Multi-service start-ups such as UrbanClap and Housejoy seek immense growth in a highly evolving market
Leaving no stone unturned in servicing customers, a string of multi-service start-ups are attempting to carve a space for themselves in an environment that rides high on volatility and shutdowns. Offering every service, from event organisation, catering, wedding planning, to cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, and even hairstyling and spa; these start-ups are riding on their ‘all-round’ models to entice busy professionals on the lookout for varied services under one roof.
Entrepreneurs feel their businesses hold immense potential as customers often go in for repeat requests for a range of services.
Debadutta Upadhyaya, co-founder, Timesaverz.com, says “Multiple services not only makes us a one-stop destination but gets in repeat orders, which is a critical business metric as we scale up.”
Timesaverz.com is looking for growth and expansion in the coming months. “In the last reported financial year, our revenues grew multifold over the previous year. The growth has been driven by repeats and the B2B segment, both of which continue to be our levers going forward, says Upadhyaya.
Housejoy, another start-up in the space, serviced 1.2 million requests in the last 12 months. According to CEO Saran Chatterjee, Housejoy is already seeing $20 million of service demand annually on the platform. “We are going deeper into the cities that we operate in. We aim to serve 50,000 households per day by March 2019,” says Chatterjee, adding the venture has witnessed a growth rate of 40% in the last few months.
Another player in the fray, OTJ247.com has seen its business grow by 15-20% year-on-year, according to founder & CEO, Major Prashant Rai.
UrbanClap, on the other hand, saw 15-20% growth in overall revenues over the last year. Co-founder Varun Khaitan says last year UrbanClap was receiving 4,000 service requests a day, and that number has now grown to 10,000 per day.
“To grow further, we will focus on marketing partnerships, influencer marketing and word-of-mouth,” says Khaitan.
But despite the potential and growth, challenges continue to exist. From ensuring timely delivery of quality services to dealing with manpower issues, the challenges seem to equal the opportunities.
Building a brand and customers trust requires reliable and quality services and having a stellar service recovery flow in the event of a complaint, says Chatterjee from Housejoy. “To ensure timeliness, we track our experts through GPS and cell tower triangulation technology after assigning the job.”
According to UrbanClap’s Khaitan, consistency in experience can be a challenge as every job is delivered by a different individual. “We have training centres to beat this challenge. Another challenge is the demand exceeding supply. We try to mitigate this by using data to study demand patterns and pumping supply wherever necessary.”
Upadhyaya of Timesaverz.com says home services are heavy on tech automation that capture the arrival time of the service partner to the rating received for the completed task, “thereby helping in maintaining quality through active feedback.”
...& ANALYSIS
- Entrepreneurs feel their businesses hold immense potential as customers often go in for repeat requests for a range of services
- From ensuring timely delivery of quality services, to dealing with manpower issues, the challenges seem to equal the opportunities
- Building a brand and customers trust requires reliable and quality services and having a stellar service recovery flow in the event of a complaint
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