointed out that if people are doing this, why don\u2019t we do an Airbnb for events and create the marketplace,\u201d Carr says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a lot more scalable that way. That\u2019s why he\u2019s my mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A new rival<\/b><\/h2>\n

On nearly the same day that Use Our Place launched, a very similar Tel Aviv-based platform was also launched. Splacer is a marketplace for listing and renting out event spaces. It announced a $1.4 million seed funding raise. A beta-version of the product is now available in New York City.<\/p>\n

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While admitting to being put off initially, Carr says he thinks of this as a positive now.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt first I read it and I was crushed. I thought, \u2018shit, we don\u2019t own this market\u2019,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut this is a good thing, there are a lot of smart people investing, and showing what our company is potentially valued at if we can smash the concept in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve turned that into a positive, the industry is ready for something like this,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Like similar platforms, Use Our Place makes money by taking a percentage of each transaction. For bookings under $2000, it\u2019s a 10% fee, for those over $2000 it\u2019s 5%.<\/p>\n

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Carr partnered with Rapid Growth Group to develop the startup, receiving funding, staff and resources from the group.<\/p>\n

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Raising your<\/i> first round of capital<\/i><\/a>? Starting a<\/i> crowdfunding campaign<\/i><\/a>? Want to grow your business<\/i> with Instagram?<\/i><\/a> <\/i>StartupSmart School can help.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Brisbane-based entrepreneur is aiming to redefine the venue hire industry in Australia by giving it the peer-to-peer economy treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42554"}],"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=42554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}