InStroy — a startup for ordering building materials like in InDriver

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

How It All Began

One day, I came across the book by InDrive founder Arsen Tomsky, "From Yakutia to Silicon Valley." I was impressed by the story of creating a global, world-class company. This became a turning point for me, and the book served as a guide into the world of startups.

I quit my job, downloaded InDrive, got behind the wheel, and set out to study the service's users. Within a month, I had assembled a community of InDrive drivers with business-class cars. I named it VIP AUTO CLUB. We provided clients with reliable and verified drivers. The community still exists and continues to develop.

I started my career as an assistant foreman. Over seven years in this field, I gained valuable experience, frequently encountering market challenges during apartment renovations and construction projects. Undelivered materials on time can delay project deadlines and impact the budget.

InDrive served as inspiration, and InStroy became the result of my desire to create a convenient tool for users of our market.

The Team

The team consists of four people: me — CEO, Ali — CMO, who has a talent for PR and marketing along with extensive experience in renovation and construction, Artem — CTO, with extensive IT knowledge, and Altynbek — COO, who has great potential and faith in the product, handling operations within the team.
We also rely on outsourced specialists who do a significant amount of work.

Target Audience

Purchasing building materials is a long and labor-intensive process. Trips to building supply stores, researching websites for the best deals, and touring markets require a lot of energy and time. In InStroy, you can create a request for the necessary materials and receive various offers from sellers. The user only needs to choose the best option.

At the same time, building material sellers are heavily tied to geography within the city and even their specific market — for instance, it is easier to sell from the first row than from the last. Therefore, our platform offers the opportunity to sell materials across the entire city without being tied to a specific location.

Our end user is the person doing renovations and ordering building materials. However, our main source of income is retail building material sellers and private shops. Currently, we have 94 sellers who generate a monthly revenue of $3,760. We have reduced the number of suppliers from 700 registered ones, allowing only those who pass verification.

Acceleration Programs

In 2022, Astana Hub launched a new acceleration program, Google for Startups. It selected 15 IT projects from 7 countries. We were chosen from among 800 applicants. For someone with my background in the construction industry, this already felt like a victory. It turned out that every week we had to demonstrate our entrepreneurial skills and master new ones.

Thanks to the acceleration program, I gained invaluable experience and significantly developed my networking skills: three months of offline training with classmates — founders of interesting projects that improve the world. We still communicate and share experiences.

Challenges

Challenges and mistakes are inevitable for any startup founder, and that is normal. Developing a new product for the market is like walking through a dark forest. No one can predict what lies around the corner. Therefore, you must prepare yourself to overcome obstacles along the way.

Many novice startup founders make a classic mistake, and I was no exception — they want to develop a full-fledged product immediately. This requires significant time and financial investment. Before starting a project, it is essential to deeply understand the pain points and needs of your target audience. Then, using inexpensive methods such as Tilda or a Telegram channel, test your hypotheses. Based on this information, you can proceed with development.

Achievements

The main event of last year was the product launch in October 2023.
We managed to monetize the app and start earning 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 moving in the right direction.

Plans

We have only implemented a tenth of what we envisioned. There is still much left to do.
We plan to attract investment to improve the product, add new features, and launch in major cities in Kazakhstan, as well as in Bishkek and Tashkent.