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Some great business ideas come in a flash of insight. Others take longer to germinate. Aaron Williams originally got the idea for matchNEST, an online marketplace for independent home renovations, at the wise old age of 14.
“I grew up working for my family's home renovation business, so I have first-hand experience of the challenges that face independent contractors,” said Williams “I would go out with my father and visit prospective customers to give them a free estimate. This is an enormous burden on an independent contractor and has no guaranteed return on investment.”
[ibimage==30446==Medium==none==self==ibimage_align-right]With matchNEST, Williams uses technology to make that scouting aspect easier for everyone and to help contractors focus on the hard physical labor they do best. With matchNEST, one laborer meets with a homeowner, goes through the project specs, and makes an estimate. Other contractors can then bid for the job online.
Williams teamed up with his lifelong friend Bradley Bryant to make his dream a reality. After gaining ample support from the Colorado tech community and working for a year on estimating software, the team decided to launch first in Denver and Dallas. The team plans to spend the next year focused on those two markets.
Pursuing a passion engrained in his childhood has allowed Williams to meet plenty of people who share it, and he said that's what keeps him fired up about home renovation and creating efficiency that was previously lacking. “The industry is dominated by independent contractors, who individually run small inefficient businesses. By allowing a single contractor to generate a shared estimate we can eliminate much of that inefficiency. I love meeting with these contractors and seeing the passion for what they do. It's exciting to see how our product helps them do their jobs better.”
