Is Handy really that handy?

At first I was skeptic of apps such as Uber, Lyft, Postmates, and Grubhub. Why should I look to an app for a service I thought worked perfectly, I walked outside and waved down a cab, went to pick up anything I need and if I wanted food delivery I would call a restaurant that delivered. However; after constant pestering from my collage roommates, I decided to give the app services a try at the beginning of my junior year. Needless to say I have been converted, for all the small issue that I turned a blind eye to while using the old service providers could no longer be ignored. Getting ripped off on a regular basis by cabbies and not have a clear cut way of rectifying any issues. In addition, to the overall service and product being provided was incomparable. Uber is now the first and only place I will look to if I need a ride somewhere at any hour. Same goes for Grubhub, no longer am I restricted to pizza or Chinese’s when I am looking to stay in an order food. So there is some good news, a new kid is moving onto the app service block and its name is Handy[1].

              An app that will book cleaners or handymen at a moment’s notice for your convenience. All you need to do is pick a time and let Handy handle the rest. Finally under one entity you can find all your home service providers, no longer is there the stress of researching and finding the perfect contractor. If you deal with Handy all the independent contractors come vetted with background checks, insured and a 100% money back guarantee. At this point I was thinking to myself is it really this easy to take any service create an app, act as a middle man and make millions? Well with the latest evaluation of half a billion dollars for Handy, Grubhub worth around 2.5 billion[2] and Uber around 50 billion[3] it is ever so tempting to give app creating an attempt. Though Handy provides a very convincing proposal I am back to my skeptical self, my family has been using the same handy man for years. I personally see us ending this relationship to try out an app, for many of which service are strongly relationship based. One the other hand if we were new to an area and did not have any good recommendations of handymen I could see us giving Handy a try. The other concern is that though these individuals have been screened, personally I would be hesitant of welcoming them into my home. For I do not know how through the screening process is and how easy it would be for a crook to forge a clean image. At which point a 100% satisfaction guarantee would not mean much on project if they clean out my house or harm my family.

              Therefore At the moment I am not jumping to my phone to order a cleaner or handyman from Handy. I will be waiting to see if their credibility builds up or whether like similar apps in Europe Hassel and Helping.[4] Handy will struggle to build up a client bases and become the main source people go to find home services contractors. As the saying goes, “There is an app for that,” is not a trusted law as of today.

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[1]Kosoff, Maya. "Handy, a Startup That Sends Someone to Clean Your Home, Just Raised $50 Million and Is Valued at Half a Billion Dollars."Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 02 Nov. 2015. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. http://www.businessinsider.com/handy-raises-50-million-at-a-500-million-valuation-2015-11

[2]"Seamless.com Owner GrubHub Surges After $192 Million IPO."Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-03/grubhub-raises-192-million-pricing-ipo-above-marketed-range

[3]"Uber Valued at More Than $50 Billion." WSJ. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. http://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-valued-at-more-than-50-billion-1438367457

[4]"On-Demand Cleaning Startup Hassle Merges With Rocket Internet’s Helpling." TechCrunch. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2015. http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/02/hassle-helpling-merger/