Melbourne startup takes on giants like Gumtree & ServiceSeeking
January 17, 2014
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Room For Improvement Logo</figcaption>
This is our first Press Release for RFI, would love to receive any feedback.
Room For Improvement (RFI), a Melbourne startup, is revolutionizing Australia’s house renovation market by effectively connecting tradesmen with customers.
Room For Improvement, a Microsoft Bizspark startup, creates an online environment wherein tradesmen can easily find projects in the renovation market. Customers, who need home improvement projects done, can post what they need and get quotes.
Discussing the current gap in the market, Has, one of the founders pointed out that tradesmen currently rely on word of mouth to find the next job. “People do not need house renovation projects on a daily basis. It means tradesmen need to be constantly on the look for the next project. Moreover, you could do an amazing job on a project, but that will not necessarily contribute to your reputation.” says Has AlTaiar.
With RFI, tradesmen have the chance to get recommendations and showcase previous projects they have done. This, not only helps them build an online reputation, but also assists the next person who needs a project done. “There is a lot of skepticism on the customer side and every home improvement project seems like a draw of luck. We wanted to take the guessing out of it. As an end user, you should have a pretty good idea about the quality of what you will get well before committing into anything. This adds more transparency to the market prices as well”.
Founders, two top Monash graduates, came up with the idea when they experienced the problems first hand. “As if building a house is not stressful enough, I had to deal with a lot of uncertainty not knowing whether the tradies I had hired were going to do the job as I had hoped”, Has adds. “We truly believe this (RFI) will be a game changer.”
Website’s modern look and feel, the encouraging initial user take-up and the sheer enthusiasm of the founders all seem to promise a potential major player in the market. For now, users and investors are keeping an eye on Room For Improvement.
If you have a comment, feedback or a question, I would love to hear from you