Cars are a necessity in every household these days in most global economies. Now, with a wide range of price points to cater to every segment of the market, owning a car has become more achievable in more segments of the economy. Although this is great news for the consumers, this also comes with its share of problems such as congestion and parking. Parking has been a long-time challenge for drivers and parking owners. ParqEx was this innovative idea to solve this long-standing issue for parking owners and renters by renting out private, self-managed parking spaced. With over 2 million users using the ParqEx platform each year, operating on over 12 markets, ParqEx has succeeded in taking a complex problem and solving it by developing a simple to use robust, end-to-end parking platform.

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Modern technology has already become an essential part of modern life and is continuously changing the way people interact with each other. This can be easily seen on the street. Most of the people are seen staring at their phones or sharing the rides. Wireless connectivity has allowed the impact of technology to be much more personal and intense. The Internet of Things (IoT) is basically a materialization of this on a large extent and is extending the reach of technology into areas those were previously offline. This level of connectivity enables users get more information from and control over remote devices, but the development of this technology is still at an infancy stage of its overall impact. In order to provide the best experience for the end consumer, technology products in the IoT space, which are fragmented, need to be more integrated. Therefore, the vendors offering IoT technologies need to start offering all-inclusive solutions rather than discrete products. As these technologies are getting incorporated in the daily routines such as parking and managing the parking spaces in the vicinity, the need for efficient tools is the instant need. To tackle these challenges, many tech-companies are making the transition to IoT including ParqEx.

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As an entrepreneur, you face many challenges that demand your time and attention and can contribute a large burden on your work and how you manage it. We spoke to a number of CEOs running small- to medium-sized companies, many of which have been featured in publications such as Business Insider and Inc., to name a few.

From these conversations, we gained insights into the common challenges entrepreneurs face, and how to rise above them. During our interviews, we noticed four main struggles that a majority of these experienced CEOs have encountered, including:

• Getting the funds to grow a company
• Prioritizing competing tasks
• Putting the customer first
• Staying motivated

Here, we will dive into these trends and hear from the pros about how they ensured that these obstacles wouldn’t get in the way of their company’s success.

Getting the funds to grow your company

Entrepreneurs are dreamers. They think big and go hard. But like they say, with great power comes great responsibility, and most big dreams need money to soar.

Even if you have an idea for a product or service that has the potential to be the next multimillion dollar company, it doesn’t mean that investors are going to agree from the get-go (just watch “Shark Tank” to see this principle in action).

Thus, you are going to have to really impress investors to get the funds to grow your company. Getting investors to open up their wallet for you not only requires a cutting-edge idea that can make them rich, but also a person whom they can count on.

Here is some advice from the pros to help you get those investments to take your company to the next level:

“Invoke your passion in your company before meeting with investors. My passion wins over nerves for me.”

-Vivek Mehra, founder and CEO of ParqEx

“Develop confidence in your product. I used to get so nervous before meetings with investors, but now, I’m so confident in our product and our process, that all I feel is excitement.”

-Ryan Westwood, co-founder and CEO of Simplus

“I battle nerves by remembering that the best person I can be is me. In other words, investors, just like anyone else, can see inauthenticity and nothing will kill a meeting or opportunity quicker than not being who you are. Be yourself. Be prepared.”

-Matt Westgate, co-founder and CEO of Lullabot

“When you’re honest in an investor meeting and ask for constructive criticism from them, even if you don’t get the money, you will learn something you can use to make your next presentation better, or identify part of your business plan that still needs work.”

–Kirk Simpson, co-founder and CEO of Wave

“Do not focus on the issue of securing funding immediately. Stop being obsessed with it. Stop for a second and figure (out) what you are trying to do in the marketplace and why your business makes sense. Take time to define and understand so you find something you strongly believe in. Then, the rest of the issues will naturally fall into place and solve themselves.”

-Ariel Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Trip Actions

Additionally, all of the CEOs we interviewed seemed to agree that it is important to have some key takeaways for the investors to remember from your meeting. Write out these objectives and make sure they are included in your presentation before heading into any conversations with potential investors.

