A Project Report on Urban Company : This project report examines Urban Company, an innovative online platform that connects service professionals with customers in India. As BBA final year students, analyzing successful startups like Urban Company can provide valuable insights into contemporary business models, marketing strategies, and growth tactics in the digital economy. This report covers Urban Company’s business model, founders, market positioning, marketing techniques, and more. Studying real-world case studies like this can help us apply theoretical concepts from our coursework to actual companies. I hope you find this analysis informative and gain ideas for your own entrepreneurial ventures or career paths in the future!
Summary of A Project Report on Urban Company
Urban Company: India’s Home Services Market
Urban Company is an online platform that aims to make urban life easier by connecting customers with trusted service professionals. The company’s name reflects its mission – to solve urban needs with just a clap. Since its founding in 2014, Urban Company has become India’s largest marketplace for at-home services.
The platform enables customers to easily find and hire professionals for a wide range of services including salon and spa treatments at home, cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, interior design, wedding photography, yoga instruction, and much more. In just a few years, Urban Company has built an extensive network of over 100,000 carefully selected service providers. The company has served more than 2 million customers across major cities in India.
Urban Company’s goal is to be the go-to platform for all kinds of home and lifestyle services that are important to urban consumers. This includes everything from home design and renovation to capturing special moments, learning new skills, filing taxes, improving health and fitness, and beyond. The company envisions being able to fulfill any service need with just a clap.
One of Urban Company’s key strengths is its focus on trust and quality. The platform carefully vets and verifies all service professionals before allowing them to offer services. This gives customers peace of mind when inviting workers into their homes. Urban Company also provides standardized pricing and service guarantees to ensure consistent quality.
The home services market in India presents a huge opportunity, estimated to be worth around $50 billion annually. However, it has traditionally been highly fragmented and unorganized. Urban Company aims to bring structure, transparency and reliability to this sector through technology. The company has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing startups in India.
Currently, Urban Company operates in 16 major cities across India. The platform has over 65,000 service professionals registered and a team of 300 employees. As it continues to expand, Urban Company’s vision is to organize the home services industry, improve experiences for both customers and professionals, and enable commerce worth billions of dollars annually.
About the Founders of Urban Company
Urban Company was founded by three young entrepreneurs – Abhiraj Bhal, Raghav Chandra, and Varun Khaitan. Each brings complementary skills and experiences to the company:
Abhiraj Bhal leads operations and service provider onboarding at Urban Company. Prior to co-founding the company, he worked as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. There, he advised Fortune 500 companies across India, Germany and Southeast Asia. Abhiraj holds a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.
Raghav Chandra oversees technology and product development. He spent much of the past decade working in Silicon Valley, including as a software engineer at Twitter in San Francisco. Raghav has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
Varun Khaitan is responsible for marketing and product growth. Like Abhiraj, he previously worked as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, advising major companies in the US, Turkey and India on business strategy. Varun also has experience at Qualcomm, where he designed next-generation mobile technology. He holds a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur.
The diverse but complementary backgrounds of the three co-founders have been crucial to Urban Company’s success. Their combined expertise spans technology, operations, strategy, and marketing – all essential elements for building a successful online marketplace.
Business Model
Urban Company’s business model is based on connecting customers with service professionals through its online platform. The company operates two main models:
1. For standardized, blue-collar services like electricians or home cleaning, customers can directly book and pay for the service through the Urban Company app. The company takes a commission on these transactions.
2. For more specialized white-collar services like photographers, interior designers or yoga instructors, Urban Company uses an automated matchmaking algorithm to understand the customer’s specific needs and budget. It then recommends the most suitable professionals.
A key focus for Urban Company is ensuring the quality and reliability of service providers on its platform. The company conducts background checks and police verification of all professionals. They have even hired a retired Superintendent of Police to oversee this process.
How It Works
The Urban Company platform is designed to be simple and user-friendly for both customers and service professionals. Here’s how the process typically works:
1. Customers browse services and view options on the Urban Company app or website.
2. Urban Company’s system filters and narrows down choices based on the customer’s preferences and requirements.
3. Customers can then select and get in touch with their preferred professionals through the platform. This allows them to discuss details and avoid any misunderstandings.
