This week we talk to Andrew Colagiuri, a real estate professional who established FLK IT OVER, a unique eSignature solution designed for the real estate industry. FLK IT OVER enables users to create and send a suite of real estate documents for signing, with automation and integration features that help cut down the time in getting lease agreements signed. FLK IT OVER has managed to gain a significant following since its launch and has recently secured $2.13 million in its first capital raise with financial backing not only from Australian investors but also from Asia and the United States.
ISB: How did the idea for FLK IT OVER come to light?
AC: Sheer frustration, as an agency owner and property manager chasing down documents via email and the phone felt antiquated and I had a thirst to provide better customer service above all. Real estate is a service industry and before eSignatures became commonplace we were expecting customers to dedicate hours of their time to get their lease executed. It wasn’t sustainable, particularly during the pandemic when things like contactless transactions became a necessity. We know agencies that use FLK it over execute on average 19 leases per month, if every lease took just under an hour to prepare and execute then they are getting more than two days back a month to focus on more meaningful, revenue-driving work than chasing paperwork.
ISB: What makes the FLK IT OVER experience unique among the eSignature tools out there?
AC: The product is simple and it is fun. We have taken something as functional as signing your name and made it an experience you can actually enjoy as the signatory. One of our main points of difference is speed, we communicate via SMS. While emails are reviewed on a mobile device, the reply or interaction is typically left for a desktop experience at a later time. SMS is fast, and interacts instantly when received. It delivers faster results for our clients. From a business perspective, our core vertical being real estate means we have created a highly tailored experience for the industry, that not only delivers a signed document but automates many of the repetitive tasks that surround the document signing process.
ISB: What has been the most challenging aspect of launching a service such as this and how did you overcome it?
AC: When we launched education was key, real estate is a heavily legislated industry so ensuring the product met the compliance requirements and giving our users assurance this was the case was critical. These days driving product growth via our small team is a challenge we love. We have an aggressive growth strategy and our fundamental mission is to solve pain points of which there are many. I spend a lot of time with customers understanding how their process is evolving so we can continue to complement it with our technology.
ISB: How were you able to secure over $2 million for FLK IT OVER’s first capital raise and attract investors from across the globe?
AC: Having a VC advisory firm like Clinton Capital was critical to our success. They walked us through the process and even acted as an extension of our team at times. We had proof of concept, growth and customer loyalty which were what the investors were most interested in, particularly given the macro factors influencing investment at the moment. What got them excited was the potential for geographical expansion and even the potential to apply to new verticals.
ISB: How do you foresee the business evolving in the next couple of years?
AC: Our customer base is substantial enough now for them to give great guidance on how our product should be evolving, we spend a lot of time listening to them. We have had continued interest and appetite from other verticals, whilst real estate will always be our heartland there is a case for our product being more universal in nature going forward. Watch this space.
ISB: What is the key piece of advice you’d give to other aspiring entrepreneurs that are looking to bring their business ideas to life?
AC: Don’t underestimate the simplicity of solving a pain point. All good technology at its core does that. Simplicity and fun are the areas we focus on, if you can embed these in your DNA in the early stages of operation it translates through to your product experience, couple that with solving a pain point and you get that “I’d never go back to the old way” response that the likes of Uber enjoy.
