The competition in the newest technologies for companies has led to many breakthroughs and great ideas to simplify the lives of both consumers and businesses. The introduction of smartphones and other mobile devices started a revolution for entrepreneurs. Creating web based businesses and mobile apps has been an ongoing trend ever since smartphones have become a popular consumer good.
Running a landscaping business called the College Yard Guys the last few years has led me to do research on other companies in the area. Through my research I found a brilliant application called Mowz & Plowz. The company started in 2013 by two former Syracuse University roommates Wills Mahoney and Andrew Englander.
The app started in Syracuse after Will was inspired when his mother got stuck in her driveway after a snowstorm and had no snow plow to help her get out. Plowz & Mowz is an app that is on demand services for mowing and plowing. Being in the landscaping business, you realize that some days may be shorter if you finish your job early. The application is simple and requires minimum effort to schedule a plow or mow. Customers enter their personal information after downloading the app and then click either “Schedule a plow” or “Schedule a mow”. The app then sends the request to service providers that are logged on to the platform. The jobs are given to the closest provider and allow for quick and easy job completion. After completion the customer’s credit card is billed and the service provider sends a picture of the completed job to the customer.
The apps only took two months to start spreading and now it has spread to 36 markets including major cities like Boston, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta. This type of application helps both those providing and looking for services. Companies who are looking to make some extra money are able to find lawns on their routes without having to gather customer and billing information. It helps landscaping companies make thousands of extra income every year without having to up increase their marketing efforts. These applications help serve as any easy middleman and the business brings in 25 to 35% of every transaction. Although the app does destroy customer relationships, it has a very high customer satisfaction. The future goals of both Mahoney and Englander are to keep expanding into other major cities and into other markets.
The company has already expanded into a leaf raking platform called Leavz that offers the same on demand service. Mowz & Plowz are similar to services like Uber and Air B & B and with the correct focus they can stay very successful.
This “uber for lawn mowing and snow plowing” is such a great idea. I know so many people personally who don’t own anything else other than a shovel for their driveways int eh winter, because it doesn’t get too bad out to need anything more than that. But when it does get really bad, although very rare, a service like this would be necessary to plow their driveway. Plus, it’s even better that a couple of college guys made the app. Always great to hear success stories like that!