But with concierge services already present in the region, how is Mashaweer distinguishing themselves? “We also have a handful of concierge companies as our regular customers. We differentiate ourselves by offering a very flexible, nonrigid approach to customer service. We listen to our clients and do our very best to accommodate any request. Our goal is to become perceived as their very own personal driver whom they can trust with all their day-to-day to-do [lists].” One of the most important differences as well is that Mashaweer charge by trip and not by time, and they “entertain individual orders and not through monthly packages.” Speaking of individual orders, in U.S. errand startups like TaskRabbit, users can run errands for others. Has Mashweer considered this feature? Although the duo would “never say never” to the
idea, El Sherbini brings up the difficulty of “the legality and formality factor as well as for safety and security.” Mashaweer is fully insured but these factors can “get quite complicated.” El Sherbini brings up the selective hiring process that’s essential for the “consistently efficient and quality service” they provide. Their long-term customers know and trust their drivers and El Sherbini asserts that just “like any great business, our people are our most important asset, and have been the driving force to our success so far.”
Their development and testing stage involved three main areas: software and systems, time, and people. “It was critical for us to perfect our software and systems to create a platform that is right for the company and this type of service”
some golf clubs from Al Quoz, and deliver them to the hotel where he was staying. We’ve also had requests to pick up impounded cars, send them to the impoundment station and pick them up again once the impound time has been completed!”
WHO’S WHO Co-founder Hani
El Sherbini is a 46-year-old civil engineering graduate with a diverse background varying from project management to business development, as well as having an import and export business dealing with construction materials and foodstuffs in the GCC and African market. Co-founder 44-year-old Ahmed Shabbara brings on board extensive experience in logistics and operations from his background as an owner of a leading cargo and transport company in Egypt.
HOW IT WORKS “Our business model is simple; we provide a service with the sole aim of saving valuable time and resources of our target market, which includes people with busy lifestyles and corporate executives. We offer a solution to help individuals and companies save time, effort and resources by being their very own trusted partner who can take some of the burden off their busy schedules at very competitive rates.”
BOOKING “Placing an order with Mashaweer is very simple and our customers can basically reach us anyway they like. They can either give us a call, place their order online through our website, email us, send us a post on Facebook, Twitter- whatever way is most convenient to them. Once an order is registered, customers are sent a confirmation email with an order number followed by another email once a pick up has been made. Later, they will receive an email once the order/errand has been completed.”
ROI “We use a simple NPV
[Net Present Value] to calculate our ROI. Based on our growth pattern we estimate that we will break even beginning of 2015, and we expect to sustain a doubledigit growth every quarter thereafter. We have been operational almost three years and our growth is amazing on all levels, number of errands, customer base and sales figures. “
WHEN, WHAT, WHY “We are
busiest during the week, but on weekends we get quite a lot of deliveries involving special occasions and birthday party-related orders. Cheque collection and bank deposits are one of the very popular errands requested by corporate customers.” RANDOM REQUESTS “We have gotten quite a few random orders that none seem so strange anymore! From mums calling because one of the kids left their PE kit at home, to a wife wanting to surprise her husband who was visiting to Dubai on a business trip during his birthday and asked us to fetch
CLIENTS “Our user base is
split into individual customers and corporate clients. Almost 65% of our business comes from corporate clients and the remaining comes from individual customers. 70% of our total user base is female while 30% is male.”
NOVEMBER 2014
Entrepreneur
87