December 27, 2024
Upkeeper Co: A Smooth Startup Launch
A Seamless Startup Launch with Strategic Consulting, Branding, and Web Development
Since he was already running Stay Teal Door – a premiere short term rental management agency in Tampa, Florida – Jared Higginbotham realized that creating a property maintenance business would not only add another revenue stream, but also help with the internal logistics of Stay Teal Door.
With that Upkeeper Co, a brand new startup, was launched, with Startup Street helping to organize the company, the branding and the website, ensuring the company launches in a well organized and professional manner.
Startup Consulting
Many new startup launches in the home services industry face the same challenges at the beginning:
- What should we offer and how much variation should the offers have, and why?
- How much do we charge and why?
- How do we tier our pricing and why?
- How many employees do we need for every X amount of jobs or sales, and why?
- What can we handle in-house vs what needs to be outsourced, and why?
- How are we going to stay organized?
Through multiple – many times, very long – meetings, Startup Street and Upkeeper Co managed to get the entire company down on paper, charting it all out, and obtaining significant clarity in what the upcoming journey not only looks like, but how to operate it as well.
The result was a three tiered pricing structure based on home owners, STRs and Long Term Property Managers, priced according to need and urgency, along with a detailed breakdown of packages that the later two could subscribe to (think Membership Model).
A detailed analysis of the services was completed, providing clarity on what was being offered and many times where the cutoff is, as general maintenance companies are just not suited for some levels of construction. In-house vs outsourced was determined, along with general costs per service, in order to make sure that margins stay vigilant while remaining affordable.
Startup Consulting: Put in the work up front for less headaches later
The initial phase of the Upkeeper Co startup launch was tedious and long, but as it always the case, paid big dividends once it came time to build the website and then later launch the company. Diving in on the details many times makes the difference between a startup launching with clarity and purpose, as opposed to launching with everything in their head and going off of “feeling”.
Branding and Logo Design
Once the initial groundwork was laid, it was time to get to the overall brand. What is the type of feel and emotion we want to portray, what would we like to known for? Upkeeper Co wanted a brand that was inviting and professional, and spoke to their experience in the industry.
The logo was developed in a clean and effective manner, and subtly interesting in that is conveys three things related to the company all at once:
- The combination of a U and a P
- Clear outline of a house
- Subtle resemblance to a friendly face with ball cap
They three elements together combined to create a brand mark that is unique, easily identifiable, and should serve the company well as it heads out on it’s road to success.
Website Development
After the initial consulting and then the branding and logo development, the rest of the website came together easily. UpkeeperCo.com features an easy to navigate homepage, well laid out sections with graphics, and a simple menu structure that ties it all together.
Jobber.com was used as the CRM of choice, while also handling orders from repeat customers and/or certain package subscribers. Other pages consist of pricing tables, services outline, a detailed FAQ page and call to actions throughout the site that encourage users to either fill out a form or simply call the office.
Conclusion
Overall, we’re extremely happy with how the UpkeeperCo.com project turned out. Jared and his team are well versed in service businesses, and it’s our hope that the work we did together will help prevent headaches as they grow and provide them branding they can be proud of!
If you’re considering launching a startup, or your current company could use some reorganizing and/or rebranding, feel free to reach out to us for a free consultation.
