VESTAL — A new digital marketplace called Chore No More, which seeks to allow consumers to quickly schedule snow-removal service for their driveways and walkways, recently launched in preparation for the approaching winter. Chore No More was founded by brothers Matthew and Peter Walsh, who are general contractors with third-generation, family-owned Walsh & Sons […]
VESTAL — A new digital marketplace called Chore No More, which seeks to allow consumers to quickly schedule snow-removal service for their driveways and walkways, recently launched in preparation for the approaching winter.
Chore No More was founded by brothers Matthew and Peter Walsh, who are general contractors with third-generation, family-owned Walsh & Sons Construction. Both have experience with snow removal, which they use to help fill the void left by the decline in general contracting work in winter, they say.
Chore No More (www.chorenomore.com), whose 2,500-square-foot office is located outside the city of Binghamton, at 200 Plaza Drive in Vestal, allows contractors to bid on consumers’ snow-removal requests. The business is targeting customers in upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania.
Users seeking snow removal, before or after a storm, provide their address on the company website (along with specific options such as walkway clearing and salt application), and contractors interested in the job submit bids. Google Maps is imbedded on the website for contractors to approximate the size of the job, according to the Walsh brothers.
Consumers receive an email alert every time a bid comes in, allowing them to compare prices and read reviews of specific contractors left by past customers, according to the Walsh brothers.
“We see how difficult it is for customers to shop for these services,” says Matthew Walsh. “The options out there currently aren’t very streamlined, because customers have to do their own research.”
There is no commitment from customers, be it through subscription or contractor fees, Peter Walsh says. Users can back out if they don’t like any of the bids from contractors. They aren’t locked in until they accept a bid. There is no season-long commitment either, which some snowplowing services force customers into, Peter adds.
Chore No More generates its revenue via a 10 percent service charge added to every job. Peter Walsh says that helps fund the firm’s web development and marketing costs.
Chore No More isn’t just meant to help streamline the process for the consumer. Peter Walsh says they got the idea for the company from working on the other side, as contractors, and Chore No More helps streamline the process for them as well.
Billing is automated for member contractors, so they don’t need to worry about sending out invoices and waiting for payments, simplifying their overhead and office work, Peter Walsh says.
He contends that there are competitor services available who take advantage of contractors, but the brothers’ seek to do just the opposite since they are contractors themselves.
Chore No More has four owners, the Walsh brothers being two and the majority, they say.
They first began assembling their team to begin work on the service in December 2014. The exact number of company employees fluctuates regularly, but it had seven full-time employees at the time of its launch in October, which include a marketing team and web developers.
The brothers say they used a combination of personal assets and local investors to fund the startup costs. They declined to disclose specific financial information.
Once the Chore No More service was set up, a soft launch took place in April, for use by people seeking lawn-mowing service. The soft launch was intended to generate feedback so the kinks could be fixed before the full launch in October, according to Peter Walsh.
The brothers said the lawn service had success in signing up contractors. They plan on expanding that service this coming spring.
Contractors also appear to be taking to the idea of Chore No More’s snow-removal service, as the number that have signed up has nearly doubled since the start of October, from about 50 to 90 total, according to Matt Walsh.
The Binghamton, Elmira, and Buffalo areas are best represented by the contractors, but the Rochester, Scranton, Utica, and Syracuse areas also have contractors signed up, according to Walsh. He anticipates further expansion of coverage areas as winter progresses.
The Walshs’ acknowledge they need to get the contractors ahead of the customers so that work requests can be fulfilled. Once they get through their sampling of contractors, and they learn more, Peter and Matt will continue working to expand in and out of the state, they say.