Store Furniture & Other Items  [28.02.20]

At some point, it happens to almost every student: You want to go abroad or do an internship in another city, clean up your room, and the question of how to stow the furniture arises. Sven Orbach, who studied economics at Hohenheim, was also looking for a solution for this problem. He subsequently founded the start-up "VerstauMich.de".

 

 

Briefly explained: The business idea in 3-5 sentences!

You are going to spend a semester abroad and need a place to keep your furniture or you still have a free spot in the basement? That's exactly what VerstauMich.de is for: Here everyone can find a suitable storage space or can earn a little extra money. Our idea is to make storage space available simply, locally, and at affordable prices. To put it in one sentence: We are the "Airbnb" for storage space.

New, different, better: Why does the company have potential?

Common storage facilities are often very expensive and not available locally. Storage space from private individuals is up to 50% cheaper and often available directly in the neighborhood. VerstauMich is now Germany's most successful platform for the private rental of storage space of all kinds.

Inspiration: How do you come up with something like that?

After I myself had been searching in vain for a suitable garage and couldn't find anything appropriate in the end, I came up with the idea of a central marketplace for storage rooms and parking spaces. While I was still a student in Stuttgart, I rented out the basement of our shared flat with one of the current co-founders for the first time and thus improved our tight student budget.

Team: Who are you and what do you do otherwise?

To implement the concept, I teamed up with two school friends, Lion Hurka and Janno Huber, who studied at the University of Stuttgart and at KIT Karlsruhe. In this way we have created a team in which we trust each other 100 percent and in which we complement each other perfectly with our different strengths.

Impulse: How did the studies in Hohenheim influence your project?

Looking back, my studies of economics in Hohenheim gave me a good and above all generalist education. Some things that I learned at university can now be applied to my work. My lectures on entrepreneurship, accounting, and controlling were particularly helpful. Thanks to the specialist knowledge I have acquired, annual financial statements, bureaucracy, and other corporate law topics no longer cause me to break out in a cold sweat.

Entrepreneurial spirit: What drives you? Why do you do this?

On the one hand, we are driven by the desire to create something ourselves and to watch our platform grow every day. On the other hand, there is probably nothing more exciting than your own start-up: every week we are faced with new challenges that drive us forward and allow us to explore new paths again and again.

A look back: What has been on your mind in the last few months?

It was surprising how well our website was accepted by the users from day one. Even more surprising than the steadily increasing number of new registrations, however, was the number of users who took the time to give us feedback and actively participate in the design of the platform. The feedback from the community has proven to be infinitely valuable. We have learned from this: We want to continue to orient our product exclusively on the needs of the users in the future.

Future: Where do you see your start-up in a year's time?

On the best way to firmly establish VerstauMich in Germany and to become the central contact point for everything concerning storage, stowing, and parking.