ANTONIE GOOSEN
Antonie knew from a very young age that he would be an entrepreneur . The plan when he enrolled at Stellenbosch University in 1999 was to start a business as soon as possible , and aside from the usual first year student distractions , he was keeping a keen eye out for opportunities and inspiration .
“ Luckily , it didn ’ t take long before that opportunity announced itself ,” recalls Antonie with a smile . “ Trying to find student accommodation to rent was a nightmare , I had to walk from rental agency to rental agency , they would give you a list of properties that might be available the next semester . I then had to contact the current tenants myself to go and look at the room , flat or apartment . It was time consuming , laborious , and horribly ineffective .”
Although the internet was still very new at the time , all the university students had access to it on the campus . Antonie saw a great business opportunity if he could use this burgeoning technology to provide a solution to the local student accommodation crisis .
“ During my first semester , I thought of starting a website where agencies could list the rental properties they have available , with photos and rental information on each unit . Students could make an educated decision as to which units they wanted to go and view .”
The concept was revolutionary at the time - almost like a Facebook for student rental accommodation instead of people , and five years before Zuckerberg had the idea . Antonie teamed up with a fellow student , enlisted a website developer , and by the end of 1999 they launched what became South Africa ’ s first website “ portal ” for student accommodation .
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine SEPTEMBER 2022 21