COMPANY

Name: ChoreRelief

Legal Name: Chores R US LLC

Location: Chicago, IL

Founded: January 2017

Founder(s): Tarik Khribech

Website: https://chorerelief.com/

Social Media: 84 followers on Vimeo, 1309 followers on Twitter, 22 subscribers on YouTube, 9506 followers on Instagram, 171 followers on Facebook

Reviews: 4.4 stars from 53 ratings on App Store, 4.5 stars on Google Play from 12 reviews

Industry: USA Gig Economy

Size: 3.9M Americans in 2016 (Source: NACO)

Future: 9.2M Americans by 2021 (Source: NACO)

Introduction

Need a handyman, plumber or electrician? The ChoreRelief app allows users to hire skilled home-servicing gig-workers on-demand. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices. 

From cleaning to landscaping, snow removal, simple home maintenance, and moving homes, the app offers a select set of service providers for hire. Also, users looking for repeat servicing can automate the scheduling, invoicing, and payment on the app dashboard. In short, ChoreRelief simplifies the discovery, purchase, and management of services for consumers. 

The Product

All consumers need to do is list their chore and budget on the ChoreRelief app and then schedule the service time-slot. Immediately, local contractors will receive the request and can bid on it. Once a provider accepts the job, users can even track their progress. 

To ensure quality and authenticity, the startup runs background checks, followed by interviews before adding them on to the platform. Users can also post reviews of professionals, which others can read and base their hiring decision on.

“We want to make sure they are people-friendly and willing to go above and beyond to make sure the customer is satisfied and happy before we approve them as a business we want to partner with,” said Khribech to BuiltInChicago. “This is a relationship business we’re building. We want to make sure we send the right individual to your home.”

It also helps contractors, registered with the platform, gain access to new projects. From bidding to new lead generation, invoicing and payments, everything is taken care of by the ChoreRelief platform. Its dashboard also enables contractors to build teams and manage them in real-time.

To further the entrepreneurial spirit of service providers, the startup also offers access to jobs and educational materials. They even organize monthly workshops for contractors, where matters of insurance, taxes, payroll and more are discussed. At the time of registration, contractors are also insured up to $2M that covers on-job mishaps. 

“Thriving and productive providers are the key to a healthy, sustainable shared economy and to great consumer experience,” said Khribech in a press release. “When providers are empowered as entrepreneurs and consumers are served according to their need, price point, and location…everyone wins.” 

ChoreRelief charges a percentage of the cost of services performed, from the contractors, according to WGNTV.

Origin and Founding Team

As with most tech-startups, ChoreRelief was also born out of a need-gap personally experienced by the founder. Tarik Khribech, a seasoned entrepreneur, in 2015 faced a plumbing issue at home. So, he started reaching out to several plumbers, one after the other. But they either didn’t have the time or ended up cancelling last minute. Finally, one plumber turned up, spent just 10 minutes fixing the issue, and charged a whopping $325. Khribech said, in a Youtube video, that he felt helpless at that moment.

So, he decided to set up a platform, which started servicing just select northern Chicago suburbs, and that could eliminate property owner’s worries about getting chores done.

“For many, buying properties is the easy part. Taking care of them, well, that’s another thing altogether,” mentions Khribech on his LinkedIn profile.

On the other hand, he also wanted to empower service providers to take control of their unique business needs and secure new jobs with ease. He was also aware that most contractors were concerned about not getting paid on time.

To address these challenges and more, he orchestrated the soft launch of ChoreRelief in 2018, according to Bootstrapping In America. 

Then Khribech spent years testing the property management app and securing feedback from end-users, before officially launching the company in April 2019. 

Performance and Trends

In May 2017, ChoreRelief was able to facilitate 2000 service orders per month, across three markets.

And shortly afterward, in June 2017, they secured $35,000 via crowdfunding, according to a press release. Then, in October 2017, the platform achieved a month-over-month user acquisition rate of 35% – growing its base to 1000 users.

ChoreRelief, headquartered in Chicago’s 1871 Technology Incubator, organically expanded to New York City, Florida, Texas and California by May 2018.
What’s more, this on-demand marketplace makes revenues of $6.9M according to ZoomInfo.