Prioritizing competing tasks

There’s only so much that you can accomplish on a daily basis, so how productive you are really comes down to how efficiently you use your time.

So, what are their standpoints on prioritization?

“When a fire is repeating, you should stop for a second and ask what should be changed in the current process, the current product, and the current behavior of the company to prevent and alleviate repeating fires. In short, you should handle the fire and figure out what you should do next time. It is not really a process. Just address current issues to prevent them from happening as opposed to denying them.”

-Ariel Cohen

“Face prioritization challenges head-on and know how to handle them.”

-Ryan Westwood

“I schedule meetings with myself during the week. If it’s on my calendar, then I can’t be booked somewhere else. For instance, I have a quiet-time meeting in the morning, an end-of-week wrap-up meeting on Friday, and Thursdays are completely blocked off, which is my primary focus day.”

-Matt Westgate

“We believe in the old saying that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. We spend time talking about what the priorities should be, and try to be very conscious of the tradeoffs we’re making.

To manage my time, I personally am a big advocate of the Getting Things Done (GTD) approach by David Allen. That, together with having the world’s best assistant! We start every day with a standup meeting to go through the calendar and priorities. And every quarter I revisit how I’m actually spending my time versus what I wish I was spending based on my priorities, and try to make adjustments.”

-Daniel Chait

“When you’re faced with a prioritization choice, do the math, even if it’s rough, and even if you sometimes need to use gut-level guesses in your calculations. Compare the impact that path A will have on your business outcomes, to path B, C, D and so on, and use that to inform your decisions.”

-Kirk Simpson

Many of the small business owners we spoke with mentioned that they use tools like prioritization templates, Google Calendar, Evernote and Priority Matrix to organize tasks and projects.

Putting the customer first

There’s no way you will get to the top without a dedicated customer base that loves your product or service as much as you do. So, it is vital that you establish a way to receive feedback directly from your customers.

In order for your startup to succeed, it’s critical to prioritize time to ensure that your customer’s wants and needs are being heard:

“I can’t overstate the importance of listening to your customers. And it’s more than doing a survey and compiling answers. You have to talk to them, listen actively to what they’re saying, and also find insights between the lines. What do they need, what causes them pain, what do they wish for — inside your product and apart from it? Know your customer like you know yourself.”

-Kirk Simpson

“When prioritizing, one must put customer needs at the top. Consider: Is this good for the user? Will this (project) create a 10 times better user experience than we have today? Will completing this task make us better than our competitors?”

-Ariel Cohen

Staying motivated through the ups and downs

No entrepreneur has the perfect path set out for them; there are going to be ups and downs, days you love your job, and days you want to give up. So, it’s important to get back on track when a rough patch hits.

How do you handle those days, weeks or even months that seem to be a little rougher than others? We asked these CEOS to provide one piece of advice they wish they knew before starting their journey:

“Find allies, mentors, peers to network with and share your challenges in confidence. You need those conversations to gather insights, and to use as a sounding board for your own thinking. During hard times (and in general), surround yourself with the best people you can, and give them the power to help you do what needs doing. Don’t put off hard decisions. They don’t get any easier tomorrow.”

-Kirk Simpson

“All CEOs have to sacrifice a lot and put in a lot of work. It takes an unwavering commitment and a passion that runs deep, but it will be rewarding.”

-Danny Loschiavo, co-Founder of BoldLeads

“Just stay focused on solving one problem better than anyone else while still making the impact you want to make. It won’t make you a celebrity, but you’re more likely to have the autonomy, mastery and purpose we all crave.”

-Matt Westgate

“Follow your passion and be persistent! If you are doing what you love, it won’t feel like work and when you get beaten up (it happens a lot), your passion is what will keep you going and not let you give up.”

-Vivek Mehra

“Have conviction to listen to all of the ‘no’s’ you hear, which will be a lot. Focus on understanding the reasoning of the ‘no’s’ versus feeling defeated.”

