Today the company is working on expanding business operations to the Middle East in hopes of contributing to the reconstruction of the countries devastated by harsh conditions. What sets this company apart is their ability to provide unbeatable prices while maintaining a relatively quick delivery window in no later than 60 to 90 days.
Lebanon Times caught up with Revolution Precrafted Founder and CEO Robbie Antonio to discuss his company’s global expansion plans and his planned activities to increase the company footprint in the global prefab sector.
LT: In how many countries can Revolution Precrafted projects be found in?
RA: We have signed deals in 27 countries with over 40 projects. In certain countries, we have more than 1 project. We have total expected project revenue of about $8.7 billion from these projects. We need to supply north of 35,000 homes within the next few years.
LT: Are the houses and construction guaranteed?
RA: We have a warranty for structure and materials for the homes. This is very standard in the housing business. The home business is predominantly our biggest revenue segment, but we have other products as well that we actually provide, whether it is pop-up retail and more. We just recently launched verticals.
LT: Is the process of transporting houses easy? Do you have representatives of your company in any Middle East locations?
RA: Depending on where the order is coming from, houses are built in the same region or country. We have a network of fabricators all around the world. For this particular one, everything would probably come from our Dubai plant, where we have a network. They should be, in essence, permit-ready. We do not have a branch in Lebanon but we plan to open offices in major markets such as Lebanon. We also want to open regional offices, which would be one country per region. The UAE would be the regional location for the Middle East because it is very central, we have projects there, and it would make sense. The Philippines would be the location for Southeast Asia. For South America, I am looking at Brazil. For the United States, we are looking at California or New York. I am going to California soon to look at some offices as well. I am thinking of Paris or Spain for Europe, and South Africa for Africa. We are also looking to open small satellite offices if we are not present in a country, if we find a local partner that would be their obligation to do so.
LT: Is your construction cost cheaper than traditional construction methods?
RA: We like to say that we are faster and that we also match or beat the prices. Everyone is price sensitive and what we wanted to do is create a value proposition that was inherently different.
LT: Do you primarily contract with governments, individuals, or both?
RA: That is sort of the next goal. We do not have a B2G right now. It is mostly B2B and very B2C. We like to partner with developers. We have also sold exclusivity to countries in the Caribbean and South as well as Central America. Think of us being BMW or Mercedes-Benz opening dealerships and franchises. Why are we doing that? We feel that we cannot grow this fast just by ourselves. We are close to 1,000 people including all of our sales staff, but even that will not permit us to be everywhere. We are in 27 countries now but the goal is to be in 55 by next year. It is very, very hard for us to know everyone and every country. So many people have asked us, from the Philippines to Malaysia to Fiji to Maldives to Spain to many markets in South America and Africa regarding B2G. That is how we can add value to our technology since we can create affordable homes in an expedited manner. That is what we hope to do, sometimes though it gets very complicated though because it goes through a bidding process and we normally do not bid for projects. People know we meet the right price and our quality is solid.
LT: Mr. Antonio, will you visit Lebanon and the surrounding countries soon?
RA: I am planning to go to Lebanon and I am very much excited to see what Beirut’s potential would be. I have been all over the world but it would be my first time to Lebanon and we have several meetings planned there with top developers. I have some Lebanese friends and know many Lebanese businesspeople. This will be an interesting trip personally and professionally. We would like to offer exclusive dealerships and we are looking for strong Lebanese partners. We are going to look for who are the right partners, and so on and so forth…
LT: Are your designs pre-rendered? Or can the customer provide their own input into a construction’s design?
RA: We have over 50 SKU’s. Other companies have 5. Our goal is to essentially provide everyone with a good range from $12,000 to $500,000. We let them choose but in essence, certain countries or certain developers say that they already have a pre-existing design and we will consider that if the order is a decent size, especially if they have gone through permitting and then we customize that.
LT: Do you think that prefabricated designs are the future in construction? Will Revolution Precrafted change the face of the construction industry, as the company name states?
RA:I do not think it is the future. I think it is now. The market is growing. I work to deliver a designer house at an accessible price. The methodology is irrelevant to me. The final result of transporting or building the house onsite is what matters. It is a combination of strategies.
LT: Do you have any closing remarks regarding your company and its vision?
RA :I hope the company soon enters Beirut and I would like to meet some interesting businesspeople to work with. We also hope to be present in Texas soon. We are everywhere and we are happy to say that we are the only branded housing company in the world. We have big dreams to make the world smaller.