Interview: How Gerald Okonkwo is Making Hiring Handymen Easy with iFixng

When it comes to hiring artisans and handymen for either tasks around the home or office, there’s the challenge of going about in search of one. When you eventually find, the next question that comes up is if they’re skilled enough to carry out the job. To make this process a lot easier, a number of startups have sprung up to connect Nigerians with skilled artisans and handymen.

iFixng is one of such platforms. Founded by Gerald Okonkwo, a graduate of Computer Engineering from Madonna University, the platform helps Nigerians locate artisans and handymen in their neighbourhod.

In this interview with Gerald, he revealed more about iFixng, and what he hopes to achieve through the platform.

Tell us about iFixng?

iFixng.com is an online platform for hiring/engaging the services of professional handymen and artisans closest to you, who have gone through rigorous levels of scrutiny and background check.

What inspired the idea for it?

In the year 2016, I got the motivation to pivot from our sister company WeFix to iFixng.com; an online platform that completely relieves clients and customers of the tedious and frustrating process of simply finding a reliable handyman or artisan.

This came with the ever increasing need of customers as the number of properties in Nigeria significantly increased from over 12million properties as at the 2006 sensors to over 100million properties in 2014, according to the Nigerian bureau of statistics and data records.

The role iFixng.com is going to play in this regards is to make hiring a handyman very easy and time – saving by simply logging in on our online platform

How does the platform work?

Between logging onto iFixng.com and requesting for a handyman; the entire process takes less than 2 minutes. Upon request, a certified and background checked handyman who resides closest to the location of request is then routed to the customer at a time pre-set by the customer.

The platform is entirely free for customers to use as there are no booking fees or consultancy fees attached and job negotiations for work to be done are absolutely between the customer and handyman.

What does it take for artisans to get signed up on the platform?

Handymen and Artisans who are interested in increasing their chances of getting jobs and access to training opportunities will need to sign up through our online/offline channels. Our offline channels exist via certain mapped out registration booths with recharge card vendors.

There’s no signup fee; as the registration is absolutely free, but upon sign up, the handymen are required to come for our on-boarding sessions to complete the registration process.

How do you ensure only skilled artisans are signed up?

It’s during our on-boarding process that we get to really scrutinize the handymen to ensure only those who are “fit for the job” get fully registered on our platform.

We also insist that all handymen provide two guarantors; one in the form of a previous employer or customer who can vouch for previous jobs done and the other a surety to sign-off as a surety for indemnity purposes.

Are there features in place to monitor service provided, and ensure users are getting quality?

Yes! Apart from the training programs we have scheduled for handymen in partnership with MI Education Australia, a handyman/artisan training institute in Australia offering certification courses and issuance of RPLs, we also get feedback from the customers in real time to ensure they’re getting the best services. At the end of every job, customers also get to rate the experience with the handymen.

Does iFix get a commission when artisans get jobs through the platform?

We Operate on a Subscription fee & Transaction Commission basis, handymen pay a flat sum of N1000 to get access to two jobs (i.e 1000 for every two jobs @ N500 per job) and for every job worth more than N19,999 (Nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine Naira) in service charge, we take 5% commission.

There are a large number of artisans who are not tech-savvy. How do you bring this population on board?

We harness this opportunity via our offline registration channels and existing partnerships with the likes freelance trainers, technical schools, apprentice trainers, etc.

With a number of startups in Nigeria offering same service, what makes iFix different?

We’re handyman focused and as such we channel a lot of our resources on ensuring our handymen are well groomed and ready to serve in the emerging markets, defining the “future of work”.

This goes further to reflect on the quality of jobs received from our handymen, one second to none.

Since kick-off, how has the response been from Nigerians?

It’s been very positive, we often get good reviews from customers about the quality of services received, and since our official Launch in May, we’ve processed over 200 jobs in Lagos alone.

What are the challenges you faced getting the startup running, and how did you overcome them?

Our major challenge was signing up and grooming handymen to become a world class work-force. Once we figured that out, it’s been a pretty smooth sailing for us.

Tell a little about yourself and the story behind your foray into entrepreneurship.

My journey to become an entrepreneur began in the year 2012 during my IT in the university, I realised how difficult it was for me and people around me to get reliable artisans and handymen, this inspired me to try to solve that problem and I started a company then called WeFix; where we helped people get reliable handymen and also manage maintenance projects for them.

In 2016, I got inspired to pivot WeFix to an online model – iFixng.com where customers can easily engage the services of handymen and artisans online without stress.

With good training from a reputable institution such as London Academy Business School, I’ve been prepared in the minimum requirements needed to run a business organisation such as Ifix.

Also, over the years I’ve developed some hands on technical expertise from my experience while running WeFix from 2012 – 2016, which has prepared me mentally and in all ramifications.