The City Challenges & A Resolution
In 2008 Fahad KM, Founder of Cozy Stay left for Bangalore for graduation and stayed in a hostel. However, the hostel has ragging problems, and the food is pretty poor. So he and his friends decided to stay outside and rented a room.
However, the rent is extremely high, and there are no facilities to study comfortably. The maintenance is poor, and the overall environment is insufficient for students’ comfort.
He graduated in 2012 and is delighted to return home because he did miss his home that much. He remembered his struggles in the hostel and the room he rented when he was in.
He wondered why a hostel couldn’t be like a convenient home for a student. So he decided to purchase a building and rent it to students, complete with all necessary amenities. However, he needed money to buy land and build a property.
A Promising Outset
In 2013, he sold his bike and borrowed money from his family to buy a plot of land and start building a student residence in Bangalore.
The construction, which had an 80-bed capacity, was completed in 2016. He made sure that the building had everything he lacked during his college days, such as clean drinking water, proper maintenance, and individual tables.
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As a result of these amenities, 90 percent of the beds are filled within two days, and the students praise him greatly.
“I moved to Bangalore for my higher education the same year, and I witnessed students’ reactions who lived in our building. It brings us great joy and gives him the idea of expanding to more students” said Fayis KM, Cofounder.
The Game Changer Idea
So, in 2018, he purchased land in Hebbal, which is currently under construction and will have a capacity of 70 beds.
“I was astounded by his dedication to providing students with a home-like living experience. At the same time, I felt that buying land and building own buildings would take 3 – 4 years and would have many complications” added Fayis KM, Cofounder.
The lands may be located in remote areas, real estate commission rates are high, construction materials require more money for higher quality, and labor costs rise daily. So Fayis KM told his brother about acquiring a property rather than constructing it.
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He was convinced with the idea of acquiring properties and renovating them so that students could use them. He believe that by doing so, he will be able to save costs and time, and he will be able to provide more amenities to students.
In 2020 as a revenue-sharing method, he purchased a 90-bed property for lease in MS Palaya. When they bought it, it was only 20% full. They renovated the entire property in four months and had 85 percent occupancy. Eventually, they realized that providing the best living amenities would yield a good profit.
In 2021 the company acquired a new property in Marthahalli, which they are now renovating to their standards, and it will have a capacity of 70 beds.
They’ve made more contacts with these years of experience, and now have a strong team in Bangalore to acquire, manage and construct a property.
A Plan for the Future
So they’ve decided to buy more properties and provide more beds in Bangalore and other cities. They believed that technology was the best way to reach more people and expand into more cities. So, to use technology, needed to put together a technical team, which is how the idea for Cozy Stay as a startup was born.
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Then they began developing core technical team and web application, which connects their properties and residents. Their residents can now book rooms, pay rent, and request services within the application. With the addition of technology, occupancy has consistently reached 90 percent, and have 70 percent occupancy even during Covid-19.
The Cozy Promise
The goal is to provide a comfortable & homelike living environment for Millennials living away from home.
They analyzed what someone misses from their home and included them in Cozy Stay. Together with the Covid protocols for safety, in-house security staff & dedicated caretakers, spacious rooms with reliable storage & workspaces, and a vibrant community to share joyous moments, Cozy Stay lives up to its name and promise.
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The primary reason for the high occupancy in our properties is our hassle-free move-in process and our online service request. The residents do not have a lock-in period and do not need to pay large security deposits.
They can request any room services they need like cleaning bathrooms and fixing any leaks, and dedicated staff will look after that immediately, and they will fulfill the need.
The Closest Target
The quality service, branding efforts, including websites and social media, have paid off, and there is a high demand for beds from students and working professionals. The company plan to capitalize on this demand and have 1800 beds available by the end of 2022.
Source: https://cozystay.app
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