Imagine starting a new business amid the pandemic. Now imagine starting from zero: “No connections, no money, no capital, no partners.”
That’s what Juan Santos says he faced, along with a stiff learning curve, when starting his business, Smart Home Studio, from scratch. He had a successful event marketing business that got crushed by the pandemic in 2020. When considering what other type of businesses he could open, home automation interested him.
He had read about how Amazon, Apple and Google were investing big in smart home technology. “This indicated to me that there was something interesting in that area. Technology is technology, so when all the market processes changed during the pandemic with people investing in improving their homes, everything made sense,” he says.
He did more research and decided to take the plunge and opened the business in 2021.
About this time, he also connected with the Florida Small Business Development Center (FSBDC) at FIU Business, which offers no-cost business consultancy to small businesses in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties.
“Home automation is a very nice tool to have. It has its pros and cons, but mostly it helps improve our lives, making them more comfortable, efficient and relaxed. For example, with smart locks, you can control access and know who came to your house and when. Security cameras also provide valuable information in today’s world where security concerns are high,” Santos says. With simple voice commands a homeowner can control the security features, lighting, audio, air conditioning and more.
Mark Mungenast, an SBDC at FIU consultant who is a specialist in business development, strategy, sales and marketing, has been working with Santos since 2021.
“Sometimes you need someone with knowledge, with experience, and someone who is up to date who can help you to deal with new ideas and strategies. Mark has been a very important part of the business and this learning process,” says Santos. “Working with him has been like having a board of directors working by my side.”
Early on, when Santos’s sales tactics weren’t producing the results he wanted, Mungenast suggested he focus on reaching people directly related to the luxury home industry, such as realtors, builders, interior designers and architects. That was a turning point for Santos.
Mungenast has also helped him to strengthen his SEO strategy with more thought into keywords. In addition, their sessions include a lot of brainstorming – what if scenarios – about new services Santos could offer or new business development strategies he could deploy, Mungenast says.
“I appreciate his creativity and also his logic,” says Mungenast. “He uses a logical a methodology when he goes through a problem – ‘this is what I need to do next, and here’s my priorities.’ You also need the creativity when you think about what a smart home is.”
Santos initially targeted homes valued between $800,000 to $2 million. But early on he learned his services were more suited to the luxury market’s multi-million-dollar homes.
Every year Santos has been able to increase the size of his contracts; now they are typically 10-20 times higher than when he started, thanks to targeting the right market with sound business development strategies.
“I now understand that my customer is not the person who needs to change a couple of cameras. I focus on creating a complete solution – taking care of home automation, security, sound, lighting, networking, everything.”