HYDERABAD: Let’s admit it. All hell breaks loose the moment you hear the bad news that the domestic help is not turning up that day. The dishes, the kapda, jhaadu pochha and other household processes come to a halt and your day seems to be on a nosedive mode.
"I have seen how everyone, from my mom to working folks in the neighbourhood to homemakers get flustered with this news. Findr, our new app (also a website) seeks to address this issue. There have been a few flash-in-the-pan kind of informal Facebook groups or websites which claimed to send us maids on demand. But as these were operated by agencies nad brokers, hiring a maid through such services is not just expensive, it is time--consuming too," says Mihir.
This Class X student of Chaitanya Vidyalaya presented this idea at the 10th edition of TYE (TiE Young Entrepreneurs) challenge held for three categories, B-Plan, 1 Minute Elevator Pitch and Maker Faire Prototype.
The finale was held at the auditorium of Dr BR Ambedkar Open University in the city on Saturday. Mihir will be presenting his idea at a global forum at the Microsoft Office in Seattle in the US in June this year.
Elaborating about his project, he says, "The process of hiring domestic helpers even today still remains the largest and common challenge for the households and corporate spaces (restaurants, etc). Current practices involve multiple commission agents, brokers and contractors thereby making the entire hiring process tedious. The same is the case with domestic helpers. They either have to get enrolled with these middle level agencies or reach out through their peers (existing domestic helpers) for prospective employers. The complexity to discover and employer these domestic helpers can be avoided if, the cost is low, is a credible platform and directly connects with the household help with the employer. So we created Findr: a bi-directional network thatconnects prospective domestic helpers with employers. Findr platform consists of pooled profiles of domestic helpers from where employers can find just the right person by a simple mouse click. Findr will be the LinkedIn for blue-collar jobs. Maids, cooks, drivers and others will be brought under one umbrella."
He says they will also focus on listing verified workers only so that you can make sure the maid who is coming to you has a clean record with no theft or fraud. "Similar to the food apps, the maids will be given a rating and one can hire based on it and feedback," he adds.
Mihir’s idea was part of TiE Hyderabad’s TYE program. The current season started in October 2019 and close to 40 students underwent a rigorous curriculum on entrepreneurship and learned business concepts through several classroom sessions over the weekend workshops and few weeks of mentoring by successful entrepreneurs in the Charter Members of TiE Hyderabad. This is one of their programmes which is completely run by practicing entrepreneurs who nurture aspiring young students.
Other winning pitches
The runner-up team was Flobal, a business idea where flower-flavoured ice creams made of organic ingredients.
In the Maker Faire category for best prototypes, RewardBox, a mobile application that unifies all the loyalty points a customer earns through his purchases at several stores across the country and alerts the user of their expiry, emerged as the winner.
It was a close contest in 1-minute elevator pitched as 2 teams Comfee and PuriFloat were declared joint winners based on an online voting method.
Comfee is a power conservation solution regulated by an IoT device that controls the speed of fans and air conditioners. It works based on the measurement of ambient temperature in the room, while PuriFloat, is an automated device that helps clean lakes using an electric motor run boat/conveyor.
The writer can be contacted at kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @mkalanidhi