-Ariel Cohen

Conclusion

There is no doubt that as an entrepreneur, you will have good days and bad days, along with many rewarding moments. Hopefully, the fact that these entrepreneurs and CEOs are continuing to thrive gives you the motivation to hustle harder, even through the slumps. By preparing yourself for those bumps now, you will find yourself one step ahead of the competition.

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Sharing his insights on defining creativity, Vivek Mehra, Founder & CEO at ParqEx implies, “Creativity is one’s ability to find new solutions to complex problems and challenges. When you’re creative, you can connect the dots in different ways and see things from different perspectives. This means you’re less likely to become stuck because you don’t have to follow the same linear thinking processes that aren’t always effective.”

Since his preliminary days, Vivek was passionate about building technology solutions and till date, that drive has remained unchanged. With valuable experience, the decision maker of ParqEx has grown into the business side of the equation, but the technological inclination has been there from the start.

In April 2014, Vivek founded ParqEx as a response to the impending problem of unavailability of parking space in Chicago. Personally having being frustrated of searching for parking all the time or else paying exorbitant prices for it, the Founder & CEO ParqEx identified a favorable opportunity of utilizing the privately-owned empty spaces in rather a fruitful manner. In this day and age, it just made sense to Vivek that technology could provide a unique solution.

However, without experiencing certain pitfalls and hurdles, success does not taste honey sweet. Initially, the biggest challenge that Vivek faced was managing capital while trying to grow revenue every month. He achieved this herculean task through a combination of creativity, whereby he found as many cheap growth hacking ideas as possible, along with perseverance of pushing forward no matter how many obstacles arose. In spite of limited resources at hand, in 2016, ParqEx generated its revenue up to 32% month-over-month besides accepting two separate accelerator programs namely gener8tor out of Milwaukee and Elmspring out of Chicago.

On that premise, overextension led to the second noteworthy challenge which Vivek had to skillfully overcome. Attending two accelerators at the same time meant that the team of ParqEx had to stretch, especially while trying to run and grow the business at the same time. However, initially identifying the worth of the expected outcome, Vivek and his team pulled together through those months and emerged victoriously. Thankfully, his faith was rewarded in terms of raising ParqEx seed funding, which was oversubscribed and closed at over $1.3MM.

ParqEx: Distinctive Private Parking Technology Platform

Headquartered in Chicago, IL, ParqEx’s marketplace enables non-commercial parking owners such as residential, non-profit and business parking spots to rent their underutilized parking spots to drivers on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis. For parking spots secured behind gates/garage doors, ParqEx’s Access along with technology lets owners grant controlled access to their secured parking spots through the convenience of the ParqEx app.           

Property owners and managers use this proprietary technology to increase the value of their parking spaces that are often underutilized and/or difficult to manage. This unique platform offers a set of modular solutions that can be implemented on their own or packaged together depending on the needs of a given customer or property.

Exclusive Offerings by ParqEx

Following three key solutions are offered by the techno-savvy, private parking technology platform.

• Marketplace: It provides property owners with the ability to increase income by facilitating rentals to drivers looking for a place to park. The owners set the availability & price, and ParqEx team handles the rest.
• Access: This solution offers a better way to provide access to secure parking locations by controlling doors and gates through the ParqEx mobile app. When compared with traditional opening methods such as fobs and clickers, this proprietary IoT technology solution is inexpensive to install, saves operating costs, and reduces management hassle.
• GuestParq: This plug-and-play offering has been designed primarily for apartment and condominium buildings, improving the guest parking experience for residents, guests, and managers alike. It also enhances the entire process, right from reserving a spot, to arriving at the building to managing who should be parking in which spot.

Instrumental Role in Driving ParqEx towards Success

With 18+ years of experience in technical leadership and an outstanding track record of creating technology vision, setting strategic IT direction, and steering innovative technology road-maps to align with corporate strategy and business objectives, Vivek has truly set a high benchmark for his team as well as other entrepreneurs. This refined mindset has been obtained through vast experience of working with larger companies coupled with running smaller companies. In addition to this, a healthy mix of hard work, self-belief in abilities, and good luck have immensely helped Vivek to arrive at this juncture.

