It was in early 2018 that home services startup Housejoy moved into home renovation and began delivering at least 20 homes in a month. And then it subsequently shifted from home renovation to home construction after it realised that this was an untapped space. According to Housejoy CEO Sanchit Gaurav, the startup decided to add on to our services and not really pivot.
“We have been in the home maintenance service segment for a while and we have closely observed the Indian construction industry. We realised that consumers face a range of problems in terms of construction or renovation of their homes. There were several challenges such as handover delays, change in plans and layouts, lack of transparency in payments and cost escalations, to name a few. We decided to enter the domain with the aim of solving these numerous consumer pain-points and delivering what we promise by integrating with technology.”
Housejoy CEO Sanchit Gaurav
Housejoy is a home services startup based out of Bengaluru and offers a range of services like interior design, construction, renovation services plus maintenance services such as home cleaning, repairs, painting, installation of appliances, pest control and more.
Sanchit says that the experience to solve problems faced by consumers with the construction industry in India came with dealing in services related to home maintenance. “We carried out an in-depth analysis of how technology could come to the aid of consumers and provide them hassle-free solutions for their home construction related needs. There was an utter lack of transparency or accountability as the construction segment was mainly run by non-organised players and we knew that with the right technology we could make a difference.”
The market size of the home services industry in India in 2017 was estimated at $100 billion with households spending an average of Rs 25,000 on home services annually. As per a RedSeer report, convenience ranks much ahead of price as one of the determining factors for customers to avail on-demand home services.
Technology is at the core of the company’s operations, making the entire process seamless and convenient, Sanchit says.
HouseJoy is also working on a web app (with voice assist and a chatbox). “We’ve invested in our workforce centric HJ Expert App, with local and vernacular language options that has a simple interface and minimalistic design. A combination of GPS-based tracking from the app ensures that literacy and language do not become barriers while communicating. The app and website have also been incorporated with geo-location capabilities and cell tower triangulation technology that enables us to cater to various localities without much lag. Customers are always kept in the loop regarding the starting time and any sort of delays that may occur."
Other tech-related developments on the anvil include cashless settlements, offline capabilities for the Housejoy experts, new unique categories and more.
Competing with the likes of Livspace and Urban Ladder, Sanchit says despite all the growth, the sector is still dominated by the non-organised players. And in this space, Housejoy’s USP, Sanchit claims, lies in the ability to complete the construction of a house (ground + first) in 144 days.
Explaining the workflow process, Sanchit adds, “The journey starts with the signing of the initial booking agreement followed by the design process where we customise pre-built templates according to the needs of the client. We then carry out the pre-execution planning, scheduling and quality control. The total project cost and expected monthly cash flow is kept visible. Our integrated app helps in tracking digitised agreements, progress of projects, details of the materials being used and ensures adherence to schedules.”
Price points vary from service to service since Housejoy offers services beginning from minor household repairs to full-fledged construction projects.
In terms of construction, it currently offers four packages of Rs 1,600 per square feet, Rs 2,200 per square feet, Rs 2,400 per square feet and Rs 2,600 per square feet. And while the ticket sizes vary according to the size of the project, the average ticket value is Rs 60 lakh.
The company has so far raised a total funding of $30.3 million, backed by investors like Matrix, Amazon and Vertex Ventures.
Speaking of growth and expansion plans, Housejoy says its Construction and Renovation business is growing at the rate of 20% MoM and future plans of the company include building 2000 homes in less than two years.
Sanchit says the company has seen a significant rise in demand for construction since entering the construction arena in India. “We plan on expanding to known cities across the country. We will launch our operations in Delhi, Pune, Mysuru, Chennai and Hyderabad apart from Bengaluru where we are already building about 50 new projects every month and have approximately 150 projects under construction as of now. In the next six months, our aim is to take our tally to 100 new projects each month from the current 50. Our overall goal is to become the largest tech-enabled construction and home services platform in India.”