Introduction: Condo Disruption Series

If you think that disruption is only impacting taxi drivers and fast food workers, sorry folks, disruption is everywhere and that list includes changes that will impact the condo industry.

I recently worked for a ‘big-four’ accounting / consulting firm in Canada. As a casual outsider, you wouldn’t think they’d be a victim of “disruptive tendencies.” In the audit side of the accounting business, simple and time consuming tasks are being handled by folks in India for a fraction of what it would cost to pay a 25 year-old Canadian-based university grad. In the internal finance area, expenses are being monitored and patrolled by talent in Peru, and even graphic design for the marketing department (where I worked) was being handled by hipsters in Uruguay. Well, I imagine they were hipsters.

All this outsourcing, which was the hallmark for industries using call centres, has bled into other industries as technology evolved. And if you refuse to get with the outsourcing program, your demise is almost certainly assured. You won’t be price competitive. You won’t win new contracts. And that makes being successful pretty difficult.

I’m now happily settling into my life in the condo industry. And you know what I don’t see much of? I see very little adaptation to the Uber of things and other disruptive changes in our world. The times are changing quickly and I don’t believe most of the current players in the condo industry are keeping up the pace--at least not fast enough.

Over a series of articles I’m going to explore disruption in the Condo Industry. I’m going to talk to service providers, digital experts and those helping to lead the disruption charge. If a big four accounting firm with 225,000 staff globally is forced to pivot due to current disruption trends, so are businesses focused on the condo market and the condos themselves.

For the condo market, it’s not about outsourcing labour to overseas markets. It’s about welcoming the technology that replaces people and allows us to live the modern lifestyle. Industry leaders will bring in the updated infrastructure that meets the expectation of future (or current) buyers and owners. And they’ll be thinking about what policies and updates are best for your condo community as people wrap their heads around the person who bought the Tesla and now needs to plug it in.

Interested in discussing how your company or condo is adapting? Email me at stephen@condohive.ca