Exec Launches Cleaning-Only App, Expands to Seattle As Housework Is 50% Of Sales
techcrunch.comIn case anyone was wondering, I used the app to check pricing for my 1br/1ba with pets near downtown Seattle:
$107 for a one-time cleaning, $214 for a thorough "move out" cleaning.
The earliest appointment available for either was two days out, on the 14th.
I wonder if the "Eat People" idea is going to effectively get distorted by the majority in industrialized nations into a 21st century form of domestic servitude mediated by the Internet?
I used to live in a big apartment building from 1870, with a 2nd set of servant's stairs in back and servant's quarters on the top floor. With the Internet, the granularity and other logistics of service are drastically changed, such that servants don't have to live with you or necessarily establish long term relationships. (Though these will still work better in many situations.)
Is the future going to consist of people in the service-sector taking care of the day to day needs of other people working in tech and automated manufacturing, with a fringe which has managed to "drop out" somehow?
If so, I hope we will have fixed access to health care for people not in successful companies with posh health plans.
It's odd to think about what makes someone a "servant" and what is just providing a valuable service. Nobody makes these comments about contract programmers, for example, but what's the fundamental difference?
If you pay me to write you a program, that's just typical. If you pay me to come clean your bathrooms every day, that's more "servant". Paying me to deliver food is typical, paying me to come cook food using your own kitchen is not. Is there a real dividing line in there somewhere, or is it just a matter of societal norms?
Considering that Justin Kan is the pivot master and Exec's cleaning service has been so well-received, I wouldn't be surprised if they become a cleaning-only service.
Reminds me of Seamless.com. In the early days, it was trying to position itself as a B2B for all services: Catering, Overtime meals, Black Car Service, Flowers etc.
Turns out that food delivery and catering was the winning idea. Pivot till you profit.
It feels like Exec is moving towards becoming a cleaning company.
Now when I log into my Exec account, the first thing I see is the booking page for their cleaning service. Errands are a menu item. I hope that doesn't go away. It's incredibly convenient to have them run errands for me, like grocery shopping.
Is this what you might call a "soft pivot"?
The idea is that instead of waiting until it's clear your original idea won't be viable before pivoting, instead you take the most successful part of your business and differentiate it early (giving it its own brand image and so on) so that if the broader vision of your offering doesn't pan out, you've automatically expanded into your most successful niche(s) and, if needed, can shut the bigger business down without throwing out the baby with the proverbial bathwater.
Businesses have done this kind of thing for centuries, but since we're in the startup world, why not give it a name? ;-)