Exec (YC W12) launches cleaning service in 4 new markets around the U.S.(venturebeat.com)
venturebeat.com
Exec (YC W12) launches cleaning service in 4 new markets around the U.S.
http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/13/exec-cleaning-service-expansion-pack/
4 comments
> "Unless that appointment can be made 10 minutes in advance and done perfectly by robots I don't see the competitive advantage."
Have you recently tried to book cleaning? I had to do it for my place in Brooklyn and it probably took a couple hours of research plus multiple phone calls to book times. There is a lot to be said for taking something this annoying and making it easy.
Look at Stripe for example. They didn't revolutionize anything about how payments work, they just took an extremely painful and annoying process and made it easy.
Have you recently tried to book cleaning? I had to do it for my place in Brooklyn and it probably took a couple hours of research plus multiple phone calls to book times. There is a lot to be said for taking something this annoying and making it easy.
Look at Stripe for example. They didn't revolutionize anything about how payments work, they just took an extremely painful and annoying process and made it easy.
Exec makes scheduling an appointment easy. The problem you've described sounds more like "trying to find the right service."
The only way Exec would solve the problem you describe is if it tapped into all local maid service's schedules and helped fill in un-scheduled times at pre-approved services. This makes sense, as its classic "middleman" American entrepreneurial spirit. OTOH, I can't imagine cleaning-service agency is a big enough problem to automate, but maybe it is. Either way, it sounds like Exec is hiring their own cleaning teams or I'd imagine they'd have larger local coverage areas (per other people's comments on this thread).
With Exec positioning themselves as "a super easy cleaning service", they make the "hours of research" harder, not easier. So really, they are only saving you 10 minutes on the phone call.
The only way Exec would solve the problem you describe is if it tapped into all local maid service's schedules and helped fill in un-scheduled times at pre-approved services. This makes sense, as its classic "middleman" American entrepreneurial spirit. OTOH, I can't imagine cleaning-service agency is a big enough problem to automate, but maybe it is. Either way, it sounds like Exec is hiring their own cleaning teams or I'd imagine they'd have larger local coverage areas (per other people's comments on this thread).
With Exec positioning themselves as "a super easy cleaning service", they make the "hours of research" harder, not easier. So really, they are only saving you 10 minutes on the phone call.
Exec has a sizable advantage over traditional brick and mortar cleaning businesses - it's painless and fast. You don't have to pick up a phone, describe your needs to someone on the other end, go back and forth on a time, etc etc.
It's also easy for someone who wants a one-off cleaning service, as opposed to set up a regular thing.
There is money to be made in making a crappy experience pleasant (see: the entirety of Apple).
That being said, Exec is not the only player in this business. I've used TaskRabbit before for cleaning and I don't think I'll be budging any time soon: reputation scores and reviews for each worker, the ability to leave feedback, and the ability to negotiate/bid on pricing makes it both cheaper and safer.
The ability to create a regular gig with a specific person also means that you can get the same person week after week, rather than Anonymous Random. I simply do not see how Exec is better.
It's also easy for someone who wants a one-off cleaning service, as opposed to set up a regular thing.
There is money to be made in making a crappy experience pleasant (see: the entirety of Apple).
That being said, Exec is not the only player in this business. I've used TaskRabbit before for cleaning and I don't think I'll be budging any time soon: reputation scores and reviews for each worker, the ability to leave feedback, and the ability to negotiate/bid on pricing makes it both cheaper and safer.
The ability to create a regular gig with a specific person also means that you can get the same person week after week, rather than Anonymous Random. I simply do not see how Exec is better.
Agreed on all points. However, I do think you are over-estimating the value of online service booking. Any existing maid service that already has the customer base and cleaning teams could hire a web developer to make a booking function for their Wordpress site.
Stripe is different because it handles REAL pain (charging credit cards, billing, developing and distributing low cost POS hardware).
Stripe is different because it handles REAL pain (charging credit cards, billing, developing and distributing low cost POS hardware).
> "Any existing maid service that already has the customer base and cleaning teams could hire a web developer to make a booking function for their Wordpress site."
The internet has been mainstream 15+ years now, and these services still aren't online, despite pressure existing to do so.
Say Exec takes off in a huge way and the brick and mortar maid services are forced to adapt - building a half-decent web experience is non-trivial. It sounds easy for us, because this is what we do, and for the most part we operate on a very high level. The demographics of this website work on the absolute tippy-top end websites - what is a weekend project for us is like moving heaven and earth for an old, tech-illiterate business.
Uber is eating taxi companies for lunch in some cities right now, and there have been attempts to do mobile dispatch on their part, but every time they do it the results are ludicrously awful.
The internet has been mainstream 15+ years now, and these services still aren't online, despite pressure existing to do so.
