Finding a reliable plumber who can fix that leaking faucet, electrician & technicians who can fix electrical appliances in a jiffy or service that airconditioner has never been an easy task. Most of us have dealt with the occasional plumber or technician who purposely over charges and tries to get you for every penny that he or she can. But where there’s despair, there’s a business idea. Home maintenance, household repairs and allied services are the latest thriving businesses online. Websites like Easyfix, etechies.in, CleanSweep, KeentoClean, Serviceuncle , among others are hoping to give users the otherwise unorganised services on one platform.
Take Easyfix for example. The site provides solutions for all sorts of household repairs — ranging from plumber, electrician and carpenter at the press of a button. One can book the services either online or through a call centre. An individual just needs to give the convenient date and time to avail of the services. There is a minimum charge of Rs 100 for the services plus Rs 30 as booking charge. Shaifali Aggarwal, Founder & CEO of Easy Fix Handy Solutions says, “We have fixed our rates keeping in mind the market trends. Our charges are as close to the rates by the unorganised players as possible.” The service is available throughout the week from 9 am to 9 pm and technicians are sent to fix the job at a time convenient to the customer. Though EasyFix is currently available to users in Delhi-NCR, the company plans to extend its service to Mumbai in the coming financial year.
The portal, which competes with the unorganised sector, stands a better chance against them, according to Aggarwal. She reasons, “We offer better services, in terms of sticking to our commitment to time. Also, we are safer, especially for single women in the city, since all our technicians are verified by police.”
Ahmedabad-based SmartService, too, has impressed customers like Parekshit Kumar, who used the website to book a house cleaning and electrical appliance maintenance service. “I first booked a relatively cheaper and safe service like cleaning the house, carpets, etc and when I found the service staff was very efficient, I tried their electrical service too. Even routine electrical jobs like repairing of refrigerator, air conditions, air cooler, washing machines and other home appliances is undertaken by SmartService,” says Kumar.
Sites like Etechies.in, an online technical support and repair service for desktops, laptops, printers and other digital devices, allows users in Delhi-NCR and Bangalore to book its services online, and soon will expand to Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad. Etechies also offers remote servicing option where a computer or a laptop can be controlled through a remote device online and problem resolved. The payment for these services that range from Rs 500-1500 has to be done online and is accessible pan-India. “We have around 2000 active customers. There is a huge opportunity in this market as there are no organised players. We are also looking at tier 2 and tier 3 cities in the next stage, as most of them do not have access to even the basic computer repair services,” explains Siddharth Bhatia, COO & Founder of etechies.in. The business model is simple. Bhatia’s company charges a fixed rate for different types of services and if there’s a product that needs to be replaced, standard charges are taken over and above the service charge. There is also a facility of annual services in etechies.in, which if availed of, offers unlimited services throughout the year.
Going a step ahead, as value addition to these services, there are portals like serviceuncle.com.au that help identify service providers for home maintenance, repairs and other service needs. One needs to fill the form available on the website and the site connects them to the service providers in the area. There is also a section where users can see video uploads of service providers on their kind of offerings. The company will soon launch an iPad and Android app to connect with the mobile consumers. Rajesh Nagpal, managing director — Service Uncle informs that this site is intended for people new to a city or region.
| Name | Popular service |
Price (Rs)
More From This Section
Market price (Rs)
Time taken to address issue
(water blockage repair)
Annual servicing
2,700-3,500
1,500-3,500
2 hours
Trying to get into this market are players like warrantify.com that help users digitise and manage household bills and warranties. One just needs to download Warritify’s application onto their hand-held device and then click a picture of the concerned warranty. Not only does the paper-based receipt get digitised, but also regular alerts on warranty expiry is sent to users. The company is trying to work with third parties to offer services to extend user warranty automatically.