Delivering tailor-made maids at your doorstep
Having trouble in communicating with your domestic help who doesn’t understand the language you’re speaking in or had three maids abandon your house in three weeks? For those looking to relieve themselves of this taxing chore, getdomestichelp.com might come to your rescue. Founded in late 2011, the company is the brainchild of Rahul Chowdhury, chairman and MD of the company.
On how the idea took shape, Rahul reveals: “Everytime there was a guest at home, he or she loved the way things were done or looked in my house (in Delhi). They enquired about the maids at my house. That’s when the idea of making domestic services professional and organised germinated.” Before setting up Get Domestic Help, Rahul and his wife held a survey asking women about their priorities. “Of the 800 women surveyed, 75-80 per cent listed finding a domestic help as priority,” describes Rahul, adding that his father ( an Army officer) wasn’t too happy with the idea. “My dad said that a business idea on domestic helps won’t do well. but, I told him someone had to start somewhere and earn the respect for them.” A graduate from Delhi University, Rahul worked in sales for sometime before moving to Chicago for his masters. Following this, he worked for 12 years and founded DenuoSource in 2006 in Chicago.
After returning to India in 2011, he set up Get Domestic Help. “It was also set up to define a career path for domestic helps” (who fall under the unorganised sector in the country).
With an initial investment of `15 lakh from angel investors, the company has placed about 850 people in Delhi and Hyderabad. In October 2012 again, `2 crore seed funding was raised.
In late 2012, Rahul roped in Murali Bukka-patnam, co-founder of the firm and CEO of Capitol Projects
Private Ltd, who has 17 years of experience as a key strategist, financial planner and architect, to manage the firm.
The company provides cooks, housekeepers, nannies, drivers, domestic help and elderly care services. A user can log onto the website and select the kind of service he/she is looking for. “They can mention the attributes of the domestic help like preferable religion, language, etc.,” quips Rahul.
The maids go through a verification process (personal and work experience), health check-ups after which they are trained. “After this, they are given a diploma certificate which makes them professionals,” explains Murali.
About their plans, Rahul explains: “We plan to add services like plumbing and maintenance to our portfolio.”
The company made `37 lakh in the first year and `70 lakh in the second year, respectively. “We plan to expand to Bengaluru by June-end and have our presence in 10 cities by the end of next year. And, place 1 lakh people in five years,” he says. Murali adds they are in talks with the AP government to raise `50 crore to involve it in the training process and recognition of domestic services in the state.