Gabby – supporting real estate professionals
01/31/2022
Gabby, a start-up launched by Henri HECQUET, a Master’s student at IÉSEG, and incubated at IÉSEG, supports real estate agencies by accompanying their prospects during the contact process. We met its founder to learn more about the company and his vision of entrepreneurship as a student.
How was Gabby born and what is the concept?
My desire to be an entrepreneur was born from listening to inspiring podcasts about entrepreneurship. Indeed, many podcasts feature entrepreneurs who have started their business quickly. I like to learn, that’s what stimulates me. And when you’re an entrepreneur, you have to deal with everything, so you learn a lot. Entrepreneurship is learning fast…
Then I met Gaëtan, my partner and co-founder of Gabby, who is a developer. Gaëtan had bought a property and realized that the real estate industry had not yet embraced technology to improve the way they support their customers. We identified a problem, and of course an opportunity: there are too many requests on the market to be processed in a timely manner. So, we launched Gabby – a solution for real estate professionals to help them improve the management of their customer base. The platform enables instant engagement with prospects through automatic lead capture and qualification, 24/7. This way, real estate agencies can acquire and centralize prospects, convert them into qualified leads, plan the buying/selling process with them and close the deal with the end customers.
What have been your main challenges as an entrepreneur?
For me, combining classes at IÉSEG and entrepreneurship is the major challenge because there are stakes on both sides. I had to both validate my Master’s second semester and be available for the company. I was mainly in charge of conducting the market study. But since my partner works full time for Gabby, I had to invest (almost) as much as he did. It’s not easy to juggle the two, but thanks to IÉSEG, I was able to replace my thesis with a business creation project, which helped me a lot to combine the two worlds. All the work done for IÉSEG is also useful for my company, especially for seeking financing later on.
What has IÉSEG brought to you for your entrepreneurial project?
Of course, the entrepreneurship course was fascinating and allowed me to see all the steps of creating a company and to understand the basic model allowing me to move forward quickly.
But above all, I was able to talk to many professors about my project and they all helped me a lot, they are very available. I got very relevant feedback from them, and I even had a financial supervisor. At the same time, even though I am not incubated there, I exchange a lot with the IÉSEG Incubator teams, who act a bit like mentors.
What do you foresee for your company?
We are currently in beta testing with three large customers and will soon sign our first contract. The value proposition has already been validated, so we will have our first income in January 2022. Then, in March or April, we will focus on finding grants and subsidies. At the same time, we will hire several people for sales, customer support and technical development. I will then take a gap year to work on the company and if we reach our goal, I will do my internship there.
After IÉSEG, the goal is to grow Gabby for a few years in order to learn as much as possible, develop my network and gain experience, before creating another company. With this one, I would really like to be able to set up a positive impact project in a field I am passionate about. I already have a lot of ideas, but the concrete project has yet to be defined. I still have time for that. What is certain is that today I don’t see myself working for a company: I want to continue working for myself.
Have you noticed an evolution between the moment you entered IÉSEG and today, a few years later?
I have been part of many associations within the School, notably the “Bureau des Sports” (Sports Office), How I Met Your Start-Up, the IÉSEG Lille Student Association and IÉSEG Network. Finally, getting involved in an association is like being an entrepreneur: you are your own driving force in your projects. I learned a lot thanks to the associations of the School, which are very professionalizing. I discovered my entrepreneurial spirit thanks to them and they helped me to make the right choice of orientation for my Master’s degree.
IÉSEG is a very complete ecosystem, which allows me to meet people who are precisely drivers, changemakers who have the will to accomplish something. The School’s vision -“Empowering changemakers for a better society” – takes on its full meaning. Quite quickly at IÉSEG, we are asked to think further, to envisage our future. I’m glad I chose this School because, in addition to getting us to think about our professional project from the third year, it is a real springboard for our future life project. All these experiences have helped me grow and have made me what I am today.
Any advice for a future entrepreneur?
You have to talk about your idea around you and surround yourself with inspiring and curious people. The better you know how to surround yourself, the better and faster you will progress.
Do not hesitate to contact Henry HECQUET : Henri.Hecquet@gabby.immo – +33 7 81 11 98 84