Desist growth on steroids - Hunt for sustainable factors.
Identify key success factors that give sustainable growth. Don't get swayed in by quick boosts. 'Un-spike' your growth story.
There's no big learning than being on the field. 2016 has been a great experience for the entire Raghukaka team. While we continued to make inroads into the home services market, a number of our contemporaries floundered.
The segment is still in its infancy and we are all grappling with mapping the key success factors. The market potential has already been established. Its the model that startups are trying to perfect.
We have seen aggregators, full stack players, hybrid offerings, niche players & more. But none have demonstrated any remarkable sustainability.
Recent results by the more prominent ones have been disappointing, to say the least, where the losses far outstrip income led primarily by heavy discounting, manpower and marketing expenses.
So what's going wrong?
A field as complex as business is always difficult to analyze. However, if there is one thing that has become evident is that its difficult to achieve 'sustainable growth'; and sustainable growth can be driven by 'fundamentals only' in a 'viable business model'.
Too many jargons already. To cut to the chase, different segments / businesses / industries have different fundamentals.
What seems to be working for us in the home services segment are chiefly the following:
1. Making trusted service providers available to households, at economical pricing; when they need it.
2. Continuous focus on delivering professional services, that meet ours and our customers' quality expectations.
3. A product that is easy & quick to use; and delivers information & generates meaningful engagement
While the first two have been our strengths since the beginning; (we have been successfully delivering complex maintenance & facility solutions to corporates & institutions since 2009); it was quite a challenge to build a product from grounds up that made hiring service providers as easy as buying products from say an amazon or a flipkart.
With the latest update on the android platform, raghukaka mobile app encapsulates our 'over a decade' of experience in providing services; as well as delivers; extremely easy to understand user screens, rich on content and structured for immediate hirings of service providers.
Some key features for our users:
1. Review services to hire
2. Instant bookings integrated with multiple online payment options
3. Track entire service delivery lifecyle - time of arrival, duration, completion, payments etc
4. View real time service provider details
5. Give instant feedbacks for services delivered
6.Connect with raghukaka operations team in case of issues/concerns
7. A referral program that allows users to experience our services for free by getting friends & family onto the network
8. Track own position in the raghukaka loyalty program and view milestones to achieve to win free services, discounts, cashbacks, gifts, dinners, movie tickets & more
Our partner module:
1. Same raghukaka app that switches to partner module. (Service providers who meet our criteria are empanelled and gain access to customers nearest to them.) (We call our service partners as Pros)
2. Switch between user and Pro interface with a toggle
3. Toggle to become active or inactive on the grid. Receive orders as per convenience.
4. Receive confirmed orders when active on the grid.
5. Create team members and allocate various jobs to each member. Track all team members as they perform jobs.
6. Share 'start, arrive and complete' notifications with customer by simple swipes.
7. Cross sell various other services of raghukaka Pro Network and earn incentives for every lead and successful order booking
8. Receive payments online
9. Track customer feedbacks for all orders (including of team members) real time
10. Track all order details and income earned post all commissions, fees etc
11. Track incentives earned real time
12. Transfer all income & incentives every month to own wallet that can be withdrawn through bank account. All reconciliations on own hand.
13. Connect with raghukaka operations team in case of any concerns or issues.
If you are yet to experience our service and our product, what are you waiting for?
And do share your views on both of these critical aspects.
Do write to us at [email protected]
Team Raghukaka
