If Nashville has been praised for it’s small-town spirit of camaraderie, it has also — and in the same breath — been cheered on for its benchmarked music industry that boasts big-town names, jobs and the like. It is easy to get caught up in the boom of the creative industries within Music City and overlook yet another industry that is surging through the ranks of personal and corporate establishments: Development.
Just as we are tethered to a mortal humanity that begs of us cycles of building as well as deconstruction, development is necessary in all areas of life and business to maintain the evolution of our societies. Large-scale construction is only a fraction of the work in consideration.
Throughout all of Nashville, home owners are installing new windows, putting pools in their back yards for summer, fixing that fence that’s been broken for months, living in annoyance with leaky faucets and building outdoor home additions for hosting summer BBQs. New residents are moving into apartments almost as fast as they are going up, families are enjoying their new community center playground, and the local bakery just down the street has revealed their new outside porch to happy customers wanting to enjoy the weather.
Every day something new is built. But this all begs the question: Who is building it all? If you’ve ever tried to “DIY” a big construction project at home or work, you’ve probably only had one go-round before calling in professional backup. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could send out your cry for help into the universe and be answered back with an array of options?
Ben Pospisil posed an even bigger question three years ago while sitting at home on an average day:
What if vendors could compete against each other for work as opposed to losing jobs because the price wasn’t right? AND what if homeowners who needed projects done could submit them online — in a live, reverse auction?
After just two weeks of launching his new concept he has received bids from over 70 local companies, 60+ of which have come through residential, in-fill developer Aerial Development Group.
His process model was derived from combining these functional implementations within Craigslist, Angie’s List and Ebay: vendors bid for work, and reviews of registered companies and individuals are created, all the while maintaining an organic, transparent and local feel. Growing up in within the construction industry himself, Ben has branched outside of running his father’s company to pursue gratifying the support of local businesses, encourage communication between industry lines and dissolve the need for job loss due to time and money factors.
Ben Pospisil’s Story
His first reflex after realizing this vision, what is now called Zouster, was to call his brother, Jeremy, the “mover and shaker” whom he felt sure would be a catalyst for excitement.
Patenting, funding and building a business plan alongside his brother brought them to the end of 2011 with a growing need for investors and mentors. Ben honed his vision for six months to a year while battling the question “What next?”
“I have a consultant working for free, an idea on paper, where do I take this?” he mused rhetorically.
It was finally time to make the big leap from visionary to victor, so he quit running his construction company and dove head first into Zouster. The reality that there is no going back now tends to propel us forward along the new path we’ve chosen.
A private and generous investor lent the fuel needed to jumpstart Zouster, and nine months later the company went into beta testing afterCenterSource developers built the online framework, giving it a face and a name.
By August 2013, Pospisil took to the streets. Surveying everyone from property management companies to general contractors he sought feedback on the usefulness of his venture and its practicality.
It was in these final stages before launch that he ran head-on into another stroke of luck: Aerial Development Group.
“Ever since meeting Jessica Demas, it has only been one positive after the next.”
Ben had begun by working with property managers, but he had a lingering curiosity to get mixed up in the residential market as well. Spearheading the funneled launch of Zouster through Aerial Development Group, realtor Demas and company founder Britnie Turner began working alongside Pospisil as he hashed out his plan.
This development company, already well established in Nashville for their large number of renovation projects and new construction, particularly in Salemtown and East Nashville, are also recognized for their mission to raise the standard of living in communities where they build, a “support local” principle also heralded by Pospisil.
They joined together in five months of paperwork, meetings and elevating the framework of a still-fragile idea. Just two weeks ago they went live with the Zouster.com model and they have been blowing up with positive responses.
During the first 24 hours of putting up five homes with job openings, 15 vendors signed up. As of this writing, Zouster has over 170 jobs in the system, over 60 bids and nearly 75 vendors signed up. To put the possibilities into perspective and context of the job market, for every 5 residential construction sites almost 200 jobs are required. As Aerial Development Group works toward their goal of building 105 homes this year, over 17,000 jobs will be made available. Zouster is now positioned to serve the industry professionals of various construction and labor departments so that local companies can fill these jobs.
“Zouster is built for a range of people — from those who want a new fence to a new house over to someone who manages property and needs various tasks completed. It gives these homeowners or managers or developers the chance to find local work and have a competitive bid. It takes care of the local, small business but also gives larger companies opportunities to get smaller jobs. Organic.”
Original article: http://www.12thandbroad.com/story/news/2014/05/12/ben-pospisil-nashville-zouster-jobs-vendors-auction/9004791