What was the catalyst for launching Livlet?
I founded Livlet out of personal frustration with managing my home. I was frustrated with having to track down old copies of receipts, warranties, and instruction manuals for our appliances and not having the details of tradespeople that I’d used to hand. I also realised that there are many different aspects of managing a property and saw how important data is to the management of a property - and the challenges of maintaining your home without that visibility. While finding a solution for myself, I realised this could help thousands of homeowners who are probably also struggling to keep track of their homes!
I’ve been in business and technology for over 20 years, having grown my previous company, Allied Testing, into a business of over 1,000 employees. So, I combined my passion for building businesses with my insights on property management and created Livlet, a web-based home management tool that simplifies homeownership, saves time, and maximises the value of your property.
Tell me about the business - what it is, what it aims to achieve, who you work with, how you reach customers and so on?
Livlet is a home management tool that lets property owners manage all aspects of their homes in one place. It intelligently and safely logs all your home data for quick and easy access: from household purchases, specs (like paint colours, tiles or light fittings), appliances, suppliers (the milkman, plumber, or gas company), contractors, to works that have been carried out, costs, dates, and bills. This allows the homeowner to keep track of documents that would previously have been buried in a filing cabinet, for example.
Through the platform, Livlet helps homeowners to make decisions that could lower bills, maximise the use of appliances and boost the value of their home. It also helps you to understand how to make your property more sustainable by providing information on different ‘green’ options like solar panels or government incentives.
Our customers are residential property owners and small-scale landlords who want to get organised to save time and maximise the value of their property.
How has the business evolved since its launch? When was this?
Livlet launched in 2021. Since then, we have been scaling fast and developing our online platform to be able to offer a wide variety of services such as the ability to store, analyse and retrieve all types of information associated with homeownership and create a profile of the home that can anticipate future needs and potential system failures.
Through proactive scheduling tools, Livlet can anticipate what’s next, like appliance failure risks or repairs, and notify owners when maintenance jobs or renewals are due. It can also offer advice on options to boost sustainability and provide a detailed financial view of the household.
We are currently developing our mobile application and will be introducing multi-house functionality later this year for people who own several properties or small-scale landlords. This will help to bridge the resource gap facing some landlords, leading to better and more efficient property management.
How are you funded?
We are funded by private investors.
What has been your biggest challenge so far and how have you overcome this?
On a personal level, the biggest challenge has been carving out time to spend with my family and doing the things that I love, especially yoga, whilst building and scaling a business. But the flip side to this is that my children see me working passionately on a company that I truly believe in – which I believe is setting a good example.
On a professional level, software development can be time consuming but it’s critical that we take the time to ensure that Livlet provides the highest service for our customers.
How does Livlet answer an unmet need?
For an overwhelming majority of homeowners, property management is done using analogue tools such as paper trails and old emails or text messages. This can be very inefficient and means that information can be easily lost or overlooked. Without connecting and understanding all the data about our homes it’s difficult to form a complete picture of a property. So, it can be hard to make the right decisions when it comes to home management or home improvements.
By using a smart tool, homeowners can significantly simplify the process of managing a property, saving time and money. Having all the relevant data in one place also helps people to make better decisions and optimise their property in terms of its value.
Being aware of what is going on in your property can make a big difference when it comes to predicting what maintenance will be required or anticipating potential system failures, as well as providing a financial overview of the home. It also makes it easier to boost the sustainability of a property – for example, Livlet proactively gives advice on how to boost environmental sustainability.
What’s in store for the future?
It’s been fantastic building Livlet so far but we’re only just getting started! I’m excited to launch our mobile app later this year and to bring the benefits of Livlet to landlords. I’ve seen first-hand how important it is to have all your home data in one place and how it can transform the valuation of a home - it will be brilliant to see homeowners across the UK experience this too.
Long term we aim to provide residential home owners and landlords with access to home service providers, warranty and insurance, all through the Livlet, providing impartial advice to property owners.
What is one piece of advice would you give other founders or future founders?
Enjoy what you are doing! There will always be ups and downs – some days are better than others – but it’s important to carry on and enjoy the challenges. You must remind yourself that you are building something new and unique, something useful, something financially beneficial for you and your employees, and beneficial to your customers. That is what keeps me motivated.
Dasha Klyachko is founder and CEO of Livlet
