Nayakam-Has-a-Plan-to-Disrupt-the-Handyman-Services-Market-in-Pakistan

Nayakam is a new tech start-up, launched recently in Pakistan. It has designed and launched an online platform for addressing all of the above-mentioned issues, by deploying technology at both ends – suppliers end and users end. Nayakam is going to disrupt the traditional market of handymen services.

The traditional market of handyman services in Pakistan is commonly criticized on seven reasons: 1) handymen are not easily accessible; 2) there is a tendency of exploitation in the market – complaints about the prevalence of unfair practices are very common; 3) quality of their services is often not satisfactory; 4) there is no well-defined concept of specialization of services, each handyman claims to have expertise in multiple areas; 5) the pace of improvement in the service delivery is painfully slow; 6) the market is dominated by non-qualified semi-skilled people; and 7) entry of qualified skilled people is restricted. Above all, thousands of technically qualified persons are jobless and sitting at homes. They have skills but do not have access to market.

How does Nayakam work? Nayakam has developed two Apps – one for users (i.e. Nayakam app) and the second for service providers (i.e. Nayakam Partner app). Users App can be downloaded from: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nayakam.userapp&hl=en, while the App for service providers can be downloaded from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nayakam.providerapp&hl=en

Whenever anyone requires the services of any skilled person (handyman), he/she just logs-in the Nayakam App and selects the required service. The App searches the skilled persons having the required expertise in the nearby location. An auto-generated notification is transmitted to the skilled persons, available in the nearest location. Any one of them who accepts the request first, is booked for the job. Rates are fixed. The service provider reaches the venue at the scheduled time, puts on the timer and starts the work. Upon completion of the work, the timer is stopped. The App works out the wages. A receipt is automatically generated. The service user makes payment, followed by rating of each other by both parties.   

Currently, Nayakam is providing more than hundred services grouped into 26 categories such as carpenter, electrician, plumber, painter, AC technician, CCTV camera technician, car mechanic etc. As mentioned earlier, each category includes multiple types of services. For example, the category of electrician has following types of services: electrical wiring (new and old), fixing issues in fans, exhaust fans, repairing home appliances (air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, television sets etc.), installing or repairing CCTV cameras and solar panels.

So far about 500 skilled people have downloaded the partners app and registered themselves while thousands of skilled people have registered as users, alone from the twin cities i.e. Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

In short, Nayakam is not only going to revolutionize the market of handyman services but is also going to unlock the trapped talent by providing them access to market.

Atiq ur Rehman

Raheel Afzal