Setting High Standards

Today, none of ParqEx’s competitors have dedicated to providing a full suite of solutions specifically for self-managed parking like it has. In addition, a key innovation that differentiates the leading parking solution provider is its Access service. Using this unique IoT solution, with little to no investment required, ParqEx augments the capabilities of a property like no other company to increase revenue opportunities, reduce costs, along with guest parking amenities to tenants.

Taking a Closer Look at the Creativity Gap

The Founder and CEO of ParqEx doesn’t believe that there is a creativity gap between the old and young generation. Every generation has the creativity that they apply in their own ways based on their knowledge & experiences; some use technology while others use business acumen to find creative solutions to problems. He also believes that technology is responsible for influencing the solution each generation comes up with, but that doesn’t mean one is less or more creative than the other.

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ParqEx formed as a response to a basic problem: the lack of available parking in Chicago. Every property is different; therefore, we have built in the flexibility to deliver value in multiple ways with little to no investment required.

Name: ParqEx

Location: Headquarters Chicago, Illinois

Website: https://parqex.com

Co-founder Interviewed: Vivek Mehra, Founder & CEO

Other Key Management Team Members: Matt Schaefer, COO; Dan Erenberg, Director of Sales; Barton Kramer, Interim CFO

This article is part of our Business Startup Spotlight Series featuring entrepreneurs and their companies. We hope that these founders’ interviews will inspire and motivate you as you undertake your own entrepreneurial journey.

Tell us a little about yourself with a focus on what motivates you.

As the Founder/CEO of ParqEx, I built the company from the ground up. I started with an idea, developed the product, assembled a stellar team, raised capital, and now we are successfully growing the company across the country.

Prior to ParqEx, I had over 18 years of technology and leadership experience working for both large corporations and start-ups. I have held a wide variety of roles along the way, including Software Engineer, Technology Architect, CTO, Director, and Co-Founder; also, I had previously taken two other companies from the idea stage to successful exits, which left me wanting to do it all over again.

Founders: Do You Have An Exit Strategy?

I am passionate about building technology solutions to solve business problems; therefore, I am most proud of and motivated by the solid team and culture we have built here at ParqEx. We believe that more efficiently using real estate to store vehicles, in other words, parking, will improve life in urban areas and contribute to environmental benefits as well. It is rewarding for me to see the progress of each team member as they expand their individual horizons while we as a company push the boundaries of real-estate parking technology. It is a dream that continues to come to fruition each day. Doing what I love makes it easy to stay motivated.

When did you establish your company and where did the idea originate?

The company was founded in April 2014. Like almost all great ideas, ParqEx formed as a response to a basic problem: the lack of available parking in Chicago. I found myself getting frustrated by the fact that I would have to search for parking all the time or pay exorbitant prices for it. Meanwhile, there were all kinds of privately-owned spaces sitting empty. I also kept seeing the challenges that my condominium building would routinely have in terms of managing the parking. In this day and age with the rise of the sharing economy, it just made sense to me that technology could provide a solution.

What need or needs does your company seek to fill for its customers?

We think of our customers in two distinct categories:

1. Owners/Managers of property
   ParqEx seeks to help them increase the value of their real estate. Examples of this include adding incremental parking income through the Marketplace, reducing expenses by using Access+ instead of physical items and increasing the rent premium by offering a value guest parking amenity.
2. Drivers
   ParqEx wants them to have a better parking experience. Options include finding a cheaper or more convenient parking option or entering a secure facility using their phone instead of requiring another physical device or more easily visit friends and family because they have GuestParq at their building.

What is the one thing that sets your company apart from its competitors?

No competitor is dedicated to providing a full suite of solutions for self-managed parking. No one has a seamless platform that includes a way to access secured parking locations like our Access+. We know that every property is different; therefore, we have built in the flexibility to deliver value in multiple ways with little to no investment required. 

What was the biggest challenge you faced while getting your company up and running, and how did you overcome it?

