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If you’ve been hemming and hawing about signing a seasonal snow removal contract and find yourself stuck in your driveway after a winter storm, yes, there’s now an app for that.
Ottawa entrepreneur Ken Dale says he’s filled a void in the market with TouchPlow, a mobile phone app that allows users to order snow clearing service when they need it.
“It’s like Uber, instead of calling a driver you’re calling a plow,” said Dale, who owns the snow removal company Appleseed Barrhaven. “It really opens up snow blowing and snow clearing to anybody now, any person who requires it when they need it. And when they don’t need it, they can do their own shovelling.”
Dale — who has developed the grass-cutting equivalent called TouchMow — said that unlike Uber, his driveway clearing services will not take away business from drivers but rather help snow contractors earn extra money.
“Every time we get a big snowfall, I’d get hundreds of calls from people wanting me to do their driveway just during that storm, and obviously all of my tractors have to be out servicing the seasonal contracts that we have,” said Dale. “But in the middle of the night we might be sitting out in a mall (parking lot) just waiting for the city graders to go through, so there’s lot of extra time when they are not working in the middle of the night.”
The cost to clear a driveway will come at a premium — typically between $20 and $40 — depending on the size of the driveway, whether the homeowner wants a walk shovelled and how soon. Options include within four hours, four to 12 hours, or 12 to 24 hours.
Ken Dale is chief executive of Touchplow, an Uber-like app that connects snow plow contractors with people who need snow clearing.
For drivers to register with TouchPlow, they must be a licensed by the city and fully insured. To get paid, they must take a photo of the plowed driveway, submit it to TouchPlow.
Barry Nabatian, director of market research with Shore-Tanner & Associates, said the concern he has with this type of automated application is driver skill, those new to snow clearing who are enticed the job opportunity.
“It’s the new drivers that I am concerned about,” Nabatian. “It’s just like Uber people. They have the insurance, the time and the car, but the driver’s don’t have as much experience. So it raises a safety question.”
On the flip side, he said, the convenient nature of the service might prove to be an economic stimulator.
“Potentially it creates more convenience and faster service because there will be more people entering this business on a part-time basis.”
Dale said another perk of the on-demand service is, like Uber, customers can rate their driver.
“If you order a plow and he’s late, his rating goes down,” said Dale. “You also get to rate him on quality. So the higher the rating you have, the sooner you get to (look) at jobs available. And also, if you’re a grumpy customer and you scream and yell at him, he’s going to rate you, too.”
TouchPlow has launched in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and P.E.I. and will expand across the rest of Canada in 2017.
pmccooey@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
Ottawa entrepreneur Ken Dale says he’s filled a void in the market with TouchPlow, a mobile phone app that allows users to order snow clearing service when they need it.
“It’s like Uber, instead of calling a driver you’re calling a plow,” said Dale, who owns the snow removal company Appleseed Barrhaven. “It really opens up snow blowing and snow clearing to anybody now, any person who requires it when they need it. And when they don’t need it, they can do their own shovelling.”
Dale — who has developed the grass-cutting equivalent called TouchMow — said that unlike Uber, his driveway clearing services will not take away business from drivers but rather help snow contractors earn extra money.
“Every time we get a big snowfall, I’d get hundreds of calls from people wanting me to do their driveway just during that storm, and obviously all of my tractors have to be out servicing the seasonal contracts that we have,” said Dale. “But in the middle of the night we might be sitting out in a mall (parking lot) just waiting for the city graders to go through, so there’s lot of extra time when they are not working in the middle of the night.”
The cost to clear a driveway will come at a premium — typically between $20 and $40 — depending on the size of the driveway, whether the homeowner wants a walk shovelled and how soon. Options include within four hours, four to 12 hours, or 12 to 24 hours.
Ken Dale is chief executive of Touchplow, an Uber-like app that connects snow plow contractors with people who need snow clearing.
For drivers to register with TouchPlow, they must be a licensed by the city and fully insured. To get paid, they must take a photo of the plowed driveway, submit it to TouchPlow.
Barry Nabatian, director of market research with Shore-Tanner & Associates, said the concern he has with this type of automated application is driver skill, those new to snow clearing who are enticed the job opportunity.
“It’s the new drivers that I am concerned about,” Nabatian. “It’s just like Uber people. They have the insurance, the time and the car, but the driver’s don’t have as much experience. So it raises a safety question.”
On the flip side, he said, the convenient nature of the service might prove to be an economic stimulator.
“Potentially it creates more convenience and faster service because there will be more people entering this business on a part-time basis.”
Dale said another perk of the on-demand service is, like Uber, customers can rate their driver.
“If you order a plow and he’s late, his rating goes down,” said Dale. “You also get to rate him on quality. So the higher the rating you have, the sooner you get to (look) at jobs available. And also, if you’re a grumpy customer and you scream and yell at him, he’s going to rate you, too.”
TouchPlow has launched in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and P.E.I. and will expand across the rest of Canada in 2017.
pmccooey@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
