Naborforce says it has grown 300% each of the last two years — something that necessitated a move for more space this month. The Richmond senior services startup says it found the perfect location in Scott’s Addition.
“We were bursting at the seams [at 2308 W. Main St.], and our new space is much more collaborative,” Naborforce founder and CEO Paige Wilson said. “We were in a small home in the Fan before where every office was a small room. It was great and the perfect space for us when we moved out of Startup Virginia.”
At 6,000 square feet, the new space at 3015 W. Moore St. is three-times larger than Naborforce’s former office and is fully furnished. The transition was seamless, Wilson said. Her employees worked at The Fan location one day and the new location the next. The company provides a tech-based platform that links aging adults to a network of "nabors" for social companionship, engagement and on-demand support with errands, transportation, help around the house and other tasks.
The new location has some room to grow and a common area that offers the potential for community space. Wilson sees the possibility of renting out the space or holding community events.
Wilson sees a lot of benefits to Scott’s Addition. The area is home to restaurants, breweries and other forms of entertainment and will allow Naborforce to attract tech talent, Wilson said.
“We are a tech company, so from an employee standpoint, it is centrally located and a hip place,” Wilson said. “That is good from a recruiting standpoint.”
She added that the new space has an open floor plan, which she said helps employees work together better. About half the company’s 35 employees work in Richmond, including most of the corporate staff. Wilson said the company does have a few corporate employees who live outside Richmond.
“As a startup, you have to iterate quickly and there is nothing better than all being together,” Wilson said.
She said the company has had revenue and strong margins from its launch, but over the next few years it must become a profitable business. Naborforce is solving a real problem in connecting seniors with caregivers but must find a path to profitability, Wilson said.
“There is the difference of success as a product and success as a business,” she said. “You have to be able to grow it and scale it and ultimately be profitable.”
Naborforce was started after Wilson had a challenging time finding help for an elderly parent. The company operates in eight markets in four states — Richmond, Charlottesville, the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area and across Northern Virginia, Bethesda-Chevy Chase in Maryland, Atlanta, Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.
It first tested the model in Richmond and has worked over the last few years to bring on new markets. Wilson said Naborforce will always be a Richmond company, but it needs to learn to operate in other areas of the country.
“Our goal is to be a national brand,” Wilson said. “Richmond is profitable on a stand-alone basis. We have a couple of other markets that are moving in that direction. It takes a while in newer market to be profitable.”
