Ikenna Ordor’s lack of desire for the white collar or eight-to-five job led him to adopt the entrepreneurial lifestyle of his mother and abandon his school certificate. Today, he owns and heads Starr Luxury Cars, the Airbnb of luxury cars in London.
The UK luxury car hire company came to be after clients of his entertainment outfit began to request for luxury transportation and lifestyles. His ability to meet their demand gave birth to Starr Luxury Cars. The company offers various services including chauffeur-driven Lamborginis, helicopter rides over London, and meet and greets with F1 racers.
But just like Airbnb, an individual interested in luxury vehicles can hire any high-class brand for personal use and receive delivery few hours after. While similarities can also be drawn between Starr Luxury Cars and car-hailing company, Ordor’s company offers only luxury cars which are driven by the hailer themselves – The available options of luxury vehicles include Lamborgini, Bentley, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz.
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Ordor left Nigeria at the age of 14 with his mother. She had a great influence on his choice to become an entreprenuer. During an interview he had with Forbes, he said his mother didn’t graduate from the University, however, she found interest in buying and selling of properties. Her success pumped him up during his youth to rather embrace entrepreneurship than white collar job.
“I grew up in Nigeria, and when I was about 14 (years old) I moved over to the UK. My mum was a grafter; she bought houses and was always interested in buying and selling. I always emulated that–I’d go take trips to look for houses to purchase. I’d say my influences really came from watching my mum. She has come to be a very successful woman in her own right and she didn’t even go to school.” Ordor said.
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Speaking about the operating model of Starr Luxury Cars, the Nigerian said, “At the moment, we’re semi-automated, so our clients can go on the website and pay for a vehicle without having to speak to anyone, and we manually dispatch the vehicle.”
Why demand is increasing: One of the key driver of this luxury car hire is the growing list of people who prefer to be asset light in order not to deal with maintenance and other cost attached to owning properties like vehicles – and according to Ordor, the advancement of electric cars will increase the list.
“Lots of people have shifted away from holding assets, because it limits your versatility. We want to create more options for our clients. I believe that in the future, especially with the advancement of electric cars, a lot of these cars will be obsolete. It’s better to be asset light.” Ordor said.
Expansion move: The company is eyeing other locations around the world where people seek for fun and luxury lifestyle. Ordor said his sight is on Monaco, Geneva, Paris and Dubai, which are huge tourist spots, “We’re very international. Think about the hotspots – we need to be in every Tier 1 city. Monaco, Geneva, Paris, Dubai are huge tourist spots and we want you to have a better access to luxury cars there.”
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The company has already teamed up with partners like Julie Brangstrup of Cash and Rocket project, to offer fleet of red racing cars for selected female entrepreneurs, philanthropists and celebrities to drive; this partnership is also expected to raise money and awareness for charity.
Hope this is not another Obinwanne Okeke o…
??c’mon stop the troll pls