We’ve all had accidents in our life, whether it be spilling milk, breaking a vase or stumbling across an idea for a successful and rapidly growing small business. That’s what Drew Mitchell, Portage businessman and co-founder of Rent Like a Champion did when he went back to Norte Dame for his business degree. Mitchell was in need of housing, and all of the apartments were taken up, so he bought a house off campus.
It sounds like a normal alternative, but there was something Mitchell noticed- the houses were ridiculously cheap. So like any college student would do, he bought four of them to rent out, but soon realized students planned housing arrangements months in advance.
“That’s kinda where it started and then ya know going into the school year, [if] there were vacancies we put it [the house] on eBay. At that point in time, we looked at it as a backup avenue,” Mitchell said. “[We] opened up to third party groups and it [the idea] really took off.”
What started as a seemingly easy way to rack up spending cash turned into a serious business venture. Mitchell bought homes, and would rent them on big, college games days. The idea seemed simple enough but led to an even bigger idea.
“People kept calling [about Mitchell’s eBay listing, and inquiring if they too could rent their home],” Mitchell said.
But mixing rowdy college football fans, with a stranger’s home seems like a disaster. But that’s where Rent Like a Champion took off.
“We opened up to third party groups and it really took off. Expanding outside of South Bend, Mike Doyle [CEO of RLAC] took [the] concept to Penn State, and did extraordinarily well,” Mitchell said. “[We] picked up by homeowners and renters.”
By expanding their business to third-party groups, Mitchell was able to capture the basis of RLAC today. Now, every small company needs an opportunity to grow, not only does the company need financial backing- it needs to become a household name. Shark Tank is a show that allows small business owners to pitch their ideas to big business tycoons. If the “sharks” like the business owner’s pitch, they have a chance of receiving financial backing and tried and true advice.
“The whole Shark Tank idea [was] viewed as an opportunity to get a lot of people [to get to know RLAC]. [RLAC had] challenges developing a brand and name recognition. [We are] asking people to open up their home, which for a lot of people is their biggest asset,” Mitchell said.
“The second part [is the] tremendous value that the sharks bring to the company- what’s really valuable to us is their advice.”
Mitchell and Doyle took their pitch to Shark Tank and ended up coming out as champions. They received backing from Mark Cuban and Chris Sacca. Who have offered not only financial backing but advice on how to expand the company.
“It’s exhilarating [being on Shark Tank] I mean to begin with we had practiced enough with people who weren’t familiar with our company. They were throwing tough questions,” Mitchell said. “I loved it. It’s not about the money, it’s about the comradery. They’re great guys I really do feel like I hit the lottery with them, and they come from really different backgrounds where Cuban is a sports guy, scaling companies and owns an NBA team. Sacca was a Google executive, and a former attorney [he has a] very much business-minded approach. [They] bring different things to the table, but seem to work well together on our business. [We’re] thrilled with how acceptable they’ve been, [they] return emails quickly, and answer [our] phone calls.”
Since winning over Cuban, and Sacca the company has grown immensely, and they plan to continue their growth as they enter 2016.
“We expect the real big pickup to really come in 12 months as we move into the 2016 football season. We’ve had 20% increase in the number of homes on our website. We’re sitting in people’s living rooms and explaining how it works,” Mitchell said. “[We] signed a cool deal with ESPN [and] their program [that] goes [to] college towns to get homes with all of their newscasters, producers, etc. to house them when they follow big college games. [It’s a] big deal. We’re having the time of our life, [our] homeowners [are] so proud of us. [It’s a] big deal for a company coming out of Northwest Indiana.”