Small business: Whoosh! Vacuum Elevators raise the odds of keeping elderly in their own homes

Pablo and Maria Brizio, founders of Vacuum Elevators in New Zealand.

A migrant couple from Argentina, Pablo and Maria Brizio have developed their passion for helping people to have a better quality of life into their business Vacuum Elevators.

The residential elevators, which use ‘green’ technology, give the elderly and disabled a chance to remain in their own homes with minimal fuss moving up and down floor levels. Pablo talks to the Herald about the couple’s journey to starting the business and the challenges they’ve faced.

What is Vacuum Elevators?

Vacuum Elevators are revolutionary “green” technology applied to residential elevators and changing peoples’ lifestyles. Or as we like to say, an environmentally friendly solution to vertical transportation in houses.

They have several advantages over traditional lifts, such as being powered by air- so there’s minimal energy consumption and minimal maintenance too.

With 360 degree visibility without cables or pistons that block vision, as well as absolute safety, such as in the event of a power failure, the vacuum elevator cab automatically descends to the lowest level and opens the door.

The other main benefit for our customers is the lifts can be retrofitted in existing houses without major requirements or disruptions.

What motivated you to start the business in New Zealand?

I was looking for another revenue stream to make a better life for me and my young family in New Zealand, so I started researching products that interested me. My sister is an architect and at the time she had a customer back in Argentina who installed a vacuum elevator. She spoke so highly about the product to me that I realised right then that’s what I could bring to New Zealand.

It also helps that I genuinely admire the concept and appeal of these elevators. It motivates me that it helps people to have a better quality of life without having to move out of their own homes.

What were you doing before Vacuum Elevators?

I was, and still am, a qualified biomedical engineer with a master’s degree in biomedical engineering at AUT University.

My job involves ensuring surgical and medical equipment is safe and fit for purpose before entering the market. In the early days I incorporated my passion for operating the Vacuum Elevators business after hours while still dabbling in my biomedical engineering day job.

How do the elevators work and where do you source them or their parts from?

The elevator cabins sit inside a vertical cylinder.

When the turbines remove air from the top of the cylinder, creating a vacuum, the cabin goes up and it locks on the upper floor.

To descend, the cabin unlocks and a valve opens up at the top allowing air to come in, so the cabin gradually lowers.

Vacuum elevators are manufactured in the United States, South America and Europe factories. Being a proud Argentinean we bring them in from South America.

How big is your team?

Just myself and my wife Maria with two other workers/contractors, Kevin and James.

Pablo and Maria Brizio inside one of their vacuum elevators.

How have you funded the business to date?

We started very small (just me and Maria) and it was pretty tough to keep things going. I was the marketing, installation and maintenance guy for quite a while.

Maria and I had small children then, but we believed so much in what we were trying to do that in the early years I supplemented the Vacuum Elevators business with my income from my day job as a biomedical engineer.

How much has the business grown since you started and what are your growth plans?

After starting from nothing we’re proud to say we now have a growing customer base in New Zealand with dozens of very satisfied customers from Auckland to Queenstown.

We also have the exclusivity to sell these products in New Zealand.

We now also have solid partnerships with our installers and contractors. Word of mouth has been our biggest champion for the business and that’s because these elevators make such a big difference to the lives of our customers.

Many customers have lived in their homes for 40-plus years and the relief and joy they get from this simple technology that allows them to stay in their own homes means they want to share what they’ve benefited from with friends and family, and it snowballs from there.

Maria and Pablo have developed their passion for helping people to have a better quality of life into a business.

What have been your biggest challenges in business?

Placing the first sale was a real challenge. It took a long time with no revenue coming in and with a limited marketing budget to get our message out there.

It was very frustrating, and challenging from a bottom-line perspective, because we knew we had a great product that many people wanted and needed but they didn’t know what or who we were.

What have been your highlights in business so far?

The relationship with our customers. Being a very small business we have a pretty personal connection with customers and their satisfaction brings us a great deal of pride.

It’s also very satisfying knowing – given what we’ve come from and the tough early days we experienced - that with persistence and making personal sacrifices, little businesses can find their feet and start to grow.

What’s your advice for other budding entrepreneurs?

Think long-term and don’t be put off by the short-term challenges. For example, the challenges we talked about with marketing and getting our message out there, we’ve now realised the benefits of engaging a digital marketing business which is extremely cost-effective and relatively low risk but with potential excellent benefits and returns.