Say startup, and the services that it offers, it’s definitely not civil engineering services that would come to ones mind.
But, that’s precisely what Prashant Rai, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, OneTimeJobs.com, promises to offer. So, when one wants to get repairs done to ones house, like in the old days, the personal network may not work. In the new cosmopolitan culture, it’s next to impossible in a new locality to find someone to do the odd repairs.
The 38-year-old decorated infantryman of the 18th Battalion of Punjab Regiment set up OneTimeJobs in September to offer a bouquet of services including civil engineering works, one-time security, event guarding services, fire/security audits, legal services, home/office automation, event organisation, background verification etc.
This is apart from services like plumbing, electrical and carpentry. It had received a seed funding of Rs 1.10 crore.
According to an analyst, no one else offers such a diverse bouquet of services.
Now, if one wants the house renovated, you can just go online and look for OneTimeJobs.com, and voila! You have all the services you need.
He has a security agency Balram Corporate Services Private Limited too that provides specialist security services. Security services was estimated to be a Rs 40,000 crore industry in 2014, and it is expected to touch Rs 80,000 crore by 2020.
The Bengaluru-based startup, founded by former Army major Prashant Rai, claims to stand out. It’s a profitable entity. Unlike many of the service providers who are merely aggregators, Rai says, “I provide all the services and all are my employees. I also provide the accommodation to the staff.”
Onetimejobs.com is licensed under the Private Security Agency rules and this startup makes sure to conduct thorough background checks of the guards hired by them. Most of the guards hired are referred to them by the Army Placement Agency. After the verification process the guards undergo training for 300 hours that include behavioural training, duties on post and physical fitness.
Now, the company has set its sights very far. It wants to be in the 100 smart cities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from its current network in five cities, in the next three years or so. Though seemingly too ambitious, Rai is banking on the network of fellow ex-servicemen to achieve the goal.
Meanwhile, he plans tie up with the Central government for skilling under the National Skills Development Council. “We may also tie up with the Union Ministry of Skill Development for scaling up our services to 100 cities,” he said
To scale up so rapidly, though, it might need to tap funds and is now on the look out to raise well over $10 million as Series A funding by March, 2016.