BizMech Ideas: Temp
This idea was the result of many beers and a long conversation with a good friend. They were laid off from a tech job back in ’21 and became a house cleaner as a ‘side hustle’. They are now a small business owner with several people working for them, several multi-resident properties in their client list, and a less stressful work-life balance.
And I think everyone should have that chance.
Value Proposition / Business Model
Temp works with gig workers, helping connect them to clients, but it goes beyond. When the worker is ready, Temp will help them set up their own business, guide them through the legal and taxation minefields, and support them in their journey towards being a small business owner.
By partnering with small business service providers, Temp will also serve as a ‘road test’ for various tools and platforms. This will allow for real-world testing and verification of claims, as well as actual usage data for market research.
Mission, Vision, Values
Nothing proved the value of the service industry more than the 2020 lockdowns. The demand for service workers outstripped the demand for programmers, executives, and other ‘white collar’ jobs.
And yet, we watched those same workers struggle to be treated with the respect they deserve. For every WFH policy rolled out in corporations, there were hundreds of gig workers who were put into dangerous situations with no healthcare coverage.
Temp is not just focused on connecting workers to clients. Temp wants every worker to become an entrepreneur. We will support them in managing multiple clients, until they can scale their business. We will help them with contracts, forming LLCs, and general operations.
While other gig apps try to focus on how to increase their slice of the pie, Temp will focus on making the pie bigger.
Our dream is to give everyone the opportunity to participate in the dearest wish of every American: to be able to turn down work because “you’re doing okay”.
People, Process, and Technology
People
There is almost no way to overemphasize the importance of building relationships with the providers and the clients. If 80% of your team is focused on this one aspect, everything else will be a walk in the park.
Without a clear understanding of what clients are looking for and what providers need to know, none of this will work. Market research is great, in aggregate, but detailed regional data will be the difference between adoption and avoidance.
Process
Providers join for free. They can list hours, rates, locations, details about what they will and won’t clean. They can also see a report on what clients in their area are looking for (30% need general cleaning, but 10% need help organizing, sort of thing)
Clients can pay more to get a specific cleaner at a specific time. That extra fee is evenly divided between the platform and the provider. This incentivizes providers to distinguish themselves, while also rewarding Temp’s internal staff.
A differentiator of the Temp process will be to encourage direct relationships between provider and client. Providing contract generation services, LLC formation, and general bookkeeping guidance will allow the providers to transition from the Temp service, to a more permanent business model. Once providers are there, institutional clients and larger contracts will be within their reach.
Technology
Not nearly as important as the people and the process. General IT skills for maintenance, or specialized knowledge of gig-type apps should be more than sufficient.
Scale and Scope
While I propose starting with house cleaners, that’s just because it was the first thing that popped into my head. This would apply to almost any other type of business, such as plumbers or general construction.
At first, it would make sense to limit the scale to large metro areas and to localize support to the region (LLCs in the US vs EU). Eventually, an international scale would be feasible. The need for increased support resources will be dependent on the variations between localities. (more variation = more resources)
Comments and commentary are more than welcome. Also, I could use some subscribers so feel free to pass this around!
