Lame duck crash tv#

Even if you’re not paying for branch costs, you still need to add sufficient margin in order to make a profit, rather than relying on the goodwill of investors. Moreover, the gatekeeper to the online market is Rightmove, and if you can’t afford their extortionate fees, which continue to rise, you’ll never get through the gate.Īdd to this rising staff costs, energy and fuel bills and inflation right across every element of the supply chain, legislation that is challenging, and a 40% downturn in transactions across the housing market, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Lame duck crash tv#

Paying for marketing, through Google Ads and expensive TV ads to maintain brand awareness, runs into multi millions for brands that want to reach into all corners of the UK. Why doesn’t it work? Quite simply, because it’s a costly business. Many others have tried and failed, including House Network, Tepilo, Emoov (later purchased by Mashroom), Hatched – which Connells said was not a commercially viable model, and Doorsteps. How do I know? I was one of the first people to try it with iSold back in 2010.

So where did it all go wrong? Quite simply, the low-cost model does not work. But then what? A focus on tech? But we all know that you need good people backed by tech in order to thrive in this industry. Strike backer Charles Dunstone needs really deep pockets, and I estimate he would need at least £20m-£30m to pick up the pieces following Purplebricks’ fire sale. What are the other liabilities they’re taking on? The legal action from their former self-employed staff? Their lettings compliance issues? It’s surely an astute move to ensure that no-one else gets their hands on the Purplebricks brand.īut at what cost? Paying off the debts? Paying for the staff – for whom I have great sympathy right now, considering the uncertainty they’re facing. The fact that an agency with an equally flawed business model has chosen to buy Purplebricks comes as no surprise. If this online model has failed with its multi millions of pounds of investment over the past decade, I can’t see it working any time soon. Purplebricks will go down in history as the biggest flop in estate agency, after agreeing to sell to rival Strike for just a pound (and even that was too much, in my opinion).