Say Exec takes off in a huge way and the brick and mortar maid services are forced to adapt - building a half-decent web experience is non-trivial. It sounds easy for us, because this is what we do, and for the most part we operate on a very high level. The demographics of this website work on the absolute tippy-top end websites - what is a weekend project for us is like moving heaven and earth for an old, tech-illiterate business.
Uber is eating taxi companies for lunch in some cities right now, and there have been attempts to do mobile dispatch on their part, but every time they do it the results are ludicrously awful.
I can't even really disagree with anything you said. I guess to me the rub is - can this service disruption be enough to grab enough of the existing marketshare to be relevant? Another way to think about it is, it still can't be valued at more than a national maid service francise with slightly better margins and lower buy-in.
Says they include Chicago but apparently that means downtown only, as they claim they have nothing for my zip and I'm on the northwest side.
To provide anecdotal support, I live on the northwest side of Chicago (Zip: 60647) and they did have results. Not a lot, but some opening dates for the next few weeks.
Ah, that's comforting. So many times these types of services launch in X city and really, they mean just the 10 square blocks of downtown in X city.
What zipcode? I can check and see if we have included it.
60656.
Hey Tim, sorry about that. You're right, unfortunately we don't have teams out that far yet. Will definitely let you know when we do though. Sorry again for the trouble here.
"that far yet"
This is exactly what I mean. "Chicago" can mean very different things to people who live in Chicago and Chicagoland. Chicago to me means 1) the city of Chicago (which I live in) and 2) Chicagoland (which actually encompasses about a 60 mile radius of downtown Chicago, including suburbs all the way up to the Wisconsin border, down to the Indiana border, and far west of the city proper).
Telling me you launched in "Chicago" and then telling me that you don't have anybody a mere 12 miles from the proper center point of downtown Chicago is a bit misleading in my eyes.
This is exactly what I mean. "Chicago" can mean very different things to people who live in Chicago and Chicagoland. Chicago to me means 1) the city of Chicago (which I live in) and 2) Chicagoland (which actually encompasses about a 60 mile radius of downtown Chicago, including suburbs all the way up to the Wisconsin border, down to the Indiana border, and far west of the city proper).
Telling me you launched in "Chicago" and then telling me that you don't have anybody a mere 12 miles from the proper center point of downtown Chicago is a bit misleading in my eyes.
In Los Angeles, their rate is right about 200% of what I pay today to clean a 2 bed/2 bath. I'd really want to try this, but it's tough to justify THAT much of an increase.
Edit: Maybe that's why there is a 200% guarantee? Oh, and I notice there are two people, not one, but ultimately if the end product is the same…?
Edit: Maybe that's why there is a 200% guarantee? Oh, and I notice there are two people, not one, but ultimately if the end product is the same…?
First off, a clean apartment at the end of the day is a clean apartment. Meaning, they can't really charge more than the rest of the maid industry. So that sets an upper bound on price.
Then, maids aren't going to work for dogshit simply because the appointment was made online - so theres a lower bound to what you can pay a good maid.
The software supposedly automates the match making, scheduling, and coordinating (billing, etc), which really just helps increase the margins on what is otherwise a national cleaning service.
Now, it seems like the Exec execs and investors believe that "once they have it figured out" they can essentially add a city for free with minimal additional capital expense and almost no operational expense. Yay! Sounds like we have a national brand with crazy margins! If we just get 1% of the maid industry we will be set!
Problem is, those "margins" only pay off if you get the business. Unless the maids do a better job, or dance for you, there's a good chance if you have a maid service already scheduled there's little incentive to take the risk to try a new service. For Exec, if the cleaning service is the same (the innovation doesn't seem to be advertised as the cleaning aspect of the service) the only other value proposition for the business is ease of scheduling a cleaning visit (anyone can build a "reserve now!" function on their maid service company website), or price. Considering the first anyone can do, the second starts to eat into those investor-attracting margins.
The only way to not budge on the margins is to build a brand, which takes a lot of money. Who cares if your margins are 20% higher than industry average when you are burning all that money into acquiring customers?
Unless the business has a clear acquisition strategy, I can't see this business being competitive in enough ways that matter to the customer for their "technology" to be worth the headlines. Right now, it looks like their value prop is the automation of making a cleaning appointment. Unless that appointment can be made 10 minutes in advance and done perfectly by robots I don't see the competitive advantage. Maybe they have IP that is worth licensing to any maid service that would want to lower the operational expenses of managing a fleet of cleaning teams and inbound requests. That said, I can't envision a novel solution to this "problem" that is worth protecting with IP that another team couldn't solve differently.
To me, Exec seems like a fancy cleaning service that touts online reservations in a market already defined by what people are willing to pay for service and what price maids are willing to accept for their work. Since they don't control their margins, any race to the bottom on price better be made up with Amazon-scale sales volume. Which gets us to the crux of the point - I'm not sure that maid service logistics is the same type of problem as ordering goods ala Amazon. You can't build a business by pretending you can order maids online like you can a DVD.