4. Once the customer is satisfied with their choice, they can book the service. Urban Company guarantees quality and reliability.
Market Competitors
While Urban Company has emerged as a leader, it faces competition from other players in the home services market, including:
– Sulekha
– Localoyee
– Taskbob
– Local vendors and service providers
To stay ahead, Urban Company focuses on continually improving its technology, expanding its provider network, and maintaining high quality standards.
Investors
Urban Company has attracted investment from several prominent venture capital firms and angel investors, including:
– Ratan Tata
– VY Capital
– SAIF Partners
– Accel Partners
– Bessemer Venture Partners
This backing has allowed the company to scale rapidly and cement its position as a market leader.
Urban Company : Marketing Techniques
Word-of-mouth referrals are crucial for Urban Company’s growth. Satisfied customers sharing their experiences drives a lot of new business. Beyond this organic growth, the company uses various creative marketing tactics:
Social Media: Urban Company leverages platforms like Facebook and Instagram to reach potential customers. They use targeted ads based on demographics and interests.
Contextual Marketing: For example, they showed ads for home-cooked food delivery to students living away from home, tapping into their nostalgia and needs.
Guerrilla Marketing: In new cities, they’ve used intriguing tactics like sending mystery gifts to create buzz. For instance, in Mumbai they sent a series of gifts to one person over several days before revealing it was from Urban Company. This created curiosity and word-of-mouth publicity.
Occasion-based Campaigns: They create targeted campaigns around special occasions like Mother’s Day or festival seasons.
The core of Urban Company’s marketing strategy is positioning themselves as the solution to any service need in urban life – from dealing with weather issues to traffic problems, Urban Company wants to be the go-to platform that can help with a simple clap.
SWOT Analysis Of Urban Company
Strengths:
– Wide range of service offerings
– Direct interaction between professionals and customers
– Convenience of at-home services
– Multi-platform availability (app and website)
– Large customer base and transaction volume
Weaknesses:
– Lack of awareness about online services among some Indian consumers
– Trust issues related to e-commerce among certain demographics
– Limited reach in rural areas
Opportunities:
– Expansion into new service categories
– Geographic expansion to more cities
– Potential for economies of scale as the business grows
Threats:
– Competition from other online platforms and traditional service providers
– Potential for quality control issues as the provider network expands
Vision and Mission
Vision:
– To evolve into a world-class, progressive, cost-effective and customer-friendly company providing services at home
– To be a leader in service quality and customer satisfaction
– To provide luxury services at affordable prices
Mission:
– To offer excellent professionals and services
– To build a motivated workforce with strong work ethics
– To leverage the latest technology for customer satisfaction
– To act as a catalyst for socio-economic development
Long-term Vision:
Urban Company aims to empower over 1 million service professionals to become micro-entrepreneurs. The company wants to help these individuals increase their earnings significantly compared to traditional employment.
To achieve this, Urban Company assists service providers in five key areas:
1. Customer Access & Branding: Professionals work as Urban Company franchisees, benefiting from the company’s brand and customer base.
2. Steady Work: Urban Company aims to provide a consistent stream of customer orders, often accounting for 80-100% of a professional’s business.
3. Financial Support: The company helps professionals open bank accounts and access loans for equipment or vehicles.
4. Standardization: Urban Company creates standardized service offerings, pricing, and processes to improve the customer experience.
5. Training & Development: The company provides both soft skills and technical training to help professionals improve their services.
This model has allowed many service providers to significantly increase their earnings. For example, beauticians on the platform typically earn 3-5 times more than they would working in local salons.
Technology Infrastructure
Urban Company relies on two main software platforms to manage its operations:
1. Slack: This team collaboration tool is used for internal communication and project management.
2. Sherlock: A custom-built system for managing service requests, provider assignments, and customer data.
These tools help Urban Company maintain efficient operations as it scales across multiple cities and service categories.
Financial Performance
Urban Company has shown impressive growth in recent years:
– In FY2018, operational revenues jumped 309% to about Rs 45 crore, up from Rs 11 crore in FY2017.
– The company reduced losses by 25% to about Rs 50 crore in FY2018, down from Rs 66.7 crore the previous year.
– As of April 2018, Urban Company was processing about 450,000 orders per month, with an average order value of Rs 1200-1500.
