Austin Allison began selling real estate in high school, and by 24, anticipated a technological need in his business that soon could pay big dividends.
Allison, CEO and co-founder of DotLoop, launched a software product that takes the real estate transaction process online. The Blue Ash-based company's namesake software was developed by Allison and tech expert Matt Vorst, another Cincinnati area entrepreneur and another company co-founder.
DotLoop is an online, collaborative transaction environment for brokers, realtors, buyers and sellers. Among its features is utilizing electronic signatures and storing and making easily available documents in a secure space. It's designed to eliminate mounds of paperwork, be user friendly and simple for everyone to use.
"Why hasn't anyone done this yet? I don't know. I'm glad they haven't. My guess is nobody has yet been able to do it right. You can't say the money isn't there," said Allison about the product.
The company was launched in 2008 with four people; today the company employs 20. After a short time in Beta, the company launched the software at the National Association of Realtors Convention in San Diego. Back then, Allison projected $500,000 in revenues for 2010. But this spring he revised those revenues slightly upward -- from $2 million to $5 million.
"We are the iPhone of real estate. The differentiator with DotLoop is our collaborative environment, merging three web commerce disciplines into one service: online forms, transaction management and electronic signatures," Vorst said.
DotLoop has 500 registered agents and contracts with more than 30 brokerage firms.
Source: Austin Allison, CEO and co-founder of DotLoop.com
Writer: Feoshia Henderson