Insights Success recently published the untold journey of success of India’s largest real estate brokerage firm for the primary residential real estate- Square Yards, featuring the founder and the CEO- Tanuj Shori. By the year 2020, the Indian Real Estate market is anticipated to touch the staggering value of US$ 18 Bn., while the housing sector is expected to contribute round about 11% to India’s total GDP. Also, given the significant growth of sectors of retail, hospitality and commercial real estate, several players caught the customers’ attention through their products and marketing strategies, yet they lacked the professionalism and the required transparency. In such a scenario, in order to innovate and solve the investor’s problems, which were faced by him himself, as an investor, Tanuj Shori founded Square Yards. He started the company with a motto to offer absolutely transparent, unbiased and trustworthy information to potential investors, which constantly guides him even today. Launching with merely 3 people in a small office in Hong Kong, Square Yards has grown to nearly 2000 employees in 40 cities across 8 countries, including U.A.E., India, Qatar, Oman, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, and Singapore.
Square Yards offers 360-degree services spanning the entire property buying journey. It is the only Indian company to hold multi-country real estate licenses and enter into collaborative arrangements with leading international developers. An IIM graduate, Tanuj has had more than eight years of working experience in the Capital Market, prior to embarking on the entrepreneurial route. He was one of the youngest Executive Directors at Nomura and tracked the US and the Asia Pacific Markets extensively. He is a firm believer of the concept of empowering people and constantly encourages his employees to take ownership while laying a special emphasis on building up an aggressive corporate culture. “It has been a tough journey for us but a very rewarding one”, he says. He emphasizes that right from the initial stage, his motivation and the driving force have continued to evolve and grow with the business. He has always assured that the scale of his business created value for all his stakeholders, including the developers, the customers, the broker partners, and the sales agents. Similar to any start-up, Tanuj and his team faced challenges too, ranging from funding to recruiting the right talent. But he assertively believed and quotes, “Treat starting out on your own as you would treat your own job. Remember whether you are your own boss or working under someone, you are fully responsible for the profile, deliverables, and the profitability”. And hence, his self-belief and progressive mindset drove him to overcome these challenges. “While many business ideas may be alike, I believe what sets the leader apart from the rest of the pack is execution and people behind that execution”, says Tanuj. Square Yards’ practices like sales metrics, a unique sourcing strategy, incentive structure, multichannel distribution, the company’s focus on the quality of employees and the opportunities provided to them, etc., have become industry benchmarks, helping the company to become the biggest player in the primary residential market.
Today, Square Yards has the largest distribution network of Indian real estate due to its direct presence across 10 countries. It is the #1 channel partner for leading Indian and International developers. The company is currently focussed on surpassing the GTV annual run rate of USD 1 Bn., whereas looking to capture 15-20% market share in the primary residential sales market of the country. Tanuj Shori is expecting the company to gradually expand to 25+ International Markets, aiming to become the greatest aggregator of primary real estate globally, while aggressively investing into the International Real Estate.
