<div>New concierge app Goodservice says just ask – and we’ll deliver It’s a virtual explosion. App after app launched almost every week promising everything from food delivery to groceries to home repair to chauffeurs. The new on-demand economy is becoming crowded with services-via-app startups. But that hasn’t stopped Vipul Aggarwal and Ruchir Jain from jumping right in with Goodservice, an app that saysjust ask – and we’ll deliver.</div><div> </div><div>Goodservice, founded in 2014, started out as a website and has only recently gone app and remains invitation-only. An iOS version will come soon but until then, anyone with a demand for a concierge service or indeed anything, can log into http://goodservice.in and register. Customers like it.</div><div> </div><div>And so does Sequoia Capital which as just invested $1.6 million seed funding for the company.</div><div> </div><div>The Goodservice promise is a tall one: 24/7 requests are welcome to flow in via chat using the app. Want someone to teach you how to cook a diabetes-friendly meal? Just ask. Want an electrician to do a complex job? Just ask. Want to find a dance class for your daughter?</div><div> </div><div>The Goodservice team of 40 and counting will search and come back to you with the best options keeping in mind your specific needs and budget. “We’ve been working on this for some time and the challenge with local commerce services is not just that you should now which services to get but that the service has to be finely personalized,” says co-founder Vipul Aggarwal. “So if tomorrow you need a carpenter, you don’t just need to know which carpenter is good but whether he can do the specific job you want and whether he can be available when you want. Unlike an Uber where it’s a specific point-to-point service and charge, with hyper-local services it’s all about specifics. You have a design, you have a budget, you have a time specification – and that’s how you need the carpenter to deliver.” </div><div> </div><div>He describes the Goodservice app as being like a virtual personal secretary on your phone, ready to organise your service. “If you come to us and say my tap is broken, I need it fixed, we are not going to give you five numbers and leave you to it. We will find the best plumber and our backend will make sure he reaches on time and that the job is done to satisfaction. If something goes wrong, the backend also makes sure there are backups available,” says Aggarwal. The app is to add a wallet of its own shortly.</div><div> </div><div>Goodservice already caters to customer requests worth more than Rs 30 lakh a day and plans to disrupt the highly fragmented local services and local commerce market. To deliver, it obviously needs a robust database of service providers at its fingertips. “It’s not just about having service providers’ phone numbers at hand,” says Aggarwal, “This needs the minutest, most curated research possible, always updating and the exact nature of the services offered in detailed. So, if you need cooking classes, we will know who can do this on-site, who will provide classes at a location, what kind of cuisine is covered, is there certification, do they do special parties etc.” Goodservice has 18,000 service providers mapped out in the top cities of India and plans to use its funds to ramp up technology to capture and track providers and expand. Aggarwal believes that it’s the robustness of the provider database and access to by the dedicated team which will be the key to scaling.</div><div> </div><div>Customers beginning to share reviews on Facebook is helping to popularise the service and this feature will soon incorporate this into the app, which is minimalistic at the moment but easy to use. “We’ve found immense customer love for two simple reasons,” says Aggarwal, “First, our promise to get anything done for the user, and second, attention paid to the full experience. All that a customer has to do is type a request -‘send me a cook and we get them the cheapest quote, make the booking, do follow-ups and ensure the job is done well. Backing from Sequoia will be important in helping us expandoperations with a target of Rs 1 Crore per day worth of requests for services and products.”</div><div> </div><div>Abheek Anand, Principal, Sequoia Capital said, “Goodservice has been seeing terrific traction, a testament to how their services concierge app is resonating strongly with consumers. We are excited to partner with Vipul and Ruchir as they scale Goodservice and help Indian consumers connect with great service providers across a broad range of categories.”</div>
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.