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Remember flicking through the Yellow Pages to find a plumber, electrician, locksmith or handyman? Or phoning a friend for a recommendation. Or, more lately, trawling the internet?
The requirement for quick and reliable home repair services is often met with frustrating searches, lengthy waiting times, poor workmanship and, to add insult to injury, a nasty shock when a hefty bill is presented.
Tackling the home services industry is getTOD, a smartphone app that addresses homeowners’ needs for on-demand home services. Much like Uber, the getTOD (get Tasks On Demand) app is one that allows users to seamlessly connect with vetted service providers like plumbers, electricians and locksmiths using location-based tracking and supplier availability in real time.
“Our main objectives are simple. We are trying to provide safety, security and reliability around the notoriously unreliable home repair service industry,” says Bradley Elliott, managing director of Platinum Seed, developer of the app.
While other home services apps do exist, they often only operate as service directory apps. getTOD on the other hand offers a truly on-demand, immediate service.
“The app works exactly like Uber. When you request a provider, you are doing so immediately and suppliers are available to do your job immediately. In the unlikely event suppliers aren’t available, we are immediately notified and endeavour to get one online within 10 minutes,” Elliott tells finweek.
The app is not only setting new benchmarks for service delivery, but also for pricing. To prevent irregular pricing, the company has regulated pricing by setting per-hour rates. Neither cheap nor pricey “it’s somewhere in the middle”, says Elliott, citing around R650 an hour – depending on the city – for an electrician, with payments made via the app linked to a credit card.
A 48-hour guarantee of workmanship is afforded directly through the app apart from the longer-term workmanship insurance provided by the bulk of the app’s suppliers. All suppliers are subjected to strict vetting criteria including criminal background checks. Standards are maintained through user ratings. If supplier ratings fall below a specified percentage they are removed from the system.
getTOD cost nearly R1m and one year to develop and is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Daniel Marcus, Shannon Mackrill and Grant Bergman who approached Elliott to develop the app. Funded by the four, with additional equity raised from a private UK-based investor who holds a 3% share in the app, the four entrepreneurs hold the remaining shares equally.
Launched in the Western Cape in April, getTOD already boasts 3 000 downloads and 1 000 users, and has over 75 service providers.
There’s a lot more to come according to Elliott. On 1 July getTOD became available in Gauteng, where 75 providers have already been secured. The Gauteng launch included an additional offering for handyman services.
Two more service offerings – a courier service and towing service – roll out end July. “We plan to align with the insurance industry, bringing on towing providers that are approved by a large number of insurers,” he says.
Elliott says the aim is for the app to cover most of the major metros by September, and he says they have the ability to quickly scale provider numbers to upwards of 15 000 through relationships they are currently finalising.
Aspirations for getTOD are not only local. “We want to be known as having a big global presence, with local roots, and are looking to add value and convenience to people’s lives both locally and globally through technology,” explains Elliott.
A measure of success locally would suggest that the app would gain good traction in more mature markets like the high-density metro areas of New York and London, says Elliott. Given that one of the partners and private investors are UK-based, London, he says, is the next port of call if local numbers stack up.
“The goal is to launch in London by year-end or latest the beginning of next year,” he says. The US, Australia and Europe are also on the cards.
The strength of the app will lie in its suppliers providing quick, safe and reliable home repair services. It’s a technology medium that anyone with an Android or iPhone smartphone and credit card would be able to make use of.
This article originally appeared in the 7 July edition of finweek. Buy and download the magazine here.
