InStroy — a startup for ordering construction materials, similar to InDriver

Olzhas Anuarbekov, 43 years old, Astana, CEO of InStroy , @instroy.app , @olzhas__0519

How It All Started

One day, I came across the book "From Yakutsk to Silicon Valley" by Arsen Tomsky, the founder of InDrive. I was captivated by the history of how a global company of world-class scale was created. This was a turning point for me, and the book became a guide to the startup world.

I quit my job, downloaded InDriver, got into a car, and began studying the users of the service. Within a month, I gathered a community of drivers with business-class vehicles within InDriver. I named it VIP AUTO CLUB. We offered clients reliable and verified drivers. The community still exists and is growing.

I started my career as an assistant foreman. Having worked in this field for seven years, I accumulated valuable experience, frequently encountering market problems during apartment renovations and construction projects. Undelivered materials on time could delay project completion and affect the budget.

InDriver became a source of inspiration for me, and InStroy was the result of our intention to create a convenient tool for users of our market.

The Team

The team consists of four people: me — CEO, Ali — CMO, who has extensive experience in renovation and construction and a talent for PR and marketing, Artem — CTO with broad IT knowledge, and Altynbek — COO, who inspires confidence and potential and is responsible for operational activities within the team.

Additionally, outsourced specialists are doing a great deal of work.

Target Audience

Purchasing construction materials is a long and labor-intensive process. Visiting construction stores, researching websites to find efficient offers, and browsing markets require a lot of effort and time. At InStroy, you can submit a request for the necessary materials and receive various offers from sellers. It is up to the user to choose the best ones.

At the same time, sellers of construction materials are heavily dependent on geography within the city, or even their own market—for example, it is easier to sell if you are on the first row than on the last. Therefore, our platform provides the opportunity to sell materials across the entire city at once, regardless of their location.

Our end user is a person doing renovations and ordering construction materials. However, the main source of revenue is retailers and individual shops selling construction materials. Currently, we have 94 sellers who generate $3,760 in monthly revenue. We have reduced the number of product providers from 700, allowing only those who have passed verification.

Acceleration Programs

In 2022, Astana Hub launched a new Google for Startups acceleration program. 15 IT projects from 7 countries were selected for it. We were chosen from 800 candidates. For someone with a background in the construction industry like mine, this seemed like a victory. We had to demonstrate our entrepreneurial skills and learn new ones every week.

Thanks to the acceleration, I gained invaluable experience and developed my networking skills: three months of offline training with classmates who are founding interesting projects that aim to improve the world. We still communicate to this day and share our experiences.

Challenges

Startups always face difficulties and mistakes; this is normal. Developing a new product for the market is like a dark forest. No one can tell you what awaits you around the corner. Therefore, you must adapt to overcoming obstacles along the way.

Many novice startups make a classic mistake, and I was no exception—they want to create a full-fledged product immediately. This wastes a lot of time and money. Before starting a project, it is necessary to deeply study the pain points and needs of your target audience. Then, test hypotheses cheaply using Tilda or a Telegram channel. Based on this information, you can begin development.

Achievements

The main event of last year was launching the product in October 2023.

We monetized the app and started generating revenue within three months, without spending a single penny on marketing. People began actively using our product—this fact gave us confidence that we are on the right track.

Plans

So far, we have implemented only one-tenth of what we had planned. We still have a lot of work to do.

We plan to improve the product, add new features, and attract investments to launch in major cities of Kazakhstan, as well as in Bishkek and Tashkent.