The journey has been a learning experience and often quite humbling. I bootstrapped the company for the first two years. Initially, the biggest challenge was spending as low as possible while trying to grow revenue every month. I mainly achieved this through a combination of creativity, finding as many cheap “growth hacking” ideas as possible, and perseverance, pushing forward no matter what obstacles there seem to be. An example of that creativity was crafting our employee compensation structure to keep salaries as low as possible:

• using part-time hours,
• success-based pay,
• and equity in lieu of salary.

The Only 3 Things that Can Make Your Startup Succeed

Are there resources you have utilized that other founders might find compelling or useful?

We have tapped into local universities and colleges for interns, projects, and other types of assistance. I have found these institutions can be very useful. It is a win-win proposition. We have worked with students and faculty at the University of Chicago, Northwestern, DePaul, Loyola, UIC, UIUC and Roosevelt College in different capacities to get the help that we otherwise could not afford.

What steps have you taken to secure funding for your company and what, if anything, would you do differently if you had to start over?

We participated in two accelerator programs (gener8tor, Elmspring) that helped us improve our readiness for fundraising. These accelerators also made many direct introductions to qualified investors. We found the experiences to be very valuable; the programs did help push us along at a faster pace than we might have achieved on our own. The only thing we might do differently is not participating in both programs simultaneously. This became difficult to manage from a time perspective because you can only reap the rewards if you put in the effort. I probably would do one at a time and invest even more time networking if I were to do it again.

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Have there been any questions you have had as an entrepreneur of a fledgling startup that you had a particularly hard time finding the answers to?

I often get asked to compare the ParqEx business model with those of other companies with successful exits or publically available results. This has been a challenge for us because there are not many that are a direct match. The others that might be similar do not have results available.

What challenges, if any, are you grappling with?

Although we are well established in three markets and seeing organic growth in six additional markets, we are still young. We need more brand awareness. As we strive for expansion into new geographic markets, it is difficult to get the word out about our platform. Educating the real estate industry players about our value proposition is a challenge where we are currently heavily focused.

What is the most helpful tip or “hack” you’ve ever learned, stumbled across, or been given?

I have found user acquisition made easier by harnessing the power of the internet with strategically designed promotions and giveaways. Many sites help reach thousands of people very quickly and at a low cost to get user signups. These campaigns need to be planned and executed well. When they are, I have found them to be very successful.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your company?

ParqEx transforms the way parking is managed in our cities. We started out as a marketplace, but we have continued to add new offerings to drive value for our customers. As transportation continues to evolve there will still be a need for real estate to store vehicles. ParqEx is positioned to play a key part in that equation. We are extremely excited to see where the future will take us!

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ParqEx recognizes the gap and has a technology solution to fill it. ParqEx Announces a Smart Home Giveaway to build awareness for their new Smart Parking Technology Solution offering.

Smart home solutions technologies are changing the way people live their everyday lives. Smart home technology uses devices connected to the Internet of things (IoT) to control and monitor their in-home systems. A smart home can be a condo, multi-family dwelling, apartment, or a single-family home. Regardless of the property type, there are many smart home products and services focused on connecting and controlling home devices but there is a missing link – Parking! ParqEx recognizes this gap and has a technology solution to fill it. ParqEx announced a Smart Home Giveaway to build awareness for their Smart Parking Technology Solution.

The Missing Link – Smart Parking

When most people think about smart home technology, they completely miss one key element – parking. Parking is one of the biggest frustrations for many people living in the city; for residents, guests, property managers, and owners.

Take a multi-family (condominium/apartment) property for example:

• The resident is frustrated because they don’t have guest parking for their visitors – friends, family, cleaning service, dog walker or a nanny.
• The property manager is frustrated having to deal with garage door openers and fobs. They are also looking for ways to reduce your operating cost while increasing revenue through tenant acquisition and retention.
• The owner is looking to increase their Revenue / NOP (Net Operating Profit) by monetizing their underutilized parking assets, reducing their operating costs, thereby increasing the value of their real-estate.

ParqEx is a technology company that provides such a technology solution for these problems.

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Mobility tech companies pitch at Startup Milwaukee’s Emerge

June’s Emerge event by Startup Milwaukee, hosted by law firm Godfrey & Kahn, featured startups in the mobility space. The companies ranged from parking and car sharing to fuel management.

