When entrepreneur Iuri Lenzi founded Zinz in January 2020, he certainly did not expect that three months later, a pandemic (COVID-19) would spread across the planet and trigger an alert signal in businesses. Because the company, currently a platform that makes life easier for franchisees in carrying out works and renovations, not only overcame this period of global turbulence but also reaches four years of growth.
"We should close 2024 with more than R$ 6 million in projects," says the founder and CEO of Zinz. This amount represents one-third (33.3%) more than the amount recorded in 2023, approximately R$ 4.5 million, and more than eight times the value of 2022 (R$ 700 thousand). "And remember that, in the first year, we hardly made any revenue," he recalls. In 2021, still facing many difficulties, it was not until 2022 that the decision to focus the platform on the franchise segment gave Zinz a new boost.
Today, Zinz operates as a marketplace that connects franchisees with service providers for the execution of store construction and renovation projects. The focus is on medium-sized projects. We handle the entire project from start to finish, from budgeting to final payment. Payments are made to the service provider only after the services are approved by the client himself," explains Lenzi (check the step-by-step in the box at the end of this article).
In this operation mediated by Zinz, in addition to the franchised retailers, who are the platform's clients, other actors include the franchising companies and the service providers for construction and renovations. The franchisors (or "finders") use the platform as a referral to franchisees so that they can estimate and hire the work. Service providers are already working by quoting budgets at Zinz to meet the requests of franchisees.
Zinz’s CEO explains: “The franchisor does not pay anything to Zinz. Our company is paid a commission on the service provider’s sales. The franchisee also has no usage costs. In addition, the company uses Zinz as a competitive advantage, in addition to using it to manage its franchisees’ construction projects – so they know exactly the status of the project, remotely. Service providers have their profile on the Zinz platform and can receive customer reviews as they carry out projects.”
As an indicator of the business's viability and sustainability, Zinz works with the calculation that the franchise market has 4,000 brands, with around 3,800 of them being brick-and-mortar stores. That is, establishments that require construction and renovations to meet the architectural standards and visual identity established by the franchisors. "And the trend is that the franchise market will continue to expand," projects the CEO.
Furthermore, it is estimated that on average, these franchises open five other stores per year, totaling a market of 19,000 new stores annually. "Some grow, others do not, but a conservative estimate points to this number," he notes, reiterating that these expansions therefore require new works.
Therefore, the company works with a bold goal: to reach 2030 with 1 million square meters renovated through the platform's mediation. Currently, this number is 10,500 square meters.
What does Zinz do – and how?Check out the step-by-step guide, 100% digital:
- The customer accesses the Zinz website and requests a quote, sending the architectural design of their store.
- Zinz prepares a reference quote for the client, informing them how much, on average, it will cost to carry out this renovation.
- With the client's approval, Zinz asks service providers to prepare a quote.
- On the Zinz platform, construction companies can submit their quotes. The client (franchisee) will have access to a comparison of each proposal.
- The client chooses the construction company or contractor they wish to hire.
- The customer selects the payment method and deposits that amount on the platform.
- Zinz passes on the amounts to the contracted provider – this only happens when the client approves the services performed by the provider.
