Need a Home Cleanup? They'll be at Your Service with a Hammer & Mop!
Meet Hammer & Mop Services, a one of its kind startup which specializes in taking care of residence cleanliness. Born as a concept back in February 2011, it took the founders Ashish Pingle and Sushruth
Munje some time to understand and arrive at the right team combination and the requirements that needed to be met, before officially launching the services in October 2011. “The idea clicked when we saw dirty, dusty homes and busy people all around us. It was a need that we believed we could fulfill,” says Sushruth Munje, MD at Hammer & Mop. “Offerings like After-Party Cleanup, Moving-In Cleanup and the flagship Essential Cleanup have been very successful. We also deliver unique packages for one-time cleanups with a customized offering,” he adds, about the unique offerings of Hammer & Mop.
Foraying into the Rs.16, 000 crore Facility Management market, Hammer & Mop targets segments that include retail outlets and SME offices. For residential services, the clients are majorly the young upwardly mobile working couples who prefer outsourcing their cleaning tasks to an organization. Laying great emphasis on customization and high quality standards, Hammer & Mop does not seem to leave customer satisfaction behind, always looking to establish great communication channels and lasting relationships. Most of their business, for the same reason says Sushrut, is generated through referrals and personal introductions.
Entering the commercial space with the launch of specific packages for retail outlets and SME offices, expansion into other Metro cities and Tier II cities in the next few years are a few of the short-term goals that are being planned. “We plan to focus on residential and commercial sectors simultaneously, being always available whenever someone requires a fresh, clean facility,” says Sushrut.
Hammer & Mop is the brain child of Sushrut and Ashish Pingle. Sushruth, after his internship experience at BARC and
working with an internet entrepreneur was inspired to start up. Ashish is a dentist and a graphic designer with freelancing experience. Sushruth and Ashish had worked on a few projects together before starting Hammer & Mop. Being able to complement each other perfectly- Sushruth handles operations, recruitment and business development while Ashish secures the various legal, financial and design aspects.
“Finding manpower and empowering them to deliver are the major challenges we face, taking up a lot of time and energy,” points out Sushruth. “We have specific training methods and employee retention
policies that enable us to remain good employers,” he says. Hammer & Mop has a highly enthusiastic team of cleaning attendants and operations managers. “We currently provide cleaning services on
one-time and periodic basis. Our teams are equipped and travel across the city. For one-time cleanups, our teams visit the premises, clean and leave,” says Sushruth. When asked about the revenue generation, he says, “the payment for one-time cleanup service is immediate and this has really helped us bootstrap in the last 9 months. In the case of one-time residential clean-ups, we get paid immediately after the work is done. In case of periodic cleaning services, we either offer cleaning service on a regular basis or are stationed on site. For periodic cleanups at residential and commercial properties, we are paid on a monthly/quarterly basis.”
The source of funds for Hammer & Mop has been bootstrapping; managing all those equipment upgrades, salaries and looking out for healthy cash flow. Hatch Incubation Services is helping the team in
understanding the various aspects of scaling up while building a sustainable business model. “Their mentoring has been very helpful and their domain expertise is playing a key role in Hammer & Mop’s
progress,” says Sushrut.
The bottomline is that we have a wonderful startup here, looking after the household cleanliness and maintenance and understanding and catering to the busy schedules of many of us.
Reach out to the guys at Hammer and Mop here.