– The company’s monthly cash burn rate decreased from Rs 7 crore to under Rs 2 crore in FY2018.
Urban Company’s revenue comes primarily from commissions on services (about 85%) and product sales to professionals (15%). The company typically takes a 10-20% commission on services, with some categories like beauty services on the higher end of that range.
Service Performance Analysis
Based on the data presented in the report:
– Salon at home and spa at home services generate about 65% of Urban Company’s revenue, making them the most important service categories.
– In the fitness training category, 82% of customers request male trainers, while only 18% request female trainers. This presents a challenge for Urban Company in promoting gender diversity among its service providers.
– For fitness training, the most popular option is the “Standard” category (male trainer, Rs 6000 for 12 sessions), chosen by 64% of customers. The “Normal” category (female trainer, Rs 7200 for 12 sessions) is chosen by 18%, while the “Premium” category (male trainer, Rs 8000 for 12 sessions) is chosen by 17%.
– The trial completion rate for new services is 59%, with 41% of trials being cancelled. This indicates a need for improvement in converting trials to regular customers.
– 75% of surveyed customers reported no serious medical issues, while 25% did have medical concerns. This information is important for tailoring services, especially in categories like fitness training.
– In terms of customer satisfaction, 14% of respondents were very satisfied with Urban Company’s services, 43% were satisfied, and 43% were neutral. This suggests room for improvement in delivering consistently high-quality services.
Challenges and Recommendations
Based on the analysis, some key challenges and recommendations for Urban Company include:
1. Improving gender diversity among service providers, especially in male-dominated categories like fitness training.
2. Reducing the trial cancellation rate to improve conversion of new customers.
3. Enhancing overall customer satisfaction, with a focus on moving more customers from “neutral” to “satisfied” or “very satisfied.”
4. Continuing to expand service offerings while maintaining quality control.
5. Balancing growth with profitability as the company scales.
6. Addressing trust issues related to online services among some Indian consumers.
7. Expanding reach into smaller cities and rural areas.
To address these challenges, Urban Company could consider:
– Implementing targeted recruitment and training programs for female service providers in underrepresented categories.
– Improving the trial booking process to reduce cancellations, possibly by implementing a small cancellation fee or sending reminders.
– Enhancing quality control measures and customer feedback systems to improve overall satisfaction.
– Carefully vetting new service categories before launch to ensure they meet quality standards.
– Investing in marketing and education initiatives to build trust in online services among hesitant consumers.
– Developing tailored strategies for expansion into smaller markets, possibly with modified service offerings.
Conclusion
Urban Company has successfully tapped into the growing demand for convenient, reliable home services in urban India. By leveraging technology to connect customers with verified service professionals, the company has brought organization and transparency to a previously fragmented market.
The company’s rapid growth and ability to attract significant investment demonstrate the potential of its business model. However, Urban Company also faces challenges as it scales, including maintaining service quality, improving customer satisfaction, and expanding into new markets and service categories.
As Urban Company continues to evolve, its success will likely depend on its ability to balance growth with quality control, adapt to changing consumer needs, and stay ahead of emerging competitors in the dynamic Indian market.
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Instructions for Students:
To update and modify this Project Report on Urban Company for your own use, consider the following steps:
1. Research the latest information about Urban Company (now known as Urban Company) to update financial figures, service offerings, and market presence.
2. Look for recent news articles or press releases about the company to include any major developments or strategic changes.
3. Analyze the company’s performance during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as this likely had a significant impact on the home services industry.
4. Update the competitive landscape section with information about new entrants or changes in the market dynamics.
5. If possible, conduct a small survey among Urban Company users in your area to gather fresh data on customer satisfaction and service preferences.
6. Research any new technologies or features that Urban Company has implemented in recent years to improve its service delivery or user experience.
7. Look into the company’s expansion into international markets, if any, and analyze the challenges and opportunities this presents.
8. Update the SWOT analysis based on the current market conditions and the company’s recent performance.
9. Investigate any changes in the regulatory environment that might affect Urban Company’s business model or operations.
10. Consider adding a section on the impact of Urban Company (Urban Company) on the gig economy in India and its role in formalizing the informal service sector.
Remember to cite all your sources properly and ensure that your updated report reflects the most current information available about the company and its market. Good luck with your project!