The last time you needed a plumber, how quickly did he arrive? Not fast enough I bet. We are Flank and we provide on demand service completion by connecting service providers to customers. As a customer, it’s one and done; Flank will instantly connect you to the professional you need, and he’ll be on his way. When the job is done, what you pay won’t be a surprise nor will it break the bank. So the next time you’re locked out or have a clogged toilet, just Flank it!

WHY FLANK

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VISION

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Flank offers an innovative approach to finding a service provider. Using a system similar to Uber, everyday people are able to open an app, ping out a service request for unlocking a jammed door, repairing a leaky faucet, or fixing electric wiring for example. Service workers in the vicinity are notified of the request, and Flank connects the two for seamless means of communication, price transparency, and security.

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HYPOTHESES

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Through many pivots and many discussions with everyday users of services as well as the service workers in the industry itself, Flank is a product that fits the need of urgency.

 

There is a large demographic of young professionals in their respective industry who are otherwise employed who want to be able to find opportunities for more work during their off-hours. There are people who need services outside of the general Monday – Friday, 9 – 5 range. Too often people need a service fast and need a service now. Instead of waiting time desperately calling for the first plumber to pick up the phone to fix the plumbing at night on a weekend, Flank provides the advantage of connecting those to the service workers with ease.

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PROTOTYPE

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PRICING MODEL

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The most suitable approach to capturing revenue for our product in the long term is to charge our service providers a fixed percentage of their revenue. Service providers will use our app as a platform for client supply and management. People seeking services are customers of Flank because they will use the app to find service providers near by and they will be paying for the services they receive either in the form of a one time payment or through a yearly subscription.

 

Flank is a product in a two sided market. We aim to connect service providers and service seekers. When service providers use Flank they will benefit from the service seekers and when service seekers use Flank they will benefit from service providers. Hence the dual market. Essentially, service seekers will pay for the services they receive either in the form of a one time payment or through a yearly subscription. Therefore, the only party that gets paid will be the service providers. After Flank takes a fixed percentage of the cost paid by the service seeker, the service provider will receive the rest.

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COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

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During our market research we were exposed to many companies that are trying to solve similar problems and while finding them we tried to understand why these companies are not popular enough. Each one of the companies has unique properties that distinguish themselves from our product, some are more unique and some are generic.

 

TaskRabbit connects providers in the fields of small household work such as moving and packing, general handyman, mounting and installations, etc. but offers mainly unskilled labor and could not deal with plumbing/electricity that requires more knowledge and certificates. Thumbtack works with a business plan that is based on bidding system rather than an algorithm that analyze the price range, but the platform takes few hours to return a bid and the process of getting a bid is very complicated. Google’s new Local Services Adwords is similar to Yelp and act more as a directory rather than connecting between the provider and the user instantaneously. Angie’s List connects users to service workers and gives a discount on bulk services, but ordering a job is not so simple and it takes time to set up an appointment with a provider.

 

To summarize our benefits, Flank includes on demand services, guarantee insurance per job, no need to contact the provider by phone, management platform for building managers that allow them to manage all the apartments orders.