We are launching our series with an interview with Mario Gaw, CEO of Rumah123.com.
Mario, first of all congratulations on your new title of general manager Rumah123.com, where you started in January this year. You are indeed the top most person performing operations Rumah123.com. What are your main responsibilities and how a large team you manage?
Thank you, Angela! My main responsibilities are to lead, manage and represent the company in Indonesia incorporating rumah123.com rumahdanproperti.com and teams to achieve business goals, objectives and financial key performance indicators and non-financial. The current team in Indonesia is around 80-85 people and we are growing. I am very happy to be part of this growth!
How the transition VP of Pricing and production Lazada Indonesia for GM Rumah123.com been, from managing an e-commerce site online property?
The transition was interesting from day one. Despite the nature of being online businesses, both in completely different business models. In a way, the real estate business listings online is a simpler model without the need to cope with the physical inventory, logistics, etc., but nevertheless, it is not short of challenges that are both exciting and fulfilling summer! There are many new things to learn in particular on the industry, the market and its specific clients among other things.
Can you please tell us a little about Rumah123.com and iProperty Group?
Rumah123.com was established in Jakarta in January 2007, with approximately 30 employees. The company was then owned by Saratoga Capital, which is controlled by Edwin Soeryadjaya and Sandiaga Uno. In 2011, the iProperty Group, a listed ASX company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which has first house plan websites online portal in Asia, acquired Rumah123.com having identified Indonesia as a natural growth market for its activities. Since the iProperty Group acquired Rumah123.com, it became home to the largest number of property listings and real estate agents in Indonesia with numbers far exceeding its competitors.
The company continues to experience significant growth in all key indicators, a clear indication that Rumah123.com continues to meet the needs of consumers and customers. We provide the most comprehensive consumer and updated property-related news and the best property search experience. We are also committed to being the partner of choice for our customers by working together with them to develop their business.
To date, more than 247,000 Rumah123.com ads and more than 8,000 real estate agents. On a monthly basis, there are more than 1.8 million visitors who turn to Rumah123.com looking for their dream home or next property investment, which in turn results in the portal providing leads to over 485,000 its agents.
What motivated you to take the GM position Rumah123.com? What is your ultimate goal in this position?
It was important for them to find the right candidate. Their seriousness was shown in my recruitment process where I not only met Shaun Di Gregorio, CEO of iProperty Group, but also Patrick Grove, iProperty Group Chairman & CEO of Catcha Group. I am impressed by them and was motivated to take on this new, big and exciting challenge to push the company forward and have a significant impact on how the Indonesians search for the right property for them to own, live or invest.
My ultimate goal as CEO is Rumah123.com ensure that Rumah123.com continues to be the market leader by offering the best hunting experience possible property. At the same time, to become the best tool for generating qualified leads for clients and partners.
What challenges did you and have you encountered in the online industry in Indonesia? What are your thoughts on Internet connection speeds compared to their prices? How and when this will improve?
Although the online industry has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years, fueled by the penetration of the Internet constantly growing in Indonesia, it is still early and youthful. There is still much work to do to improve Internet accessibility, speed, costs and education. Internet speed in relation to its cost is still quite low, but on the bright side, improvements are certainly ahead.
We recently saw the launch of a new special mobile device named Bolt offering 4G Mobile Internet Service in Indonesia and First Media, a local ISP, quietly rolled out its 4G speed Internet service offering up to 100 Mbps from Jakarta last month. I am confident and hopeful that it will continue to improve even faster than consumer demand for better services grows.
Let's talk business. What is the site Rumah123.com worth? What are your predictions for 2014?
As rumah123.com operates under the iProperty Group, the company recently released its statement 4C, growth reports in cash collections driving net income from operating cash flow A $ 0.16 m for the quarter. Cash receipts from operating activities for the period amounted to A $ 5.4m, an increase of 31% compared to the same period in 2012.
We have big plans for 2014. We are oriented to a fantastic growth and I am confident that our talented team will continue to break new grounds. We will continue to focus on providing innovative advertising solutions to real estate developers and realtors. It is also our commitment to providing consumers looking for property with the best possible user experience through innovation with a "mobile first" focus.
What is your business model - where the bulk of the income generated
Our business model is based primarily on paid advertising. We are an online media company and believe that we generate our revenue from registration fees, thematic lists, online banners and marketing solutions and other secondary products such as exhibitions of ownership and the press written.
How do you collect all the information to complete your website? How many real estate agents are you working with? Do you work with private landowners too?
We have sales teams that focus on working with real estate agents and property developers on getting their ads or offers online as quickly as possible. We have over 8000 new real estate agents active on our site. Yes, private owners are also welcome on our site.
Back to personal questions, you studied computer science at Simon Fraser University in Canada and lived in Canada for nearly 10 years. What was the deciding factor to return to Indonesia?
Vancouver, BC, is a beautiful city and a place to live. It was very difficult for me and my wife leaves behind. However, I am determined to return to Indonesia for two main reasons. The first was to be closer to parts of my family still lives in Indonesia. Second was that I was reading a lot of news about how Asia and particularly Indonesia and other countries in the South Asia region has been strong economic growth in recent years. Indonesian be myself, I was quite curious about it and was ready to go back and try to find opportunities where I would be able to use what I learned abroad to the benefit of the Indonesia's economy and people.
You are concerned about social problems such as poverty relief and disaster. What social projects are you involved in, and you think it is important to participate in the work of charity?
Absolutely. I think we should all try to do our part to give back to our community and to those who need help. I do not think I have done enough on specific social issues, but I have always been interested in various initiatives related to the construction of schools and / or churches in remote areas of Indonesia. Helping children achieve appropriate education would give them the right tools to themselves and family out of poverty in the future.
What motivates you to go to work every morning?
There are many things that motivate me to go to work every morning, but if I had to limit myself to just one thing, it would be the family. When I was growing, I am constantly reminded by my parents to make them really proud someday. Although I knew that my mother was already proud of myself that I went to college, eventually graduated and received my first paycheck from my first job, my father did not have the opportunity to see it all. He died when I was 14 years for health reasons.
Since then I have done my personal goal to work hard and give my best in everything I do. I want to see where life takes me by constantly challenging and improving myself. Today, my lovely wife support is another source of motivation of the mine.