Disruption is a buzzword thrown around by many companies who believe that new ways of doing business is tantamount to disruption, however this is not necessarily the case. 

The definition of disruption in the context of business is “radical change to an existing industry or market due to technological innovation”. What many believe to be disruption is simply innovation. In order for a new way of doing business to be classified as disruption a fundamental shift needs to take place and not simply an improvement.

When it comes to the real estate industry, it is very rare for such an established sector to be disrupted in a meaningful way. In 2008, Air BnB was launched in order to provide an alternate method of renting out accommodation. This is probably the closest thing to disruption that the real estate market has encountered in the last decade.

In 2021 AuctionInc launched a disruptive concept known as AuctionLease, the idea was to change the way that tenants and landlords transact by bidding for vacant office space via an online auction app. According to AuctionInc CEO Ari Ben “the launch of the AuctionLease concept was highly effective, we look forward to rolling this project out across South Africa over the coming year”.  If the early signs are anything to go by, this new way of transacting could be the silver bullet that the leasing industry needs to take it out of the slump that it finds itself in.