Digital Edition is a complete replication of the weekly printed business journal which is viewable online. It is great for subscribers who travel often, live outside their business journal subscription market or for those who want to be the first to receive the business journal each week.

ParqEx: This Chicago based company offers an app that allows people with private parking to lease out to those spots. The company announced it was expanding into Milwaukee and Madison in 2017, which is being led by Steve Catlin. The company experienced 800 percent growth between 2016 and 2017 and has 40,000 users, Catlin said. Recent developments in the company include technology that allows people to open garage doors and gates to get access to those leased-out spots using the ParqEx app. The company also launched a new app, GuestParq by ParqEx, which allows property managers to control inventory for guest parking spots. Residents can reserve guest lots on the app and allows guests to enter through the gate using the app.

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Kiser Group hosts mid-market summit

Chicago-based brokerage Kiser Group yesterday hosted a Mid-Market Summit, drawing approximately 175 professionals to the City Winery in Chicago’s Fulton Market District. Attendees heard industry remarks and panel discussions from seasoned veterans as well as disruptors all working to enhance Chicago’s multifamily market.

Lee Kiser, principal, and managing broker opened the remarks “This is an inaugural event that we hope will be annual,” he said.

The first panel featured Vijen Patel, co-founder, and CEO of PressBox, Marc Rutzen, co-founder, and CEO of Enodo and Matt Schaefer, chief of operations officer for ParqEx discussing revenue enhancers for multifamily. Kiser Group broker, Danny Mantis, moderated the discussion.

PressBox is an on-demand dry cleaning service that installs drop-off lockers in small, unused spaces in apartment and condo buildings. Landlords often forgo profit sharing with the lockers, content with the added value they provide in both attracting and retaining tenants.

An automated underwriting platform for multifamily real estate, Enodo aims to help users analyze more deals in less time and make better science-backed investment decisions. Building owners, operators, developers and even lenders use the platform to design an amenity package that is competitive with nearby properties and that can maximize value.

ParqEx is a private parking space trading app, where parking spot owners can lease out their space to others when not in use. The company’s GuestParq app is tailored for property managers, helping streamline the process of guest parking while both increasing transparency and improving security.

For the second panel, Sandy Albert, director of real estate acquisitions for Common, Reserve Rentals president and operations manager Tony Ferrara and Alex Samoylovich, founding partner, CEO and CFO of CEDARst Companies joined moderator Matt Halper, a Kiser Group broker, in a look at the cutting edge ideas for apartments.

Common is a co-living space designed for new transplants to a city who are eager to plug into a community but that perhaps don’t have a local social network to utilize. Short-term housing provider Reserve Rentals matches business travelers or others who are in town for extended stays with high-end rental units. CEDARst pioneered the micro-apartment movement in Chicago with conversions of former SROs into apartments 350 square feet on average. All three companies are expanding the universe of rental possibilities in the city.

There were two industry remarks presentations from David Lizak, senior director of commercial development at Xfinity Communities and Clint Darby, managing director at Greystone. Lizak discussed how owners and operators can use the proper technology package to attract tenants with have ever-increasing data demands. Darby spent his time on the admittedly unsexy topic of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financing, aiming to show the brokers in the room the ins and outs of multifamily lending.

Noah Birk, senior director at Kiser Group, moderated the final panel, which looked at chasing yield and finding higher returns in emerging markets. Rounding out this panel was Eric Green, principal at WPD Management, Michael Obloy, principal at 3F Construction and Sandeep Sood, principal at Nautilus Property Management.

Both WPD and Nautilus focus their efforts on the city’s South Side. Green and Sood agreed that perceptions can be skewed about the challenges of dealing with tenants in this area, though anyone looking to become active on the South Side should properly set their expectations and expect to work hard, as a mismanaged property can go sideways quickly without proper oversight. 3F Construction specializes in acquiring and renovating distressed assets, enhancing the value of existing multifamily properties in neighborhoods such as Pilsen.

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