Ready Maid!

A Delhi based startup brings talent & training together to solve domestic help issues.

An efficient maid can be such a blessing in current times, especially when the Universe has practically got confined to our houses.

Yeah… lets face it. Be it that career defining meeting or attending a family wedding, a lot can change if there is a diligent help to look after the family in your absence.

Despite such a huge significance of these house helps in our lives, this sector remains unorganized and sporadic. And this is what irked three Delhi based young-entrepreneurs – Niharika Jain, Vaibhav Agrawal & Saurav Kumar, who joined hands to start Broomees in the year 2020.  It is definitely not your regular maid-placement agency. Let’s know more about this unique startup.

One would often see numerous jokes about the importance of an efficient house help or maid, despite the known significance, there’s a huge lag in the whole process of finding a help to hiring one. Why do you think this space is still so unorganized?

Correct, these jokes often find their way into our pitch-decks and leave the same question in the brightest minds of the room – why is there such a lag from finding to hiring a house-help. Well, to be really honest, this space is so unorganized because its genuinely hard to organize a market where there is lack of education, awareness and stable supply. The demand is endless, but there is a huge gap between what is available and what is employable. There’s nobody to train these helpers and make them working professionals who will take their work as proper jobs.

How did Broomees come about? And that too from ISB & DTU graduates!

Haha, we get that a lot from our friends, family and clients. But the reality is, my two co-founders (Vaibhav & Saurav/ the DTU guys) were always into social entrepreneurship – they used to teach underprivileged primary school kids for free by charging the rich kids (for fancier engineering subjects). They’ve worked with lots of NGOs and also had one of their own, which is why they both feel deeply about the social issues of the unorganized sector (or let’s just say, as Vaibhav jokingly puts it, “engineering was never our strength so we found our way out”). 
I happened to relate with the clients’ side of this issue when I met these two with their idea. When I’d moved away from my home and parents (ready to become the independent working woman of my dreams), I’d talk to my mother everyday who would tell me how difficult it was to manage work and home everyday without a reliable help. I tried multiple platforms to look for a helper, but even though I was ready to pay a premium for a good service, there were just no platforms available to help me!  So when I heard the idea, I felt that even though it’s a simple idea, there is a genuine need for a service like this!

What was the research like? The challenges you could foresee & now after one year of its inception, what are the learnings?

The research majorly included the issues that both clients and helpers face in this industry. 325k thefts by domestic workers were reported in 2019 alone! The average amount lost per customer is more than INR 24,500. We had faced issues ourselves before we started Broomees, but had no idea that it was to this extent. Even with such a large gap, there was no platform that was providing a reliable helper in Delhi. While assessing the market, we figured that in top 8 cities alone, this industry was worth more than $3 bn! The scope seemed huge.
We initially thought that traction would be a challenge since we were new in the industry, but the response was overwhelming and was way more than what we anticipated. The learning majorly has been that the supply needs basic etiquette and skill training which is something we are working towards. We are launching online training modules and will soon start with offline training as well.

The funding bit – from seed money to break even! How has it been?

We were actually profitable from the second month itself. We just needed money to expand and cater to the overwhelming demand! We started looking out for seed investors in Feb’ 2021 and got one within 15 days of our search! It was a small amount but the investor seemed like a perfect mentor! It has been 6 months since then and we hit break even in March itself! The demand is inconsistent because of the pandemic, but we have managed to sail through!

The other side – sourcing the workforce – how does it work? And what is your model of sourcing?                                                                     

We run multiple online and offline campaigns to get helpers. Our referral system is also strong and helps us capture more supply.

There is definitely a huge demand for the workforce, but the supply remains sloppy. In your opinion & experience so far, how can this be managed?

The only way to manage supply is by sourcing them from rural areas and training them extensively. A lot of trust needs to be built to maintain a steady pipeline of helpers. We genuinely help every worker get a job according to their expectations and that is very important. The company won’t grow until and unless your helpers are happy and treated well.

Any interesting or surprising anecdotes you can share with us?

Yes! We have had some amazing clients who were very supportive and understanding towards the help they hired from us. One of our helpers was studying while working at a client’s location. The client helped the helper with her studies and gave her sufficient time to prepare for exams. She ended up cracking SSC General Duty Constable Exam!

Being on the other side, we often hear of problems faced because of irregular house help but what are the issues these girls/boys face when they get hired in an urban household?                                                                                                                                                                               Unfortunately, we have heard a number of incidents where the helpers have gone through mental abuse. Some of them are made to work for more than 16 hours a day, served stale food, given unhygienic accommodation and even held against their will. It is appalling to see how inhumane people can sometimes be. We are very strict with our policies and withdraw the helper and our services immediately in such cases.

This sector can also provide a huge scope of social work or CSR initiatives. Anything in conduit yet?

We do not charge a single penny from our helpers. Everything is free for them, starting from their transportation to their covid test. We have also planned initiatives for free education for children of all our helpers. So some really exciting projects are on their way! We haven’t partnered with any corporates as of now, but are definitely open to it.

How has the response been from associated industries, peers, and other sectors?

The response has been a mix. We have some amazing NGOs and start-ups who have provided support by partnering with us in campaigns, providing databases and employment and food distribution drives. On the other hand, government bodies and initiatives have been of no use so far. We’re often harassed by police authorities too. Other agencies also see us as a threat and are unwilling to partner with us.

What next?

The plan is to hit round A of funding, expand further, test and train our helpers thoroughly and build a bigger team! We have transformed around 1000+ lives, and we plan to transform a million more!

– By Princy Jain