The real estate sector is one of the largest sectors, anywhere in the world. The Indian real estate market is expected to touch US$ 180 billion by 2020 and the housing sector is expected to contribute around 11 percent to India’s GDP by 2020.
Retail, hospitality and commercial real estate are growing significantly, providing the much-needed infrastructure for India’s growing needs. Given this, while many players have caught the attention of the general public through their products and marketing strategies, they still lack the professionalism and transparency that is expected from a rapidly growing economy.
Driven by a singular focus to innovate and try to solve the common real estate investor’s problems (which were faced first-hand when he was investing in real estate in his personal capacity), Tanuj Shori founded Square Yards. The objective with which he had started the company continues to guide him even today; to handhold the average buyer and offer unbiased, transparent and trustworthy information to those looking to buy/invest in real estate. They also support the customers with guidance on other processes involved in buying a property such as taxation, documentation, registration, and financing.
Starting with just 3 people in a small office in Hong Kong, the real estate start-up, Square Yards, has scaled up to more than 1800 employees in 36 cities in 10 countries including India, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, Australia and Canada.
Tanuj is an IIM graduate and had more than 8 years of experience in Capital Markets before embarking on the entrepreneurial route to lay the foundations of Square Yards, India’s largest real estate and fintech aggregator. During his tenure with Lehman Brothers and Nomura, he tracked the Asia Pacific & US markets extensively and rose through the ranks to become one of the youngest Executive Directors in Nomura.
As an entrepreneur, Tanuj firmly believes in the concept of empowering people as a company is only as good as its people. He constantly encourages them to take ownership and lays special emphasis on developing an aggressive corporate culture and focus on excellence in execution by hiring sales leaders who are proactive in their approach and well equipped to build and manage large teams.
The Journey towards Success
“It has been a tough journey for us but a very rewarding one,” shares Tanuj. From that initial stage, through his growth journey, the motivation and the driving force continues to evolve with the business. Today, Tanuj claims his greatest inspiration and driving force to be able to scale the business to such a level that this scale starts creating value for all stakeholders from developers, broker partners, the customers and our sales agents to grow and flourish with us.
However, like any other start-up, Tanuj also faced his fair share of challenges relating to growth such as scaling, funding, recruiting the right talent etc. The value that drove him to overcome each of these challenges was self belief and mindset towards building something scalable
Advising the budding entrepreneurs Tanuj says, “Treat starting out on your own as you would treat a new job. Remember whether you are your own boss or working under someone, you are fully responsible for the profile, deliverables, and profitability.”
Unique Approaches
At Square Yards, they have pioneered a new approach where they have introduced the concept of Principal Partners wherein each one acts as mini-CEO of their own vertical. Likewise, in sales, they have adopted the concept of P&L account wherein every P&L Head is accountable for the profit & loss of their individual units. The mini CEO and P&L model has been very effective & has helped in cascading the strategic objectives of the organizations to senior and middle level management of the organization.
Many of the Square Yards’ practices like its unique sourcing strategy, multichannel distribution, sales metrics & incentive structure etc. have now become industry benchmarks. Finally, the fact that they are a heavily HR-focused company with a strong emphasis on the kind of people they hire and the opportunities they provide them makes them a winner in the market.
“While many business ideas may be alike, I believe what sets the leader apart from the rest of the pack is execution and the people behind that execution,” shares Tanuj. This is also what is unique about Square Yards and have helped them become the biggest player in the primary residential market surpassing many others who came before them.
Another cornerstone of their success is the fact that they have managed to maintain a fine balance between profitability and growth by being flexible and dynamic with our business model.
Upcoming Steps towards Growth
“I constantly try to live with people who have a great positive energy, imbibe new skills, and behavioral traits in my friends, family, and colleagues, which has resulted in my personal and professional growth,” says Tanuj.
At Square Yards, they are focused on surpassing USD 1 billion in GTV annual run rate this year. In terms of market share, they are looking at capturing 15 – 20% share in the primary residential sales market in the country over the next few years. Tanuj expects their broker-driven initiatives such as Square Connect to catalyse much of this growth. Apart from continuing focus on Indian real estate, which should remain a lion’s opportunity (~with 10x growth plans over 2 years); Tanuj is investing aggressively into the International real estate, which is one of the fastest growing and most profitable segments of the business.
Tanuj expects Square Yards to gradually expand to 25 plus International markets and aims to become the largest aggregator of primary real estate anywhere in the world.
Source :-10 Powerful Indian Business Leaders in UAE
Tanuj Shori: Putting the Focus Back on Customers, Rather Than the Property
