It’s that time again.
Just as you finished putting away the shorts and swim trunks, your smartphone tells you there’s a 40% chance of snow on Friday.
Well, thanks to a couple of Syracuse University grads, your aching back no longer has to dread the snowy mornings of doing what so many Central New Yorker’s “love” to do: shovel the driveway.
There’s an app for that!
Back in November of last year, Wills Mahoney and Andrew Englander launched an app called Plowz. Originating in three markets – Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo – Plowz is a service to have your driveway plowed with just a few taps on your smartphone.
Users are quoted based on a few quick questions on the scope of their driveway, can upload a photo so service providers can more easily identify the address, are charged via secure credit card when the job is done and get fast, reliable service with a photo of the finished product sent to them immediately. Plow companies also use the app via smartphone and are able to track and pick up jobs on routes they already drive, adding extra and immediate jobs.
Garnering national media attention almost immediately upon launch, Mahoney and Englander quickly decided to scale out to other cities including Minneapolis, Chicago, and Milwaukee – totaling 30 different locations. In short, Plowz was an instant hit.
Wills Mahoney and Andrew Englander launched an app called Plowz. Photo by Joe Cunningham
Wills Mahoney owns Express Computer Service – a small, local IT company out of Manlius, NY. One day, his Mother couldn’t get out of her driveway due to the snow and he had a horrible time calling around to get a plow: no one was answering the phone. It was then that he got the idea.
Englander partnered with developers Kris and Andy Minkstein of Lamplighter Labs. Together, they started working on the app to create a smooth system for both users and plow providers.
“One of the cool things about the Plowz app,” said Mahoney, “We know the exact location of our service providers at any given time. Therefore, the closest provider gets the job, creating faster response times for our customers as well.” They’ve even rolled out an ETA function this year, similar to the popular Uber black car service.
“We also pay within 24 hours,” noted Mahoney, “One of the biggest problems providers have is cash flow: hunting down outstanding payments. They just don’t have the time.” With the app, that’s all done automatically via secure credit card connection.
The service also employs a 24 hour call center for a personal touch: a human voice at the end of the line in case customers need anything – a little peace of mind.
The service is not just for smartphone users.
“Older people usually don’t have smartphones,” said Mahoney, “So we’ve opened up web ordering as well; but still encourage people to use the app.”
During last year’s Plowz season, the company also rolled out Mowz, which is – you guessed it – on demand lawn service, which has also seen huge success nationwide.
“Our Minneapolis market has been most successful, along with Raleigh for Mowz; and both Pittsburg and Boston have garnered huge markets. We are definitely past the ‘proof of concept’ stage,” said Mahoney.
“What’s cool about our company,” he said, “Is that some guys out there do all sorts of services but none of them well. We are adding Leavz leaf removal now to Mowz but get asked, ‘Why aren’t you doing Poolz?’ We simply want to nail these two services and do them well before expanding.”
The app is free for consumers and also free to join for providers. The developers collect a small percentage of the cost of the service.
Wills Mahoney owns Express Computer Service – a small, local IT company out of Manlius, NY. One day, his Mother couldn’t get out of her driveway due to the snow and he had a horrible time calling around to get a plow: no one was answering the phone. It was then that he got the idea.
Englander partnered with developers Kris and Andy Minkstein of Lamplighter Labs. Together, they started working on the app to create a smooth system for both users and plow providers.
“One of the cool things about the Plowz app,” said Mahoney, “We know the exact location of our service providers at any given time. Therefore, the closest provider gets the job, creating faster response times for our customers as well.” They’ve even rolled out an ETA function this year, similar to the popular Uber black car service.
“We also pay within 24 hours,” noted Mahoney, “One of the biggest problems providers have is cash flow: hunting down outstanding payments. They just don’t have the time.” With the app, that’s all done automatically via secure credit card connection.
The service also employs a 24 hour call center for a personal touch: a human voice at the end of the line in case customers need anything – a little peace of mind.
The service is not just for smartphone users.
“Older people usually don’t have smartphones,” said Mahoney, “So we’ve opened up web ordering as well; but still encourage people to use the app.”
During last year’s Plowz season, the company also rolled out Mowz, which is – you guessed it – on demand lawn service, which has also seen huge success nationwide.
“Our Minneapolis market has been most successful, along with Raleigh for Mowz; and both Pittsburg and Boston have garnered huge markets. We are definitely past the ‘proof of concept’ stage,” said Mahoney.
“What’s cool about our company,” he said, “Is that some guys out there do all sorts of services but none of them well. We are adding Leavz leaf removal now to Mowz but get asked, ‘Why aren’t you doing Poolz?’ We simply want to nail these two services and do them well before expanding.”
The app is free for consumers and also free to join for providers. The developers collect a small percentage of the cost of the service.
