First of all, if you’re wondering why the co-founder of this startup looks familiar, that’s because it’s none other than Ryan Tan, the man behind Overkill Singapore.
Yes, the media brand that has amassed over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, and thousands more on other platforms. He had also previously founded the now-defunct Night Owl Cinematics, though he was no longer involved with NOC’s operations, having resigned since January 2022.
One pillar of content that Ryan films and produces is home tours. Through filming all these tours, Ryan has come to work with numerous interior designers (IDs). Unfortunately, not all experiences were ideal.
“I’ve had negative experiences with unreliable interior designers, and IDs do not require licences to provide renovation services in Singapore or obtain a permit. Hence, many IDs that claim to be one are not actual IDs,” he explained to Vulcan Post.
Rather, many IDs out there are just salespersons and not actual designers. Because of this, homeowners face the threat of errant interior designers who propose designs purely based on financial gains and not the purpose of design.
This led him to realise that there was a gap for a platform that connects homeowners with trustworthy and qualified professionals.
With that, EZiD was born.
An avenue to make ID easier
EZiD exists with a goal to simplify ID searches for homeowners as well as create an educational hub for homeowners. The platform connects homeowners in Singapore with interior designers who are personally chosen by the team to best suit the homeowner’s renovation style and preferences.
The process is simple. Homeowners can turn to EZiD, provide their property type (HDB, Condo, Landed), property status (New, Resale, Existing), key collection date, budget, and contact details. Next, the EZiD team will reach out to homeowners to learn more about their needs.
From there, the team will recommend five interior designers that are on their panel of 50 designers, whom Ryan describes as “something like a panel doctor”.
These 50 designers were all carefully vetted and curated by Ryan, mind you.
“All our recommendations come with no obligations, and homeowners are flexible to compare and decide to go with any other designer if they need, or request to be matched with more,” he said.
In short, EZiD is an intelligent matching platform that matches homeowners to trusted boutique ID firms. Basically, think of them as matchmakers between designers and clients.
“As someone who has been doing home tours and hearing all these different stories and working with many different types of IDs, I believe the intention of EZiD is to help bridge the gap between IDs and homeowners and have them equipped with the tools to search for their renovation safely,” Ryan summarised.
A knowledge hub for homeowners
EZiD, as its concept might suggest, is designed by young people for young people. This isn’t to say older people can’t use it, just that it’s built for young homeowners in mind.
These may be people who are renovating for the first time, which is why the matching platform comes with many free tools such as a free renovation budget report for homeowners to get an intelligent estimate on how much their renovation plans will cost. This report can be generated in just minutes.
Ryan explained that this calculator is backed by data from over S$50 million in contracts, ensuring that homeowners get the closest estimate on how much their renovation will cost.
“We also have a free eBook with a detailed guide on renovation,” he added. “Homeowners can also browse through our selected interior designer portfolio and reviews on our site to get a better sense of who they can get matched with.”
EZiD is free for users and homeowners, but IDs pay a subscription fee to join them as well as work with Ryan’s team on video productions for their home tours.
The platform also collaborates with different household names in the industry, such as furniture brands and household accessories, to provide more rewards for homeowners.
An addition to the market
As an intelligent, tech-driven solution, EZiD is certainly innovating the interior design industry in Singapore. However, Ryan said that they’re not actually aiming to disrupt the market.
Rather, it’s more about offering something that’s “very different” from competitors. For one, instead of listing all the IDs in Singapore which is more confusing for homeowners, the platform curates 50 of the boutique interior designers recommended by Ryan himself.
Moreover, leveraging the founder’s background, EZiD engages with homeowners through videos and home tours. They also provide a lot of monthly giveaways with enticing prizes to engage homeowners, which is a value-add to homeowners on top of matching them to the firms.
Despite all the perks, it’s still challenging for a new platform to gain the trust of both designers and homeowners. Ryan shared that onboarding the top 50 IDs was not simple, and engaging homeowners was difficult too.
It’s all about putting in honest work. A lot of marketing efforts were involved to gain homeowners trust, and reputation-building was key to onboard designers.
“Once we built the momentum, we managed to shortlist all the esteemed partners that are on our panel today,” Ryan said.
A one-stop platform for all things renovation
A year in, EZiD has matched over 10,000 homeowners, bringing in 10,000 web visits daily.
“So far, I would say we’ve at least matched 85% of the homeowners that come to the platform,” Ryan shared.
He also shared that the company has been profitable as of July 24 this year, but the team has heavily invested back to reward homeowners as well as improve the production level and marketing for their interior design firms and partners.
Armed with a mission to make its matching system perfect, the team is taking close feedback from both homeowners and interior designers.
Building on its current solution, EZiD hopes to host events that can bring homeowners and designers together.
This might look like a speed-dating event, and may even involve furniture or fittings brands to create a comprehensive experience for all parties. The team also envisions scaling this up and hosting such events at conventions.
“Our long-term vision plan is definitely to be the leading educational and one-stop platform for all things renovation related as well as guiding our average Singaporean through the nooks and crannies of renovation,” Ryan concluded.
Featured Image Credit: EZiD
