
Behind The Scenes At Homejoy, A Cleaning Startup That's Really A Tech Company - mlinsey
http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/18/homejoy-behind-the-scenes/
======
nugget
The potential for client->platform->service provider disintermediation here
seems high. If I use the service and find a cleaner that I like, why wouldn't
I just establish a direct relationship and pay them more money, as I become
comfortable with them?

People already do this with repeat tenants on Airbnb, usually business
travelers who visit the same locations constantly for extended stays. These
types make up a small % of Airbnb's market so it doesn't threaten the model as
much.

This type of direct relationship isn't really possible with Uber and on-demand
transportation services because you need someone to respond within a very
short time frame (minutes) which means their physical location matters.

------
yesimahuman
Pretty close copy of the highrise landing page:
[https://www.homejoy.com/](https://www.homejoy.com/) (screenshot:
[http://i.imgur.com/OqCgfFT.png](http://i.imgur.com/OqCgfFT.png)) vs
[https://highrisehq.com/](https://highrisehq.com/)

Don't forget about Curebit getting called out for copying it as well (but they
brazenly used the same assets): [http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/28/curebit-
apologizes-for-copy...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/28/curebit-apologizes-
for-copying-37signals/)

I'm not trying to call them out on it, just pointing out the shit storm that
happened last time.

~~~
brotchie
Hmm, have they changed their landing page since you posted this, or are either
of the sites A/B testing? Because I don't see any similarities.

Highrise: [http://i.imgur.com/wbqjkUP.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/wbqjkUP.jpg)
Homejoy: [http://i.imgur.com/DfW1CKQ.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/DfW1CKQ.jpg)

~~~
yesimahuman
Yea, looks like an active A/B test, here's the SS:
[http://i.imgur.com/OqCgfFT.png](http://i.imgur.com/OqCgfFT.png)

------
fortes
I really wanted to like Homejoy, as they're much more affordable than Exec
cleaning. I used them once and had a good experience. However, my wife booked
w/ them three times, and each time Homejoy was a no-show.

Hopefully they work out the kinks.

~~~
mediaman
Similar experience here. Initial schedule was a no-show, and further, nobody
picked up the phone at Homejoy, and there was no way to contact the cleaner.
It took them several hours to follow up on the voicemail that nobody made it.

However they did schedule a follow-up and the cleaner did a reasonable job a
week later.

------
philip1209
From what I can tell, you cannot have an appointment less than 2.5 hours,
which with the service fee works out to $55. While this is still cheaper than
Exec, I do not think that 2.5 hours of cleaning is necessary every other week
for a <500 square foot studio.

The price isn't bad, but I would be more comfortable if they didn't stick to
"$20/hour" and instead did something along the lines of "$50 for a basic hour-
long cleaning, including travel and cleaning fees, and only $20/hour for every
additional hour."

~~~
proexploit
I don't see the problem. You're just asking to pay more? If they're done in
two hours, they'll either charge you less or leave, so you pay $55. In your
example, that two hour cleaning is now $70. Additionally, I think you're
underestimating the amount of time a good cleaning can take, even of a smaller
apartment / studio.

------
jmduke
Anthony Ha's written quite a bit about Homejoy:

[http://www.crunchbase.com/company/homejoy/posts](http://www.crunchbase.com/company/homejoy/posts)

------
kylelibra
It seems that every new company is so reliant on technology it could be
considered a tech startup. Where does one draw the line?

~~~
yuhao
One does not. Software will eat the world.

------
dhugiaskmak
Anyone know if this company is still classifying all of its cleaners as
"contractors" to avoid paying taxes?

edit:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3846208](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3846208)
it was a huge topic of conversation when they got mentioned here about a year
ago.

~~~
gamblor956
They are classifying their cleaners as contractors to avoid paying payroll
taxes and benefits. It's not a completely shady practice on its own, but in
combination with everything else that these guys have done (stealing website
designs, fake yelp reviews, repeatedly missing scheduled appointments,
allegedly not paying their contractors), it definitely suggests that these
guys are more Groupon that Google.

------
joe_the_user
Having aging parents who need multiple service providers, I feel like I
understand this a bit from the service end.

While service are is probably big factor, compatibility is probably a bigger
one. "Cleaning" involves many degrees of, well, cleanliness as well as
requiring a lot _or_ very little customer contact/presentation/compatibility.

And there's the question of what people think they want versus what people are
eager to pay for. I suspect a lot of package deals are appealing to people
because they don't like having spell out (to themselves) that 75% of the cost
is pleasant conversation with a person sharing their culture and values.

------
alexhawdon
A friend of mine is considering starting a cleaning company and I engaged in
some out-of-the-box thinking, I'd be interested to hear HNs views on the idea:

Cleaners that CCTV themselves.

It could be done with something as simple as a low-cost smartphone worn around
the neck, or in the future something more sophisticated like Google Glass.

Lots of potential issues (would the cleaners accept this condition? would
clients be happy to have a video of their house sat on a server?) but it's a
potential solution to the trust issues inherent in the business - two main
ones being 'is my cleaner dipping into petty cash' and 'is my cleaner actually
cleaning'.

~~~
corry
My $0.02 - this might be the wrong way to address the 2 biggest risks
(cleaners stealing, cleaners not working). For me, by drawing so much
attention to these items you're basically saying "we don't really trust the
cleaners, and neither should you, so let's monitor them".

And then there's the question of who actually watches the video? The customer
= more work for them. You guys = not super scalable.

What about privacy? What if the smartphone captures something super sensitive
out on someone's desk (e.g. a major contract)?

The final point is that your competitors could just say "Ya, we actually just
hire good, trustworthy cleaners so we don't have to bother with spying on them
(and neither do you). Here are 10 customer testimonials that proves this.
Those spying guys probably just hire really shady people and need the spying
to keep them in line."

All just my $0.02 - take what you want! :)

------
noelrock
Interesting how many startups are appearing in this space. I was an avid
follower of the "localcasestudy" reddit which followed a cleaning company from
$0 to $120k a month in fantastic detail -
[http://www.maidsinblack.com](http://www.maidsinblack.com) . Has worked out a
lot of the problems these guys mention without being so heavy on the employee
side, and has (IMO) a smarter approach to pricing which has been mentioned
above.

------
MikeCodeAwesome
Homejoy also got a writeup at AZ Tech Beat when they "launched" in Phoenix
last month [http://aztechbeat.com/2013/07/homejoy-an-online-booking-
home...](http://aztechbeat.com/2013/07/homejoy-an-online-booking-home-
cleaning-service-launches-in-phoenix/).

------
victorology
I live in Korea and house cleaning is a really common service. Around $40 for
4 hours and $70 for 8 hours.

Perhaps there would be a great opportunity for someone in Korea to start an
Uber for house cleaning since all you have to do is create an app and send
additional business to the existing cleaning services.

------
damian2000
Their prices seem reasonable. Over here in Australia similar home cleaning
agencies typically charge AUD $30 (~USD 27) an hour with the cleaner getting
around AUD $25 (~USD 23).

~~~
muzz
I had suspected that Homejoy wasn't taking a cut, and that $20/hr was just
"initial" pricing and they would raise it later like Exec did.

They haven't raised the rate, but my cleaner said she gets $13/hr so it
appears that Homejoy does take a cut.

