SwiftAide: How a Kenyan Startup is Creating Job Opportunities

By
admin
-

The gig economy is taking over the modern-day workforce. Gig workers are prominent in nearly every industry and trade worldwide, and they come with a range of experience and talents. They can be found in finance, health care, Web development, education, marketing, transportation, construction … and the list goes on.

With the advent of cloud-based technology, mobile apps and platforms, and smartphones, it has never been easier and more cost-effective to find, hire, and work with gig workers. In a short time, it is possible to find, hire, and on board a highly qualified professional for your business needs. In the following interview with StartUp Magazine, George Karimi, the founder and CEO of SwiftAide shares how the platform can benefit workers, businesses, and consumers by making work more adaptable to the needs of the moment and demand for flexible lifestyles.

Share a brief history of SwiftAide and its mandate?

SwiftAide is a Kenyan mobile marketplace that enables users to outsource everyday tasks while helping people find great local businesses and professionals.  One Sunday in May 2017, I found myself in an unsettling situation. My usual cleaning lady did not show up and I was forced to do my laundry on a very cold night since I did not have any clean clothes and I could not get someone else to do it for me. That’s when the idea popped up.

What did you set out to achieve?

SwiftAide works on a simple principle: busy people will pay someone else to run their errands. We want to make getting skilful aides as easy as hailing a ride via a mobile app.

Who do you target and how do you help them achieve their objectives?

We target the young professionals who are busy but demand a flexible lifestyle and don’t have time to do house hold or menial chores. We help them outsource such services at the comfort of their space, allowing them to focus on important aspects of their lives such as family and/or work.

We also seek to give a platform for the unemployed and skilled people like plumbers, mechanics, electricians, cleaners and gardeners among others. It basically gives them a lifeline to earn a living since the formal job market cannot absorb everyone.

The platform gives local businesses and professionals visibility on the digital stage. Let’s say you are looking for a Dentist near you, it is as easy as opening the app, analyse a dentist in your locality and procuring their services.

SwiftAide gets a commission for every completed job. Clients can pay directly from the app, which has a wallet connected to their mobile money accounts.

What can you term as your greatest achievement over time?

I loved and I still love hearing stories of people using our app to solve a problem successfully. As soon as we had it up and running, we immediately heard success stories. One in particular that really touched me was a manager who was working in Turkana and his Mum who lives in Nairobi was taken ill and rushed to hospital. So, he procured services of an aide who took fruits and flowers to the hospital and actually used the aide’s phone for a video chat with the Mum. It was such a relief for him.

The app is free on the Google PlayStore and we do not charge clients and aides so sign up. However, businesses can subscribe at a small fee. We currently have over 300 aides, 300 businesses and over 1000 clients using the app.

Which unique challenges have you faced? Any interventions?

There was a huge learning curve from building a product to building a company. When I first started, I was just building the technology and platform. Soon, I needed to understand marketing, financing and operations among others. I have never been to a business class, so I learned everything on the job.

Are there prospects we can look forward to?

Although we are only on major towns in Kenya, we aim to expand beyond our borders since we are seeing a major improvement in smart phone and internet penetration across the region and with the advent of 5G technology combined with mobile money, doing business would be very cost effective.

With many unemployed graduates and unemployed skilled workers, we hope that SwiftAide will become a lifeline for the unemployed workforce in the region.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

542 COMMENTS

  21. web hosting reviews

    […]although internet sites we backlink to below are considerably not related to ours, we really feel they’re really really worth a go as a result of, so have a look[…]

  29. adam and eve dildo

    […]we prefer to honor quite a few other online web pages around the internet, even when they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

  37. film streaming

    […]we prefer to honor several other internet web pages around the internet, even when they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Below are some webpages worth checking out[…]

  49. pocket vagina

    […]although web-sites we backlink to beneath are considerably not associated to ours, we feel they are truly really worth a go as a result of, so possess a look[…]

  59. goldline cosmetics

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine several unrelated information, nevertheless genuinely worth taking a search, whoa did one particular find out about Mid East has got additional problerms at the same time […]

  71. free download for pc

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine some unrelated data, nevertheless really worth taking a appear, whoa did 1 understand about Mid East has got extra problerms as well […]

  122. weed for sale in europe

    […]we prefer to honor quite a few other world wide web internet sites around the net, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

  142. Uganda Tour

    […]we like to honor several other net web pages around the web, even though they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

  148. how to use fake vagina

    […]we like to honor several other world wide web web-sites on the web, even though they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages worth checking out[…]

  179. TÜM HABERLER

    […]we prefer to honor numerous other web web sites around the net, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages worth checking out[…]

  191. ecigarettes

    […]although internet sites we backlink to below are considerably not associated to ours, we feel they’re truly really worth a go by way of, so have a look[…]

  199. stiiizy store

    […]although websites we backlink to beneath are considerably not connected to ours, we really feel they are really really worth a go through, so have a look[…]

  201. restaurant food delivery

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine some unrelated data, nevertheless genuinely really worth taking a look, whoa did one particular understand about Mid East has got extra problerms too […]

  218. dildo

    […]check below, are some entirely unrelated internet sites to ours, on the other hand, they may be most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

  230. beretta 1301 gen 2

    […]although internet sites we backlink to below are considerably not associated to ours, we really feel they are actually really worth a go through, so have a look[…]

  233. Google

    Although web sites we backlink to beneath are considerably not related to ours, we really feel they’re in fact really worth a go as a result of, so possess a look.

  242. Bitcoin Wallet

    […]we prefer to honor several other online web pages on the net, even when they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

  248. scrap car removal

    […]we like to honor quite a few other world-wide-web web pages around the net, even when they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Below are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

  266. male sex toy

    […]very couple of web sites that happen to become comprehensive below, from our point of view are undoubtedly effectively worth checking out[…]

  267. glo cartridge

    […]that may be the end of this article. Right here you will come across some internet sites that we believe you’ll value, just click the hyperlinks over[…]

  268. kusama

    […]we prefer to honor many other internet web sites on the internet, even though they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages worth checking out[…]

  279. Colt Python For Sale

    […]although internet websites we backlink to beneath are considerably not related to ours, we really feel they’re in fact worth a go by way of, so possess a look[…]

  281. benefits of masturbation

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine some unrelated information, nonetheless truly really worth taking a appear, whoa did one master about Mid East has got additional problerms too […]

  283. custom lash boxes

    […]we prefer to honor several other web web-sites around the net, even though they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Beneath are some webpages worth checking out[…]

  300. marketing assignment

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a handful of unrelated data, nonetheless really worth taking a appear, whoa did one understand about Mid East has got much more problerms too […]

  316. Moroccan hash

    […]that would be the finish of this report. Here you will find some internet sites that we think you will value, just click the links over[…]

Comments are closed.