Automatic for the people
Being able to open your garage doors from inside your car is now almost commonplace, but controlling your home environment – everything from how your heating and lighting behave, to what time the curtains in your bedroom open and the temperature of your morning coffee – is now affordable for more than the super rich. Andy Harris, the inventor of the eponymous WebBrick, explains, “WebBrick is designed to take home automation, which was the province of the multi-millionaire, and make it affordable for a couple on an ordinary income.”
The WebBrick system can (if you want it to) control your heating to optimise its efficiency, turn lights on and off as you travel through your house, and put the whole house to bed with you. The savings can add up quickly, and installing a Webbrick system is several orders of magnitude cheaper than traditional home automation systems. Co-founder John Guyatt believes that an average system with equipment costing approximately £5,000 will be an attractive proposition for developers and builders wishing to differentiate their properties in what is currently a challenging market.
Open source, open markets
WebBricks themselves are robust devices, looking very much like an oversized Lego “brick”, that continuously monitor sensors and switches in your home and act in predefined ways to control your heating, lighting and security. In fact, anything you configure them to do. Unlike competitor systems, which all use proprietary protocols, WebBrick Systems has adopted the Web’s “Open Source” philosophy, and the implications of this have impacted on every aspect of the company Firstly, because WebBrick systems use off-the- shelf parts, it’s able to be far cheaper than its competitors, and that opens the door to the mass market. John explains, “We’ve taken a decision to focus on affordable home automation, not just because we believe in it, but because a mass market approach gives us so many more potential customers.”
In order to realise this mass market approach however, WebBrick Systems had to do three things: find a way to manufacture for an affordable price; find a market that would try something new; and find a way of selling to that market.
A combination of off-the-shelf components and local manufacturers have kept unit costs low, while, “We have close relationships with suppliers and other companies in our market,” explains John, “and together we’re able to deliver what our customers want at a price they can afford.”
Early adoption
Having a product that’s a fraction of the price of your competitor’s is only part of the battle however, as WebBrick Systems discovered, There’s a perception in the UK that home automation is the province of the very rich. Finding something so much cheaper than you think it ought to be makes people suspicious. WebBrick Systems had to find a market willing to take a chance on them (the so-called “early adopters” beloved of so many business plans), and they found it in the self-build market. “We focused on self build initially partly because it’s easier to install any home automation system as you build,” says Andy, “but also because self builders are, by their nature, up for a challenge, and interested in doing things differently.”
Taken together, they are also the biggest single builder in the UK, building 20,000 of the 260,000 homes built in the country each year, so not a bad market to break first, if you can do it. WebBrick Systems reach this market through the many trade shows during the year. “We do eight shows a year,” explains John, “and we back up the opportunities these provide with our accredited installer base.”
Installation nation
WebBrick’s installers act as a nationwide network of resellers, on whom the company relies not only to install and service their systems but also as a sales force. “They’re a major sales channel for us,” explains John, “they give us a reach that we simply couldn’t afford otherwise.” The very fact of having resellers forced the design of the WebBrick to change, however. Because most of their installers don’t have the right tools (or skills) to deal with the KK connectors (standard circuit board connectors) that were part of the original design, deciding on a reseller route to market meant the company had to redesign its product so that it could be installed with the tools and skills set the installers actually had.
“Installers don’t have even small screwdrivers, they have big screwdrivers, so we redesigned the WebBrick to suit them.”
But even with an established reseller network and a packed diary of trade shows creating demand, the business model and the installation tool kit still needs to evolve to ensure WebBrick Systems can scale it’s installer base across the UK and realise profitable revenues. “The installers need to be helped during an installation at the moment which is a cost we don’t want to have in the future,” says John. “Our goal for this year is to develop relationships with house builders, and run a few pilot schemes on multiple build developments.”
“Working with housing developers is where we can start to achieve economies of scale, and real profits,” says John. “The goal has always been to learn from the self build market, bring out new products as a result of their feedback and then go after the mass market.”
Coming soon, to a home near you.
BUILDING SUCCESS WITH THE HUB
“We’ve worked very closely with the Thames Valley Enterprise Hub,” says John. “What’s so useful about our relationship is that the Hub points you to opportunities. A good example is that our Hub Director, Ed Cooper, introduced us to Fairfax Homes because he had a personal contact there. It’s those types of contacts, and knowing organisations around the area that can help a small, young company develop.
He also directed us to FSE (Finance South East) and we took part in their Investment Readiness Programmes. We’ve also benefited a lot from the peer groups they run. They’re fantastic because you go and sit down with a whole bunch of other MDs, and we’re all talking about the same sorts of problems: not only is it very supportive, but you always learn something useful.”
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