A Cincinnati home services startup is expanding its footprint in Ohio, a move that follows faster-than-expected growth in 2021 as the company fills what the founders see as a massive market need.
Oakley-based Homestretch, headed by entrepreneurs Derek Shewmon and Nick Lobert, alums of the startup darling Everything but the House, expanded into the Columbus market in mid-August, its first extension outside Greater Cincinnati, and one that could accelerate its growth in the near future. The 2-year-old company serves as a one-stop shop for homeowners and real estate agents looking to prep a home for sale.
Services include painting, landscaping, deep cleaning, home clear outs, carpet and flooring and more. The company essentially picks up where ETBH, an online estate auction company, leaves off — it issues job quotes within 24 hours and typically starts work within three to five days. Before, the process could involve as many as 15 phone calls to various vendors.
Homes with said improvements, Shewmon and Lobert say, also sell faster and for more. Its average final sales price is $436,000.
“In this business, for whatever reason, there’s a dark cloud over what we do sometimes,” Lobert said. “For us, it’s been about answering the phone and showing up and providing a quote quickly. It’s doing a good job. The clients like that and so do the agents because they want the house listed as quickly as possible."
Since the start, Lobert and Shewmon have been intentional about growth, targeting certain metrics before considering expansion. That’s happened in a shorter timeframe than expected.
In January, Homestretch was averaging 17 jobs a month. It’s now hovering at over 40. Earlier this year, Lobert and Shewmon said the company was on pace to exceed $1 million in annual revenue by spring. That happened in April. Its end-of-year estimates are now around $1.8 million.
“We didn’t think we’d be anywhere close to that in our second year of existence,” Shewmon said. “It’s stretched our team pretty tight but has allowed us to put in processes to scale and continue to deliver quality services, which is the most important thing to us.”
The team is now 18 strong, including two recent hires in Columbus. With its entry into that market, Homestretch has added a warehouse in Gahanna, located eight miles east of downtown. Lobert said the company will focus on areas like Dublin, Upper Arlington and Worthington, or suburbs where long-time homeowners are more likely to need upgrades.
Homestretch officially launched in Ohio’s capital city Aug. 18. It landed its first client two days later.
“I feel like the growth is probably going to be faster in Columbus than in Cincinnati, because we know how to do it more quickly, more efficiently, how to generate leads,” Lobert said.
As far as what markets might be next, it’s too early to tell. Lobert and Shewmon want to get Columbus in the black; if that’s successful, the company could accelerate its move into other cities in the Midwest.
“We never wanted to have just a Cincinnati company,” Shewmon said. “Given the numbers and feedback from clients, we knew we were onto something that really tapped into a need. We feel confident that if the playbook we’ve developed and this training and technology can be replicated, we can get more aggressive with our expansion from here.”
