Asthana, one of the three co-founders of labouradda, an app that connects labour to potential customers, took his idea to icreate and found mentoring and financial support there
An idea can strike you in the most unusual places. When Indu Bhushan Asthana went to the labour mandi in Lucknow in 2016 to look for some labourers for some Diwali work, little did he know that he would return with an idea that would give birth to a start up a year later.
Asthana, one of the three co-founders of labouradda, an app that connects labour to potential customers, took his idea to icreate and found mentoring and financial support there.
icreate (International Centre of Entrepreneurship and Technology, that promotes entrepreneurship, innovation and technology handholds startups from all around the country with little to no experience on how to run their businesses, by offering various aids such as funding, mentorship, market access and physical infrastructure.
"That day at the labourmandi, it occured to me if a cab and other service can be available via an app, why can't the same be done for labour," said Asthana.
Together with Siddharth Asthana and Vibhuti Mohan, two of the other co-founders, Asthana launched labouradda. "The service that began full fledged in April 2018 this year in Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh has 2000 labourers registered with them. We have had over 1000 downloads and over 500 customers have used our service to get in touch with labour so far," said Asthana.
"We decided to launch our product in the biggest labour market of India and so UP was the obvious choice. But the trial run for it was first done in Ahmedabad. At that time we found that language and trust were two important roadblocks," said Asthana. He said the app now provides only aadhar card holding labour force. "This acts as a proof of identity," said Asthana.
The service involves labourers paying a monthly fee of Rs 150 for ensuring that their number is registered with the service. "Anyone who needs a labourers makes use of our app or calls us and puts up a request. We locate all the the nearest labourers available and send them the number of the customer. The customer and labourers get in touch with each other and decide the rate," said Asthana.
When asked wouldn't it be expensive for the labourers to pay a Rs 150 monthly fee, he said they have to anyway pay at least Rs50 to the labour contractor for every contract he gets them. "This actually turns out cheaper for them. We also provide coupons that are available at paan shops and close to labour mandis to help them pay their monthly fee. It works like the recharge coupons," said Asthana. The service will soon be launched in 10 other cities.
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