Elizabeth Dodson is a Co-Founder.
If your business could have a mascot, what would it be and why?
I have never thought about this question, but for some reason a frog is coming to mind. Partly because we service all different kinds of homeowner customers and there are different kinds of frogs that live in a variety of locations like our customers. Also, frogs leap into and out of action to get to the next step or location. And HomeZada provides the actions necessary to help homeowners manage their homes and the details surrounding their homes. Leaping into action is where HomeZada helps homeowners gain control and organization of their home. I also think frogs are adaptable and HomeZada is flexible for all different kinds of customers.
What strategies do you employ to maintain a healthy work-life balance while running your own business?
Work life balance is not always easy as a company owner, but there are ways to accomplish this aspect. I am a fan of mediation and yoga. I generally start my day off with this peaceful inner reflection. Reading a good book is also a good way to create balance. I am an avid reader and read as often as I can. Reading equals learning. And learning is a good thing to bring to business and learning helps expand my thought process. With a tech business, I am awarded the luxury of being able to work from anywhere. This allows me to travel and work at the same time — the ultimate work life balance. I gain a new perspective with my travels. These perspectives can add value to my customers and partners.
When faced with unexpected detours on your business path, how do you pivot with grace and resilience, showing fellow women entrepreneurs the way forward?
First, I look at the challenges in my company as opportunities or lessons. With every challenge, there is a lesson that is being taught to me. I have had the great privilege of learning a lot of lessons being a part of the companies I have had the opportunity to help grow. Mindset is the first path to pivoting with grace. Mindset or grit also teaches us resilience. I have been learning resilience since I was a young child. My skin has become thick, and I generally do not take things personally, even when they are personal. My perspective is different from others. Having the ability to understand that and seek to understand someone else’s perspective allows me to find a win-win for all parties. Grace and resilience is how we perceive the situation and how we respond to it.
How do you measure the success of your business beyond financial metrics, such as customer satisfaction or community engagement?
HomeZada customers like homeowners, property managers, and others use the functionality within the platform to help the properties that are associated with their financial portfolio. Knowing our customers are interacting with our platform is one area of measuring success. We also hear from our customers who are interested in learning how to use functionality or features that they may not have learned how to use in their early HomeZada journey. By engaging with our customers via tech support, we can understand how to make our product easier to use. Long term customer engagement and retention is also a success metric that we manage and reflect on.
Can you share a memorable moment where you witnessed significant growth or transformation in your business, illustrating the impact of your services/products?
When we connect with partners that introduce HomeZada to their network, we see a bump in customer engagement. HomeZada partners are looking to engage with their network with intelligent and helpful tools showing that they know who their customers are and what can help them. When a platform like HomeZada is shared by trusted partners of homeowners, then everyone wins in the process. HomeZada finds new customers to help them manage their homes, while partners gain additional value because they are sharing tools to help their customers, and the homeowners win because they now have access to tools that they may not have been familiar with and can save money and time managing their homes. Not to mention, when a homeowner has the information about their homes in one central location, they have clarity when managing their homes and ultimately, their finances because our homes are the largest expense in our budget.
What role do you believe mentorship plays in the success of small businesses, and how have mentors influenced your own entrepreneurial journey?
Mentors come in all shapes and forms. For instance, there are outside mentors that have experience in specific areas of business, and some are people working in your company that are performing a role with their tasks and opinions they provide mentorship. If there is a skill within your company that you do not have, there are plenty of people willing to help and share their experience. Finding them can be as simple as introducing yourself to someone on LinkedIn or connecting with business communities in your local area. Joining a local coworking space is full of all kinds of people that have a variety of roles, and these communities are full of people who want to bond and share experiences and knowledge.
What’s your work all about, and how does it make a difference in the world?
HomeZada is all about organization, financial planning and management, saving money, and being as efficient as possible with all things home. I had a personal need to help myself stay on top of the maintenance tasks around my home to keep my home working properly to save money, keep it safe and healthy for everyone living in my home. I realized that others may have had similar challenges that I did. Our homes are often our largest assets, and they are our largest expense. With proper long-term care and management, our homes do not have to be a drain on our income nor our personal lives. We can enjoy our homes with clarity and understanding about the details. Helping people understand how to connect with their homes and find ways to manage all the different parties that support our efforts in home management will make our homeownership journey easier and more enjoyable.
Get in touch with her:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/Homezada
