How we grew our business by 1000% in 4 months —WeSabi boss

When WeSabi, a tech company was launched in 2015, few people anticipated that it would grow very quickly, except maybe, the founders. The small company since expanded its services to Lagos, serving both individuals and corporate bodies. Currently, the company completes 100 tasks weekly in the two cities, seeing a 1,000 per cent growth in the last four months. Last year December, the company was selected as one of the best startups in Africa at the African Entrepreneurship Awards in Morocco, winning the “Uncharted” category for their work in leading a new sector. In this interview, one of the founders, Sanni Murtala talks about the company’s growth and the plans for the future.

 

Your company was recently selected as one the best startups in Africa at the African Entrepreneurship Awards in Morocco, winning the “Uncharted” category. Apart from that, the company has grown by 1,000 per cent in four months. How did you achieve this and was there a personal experience that inspired your company?

Oh, absolutely, I had moved into a new apartment in an entirely new suburb in Abuja, and I found myself needing an AC technician and a plumber. It took me two weeks to get my leaking sink fixed, and the plumber still did a shoddy job.

I saw a gap but wanted to be sure other people had this issue too with local Artisans, so I did a random survey, for 100 people, and the result was 9 in 10 people had serious issues with getting a reliable and good artisan in their locality. This is what birthed WeSabi.

 

How does it work, your business, I mean?

Our company is an online platform that helps households and offices find reliable and certified Artisans such as plumbers, electricians, cleaners etc in their neighborhood. Users visit our website, fill out a request form detailing their information and what they need to get done, they are immediately matched with the closest and available Artisan in our network. They both receive notification, the artisans call the client to affirm schedule, some of our services have fixed prices already, those that don’t, and the client will be billed upon inspection. Clients then pay through WESABI while the worker completes the job, workers are only paid when clients are okay with the job.

 

One of the key selling points for your company is clients’ safety. How do you guarantee that?

We have a professional indemnity insurance to the tune of N1,000,000 that protects our clients from rare cases of damages and theft. Artisans also go through a very thorough vetting process to be part of our network.

 

What does the on-boarding process for artisans entail?

It’s a very thorough process, we partner with technical and vocational training schools in any new city we set up, to ensure we get the best artisans in the community. Independent artisans are also allowed to apply through our website, but they go through a skill assessment with a partnered vocational school to test their level of skill, they then go through another screening process, where we ask questions about their integrity, and make sure they fully understand our process.

 

As a tech start-up in this economy, what challenges have you faced and how did you overcome them?

Funding and Infrastructure. We were fortunate to get into the Ventures platform accelerator program, so we had access to some funding, good mentoring and an awesome network.

 

What are the most valuable skills or experiences you’ve gained in the course of running a tech start-up?

Persistence – I have come to learn that only those who don’t give up win. Hardwork – It is hard, that’s why few people succeed. Team work – You can’t do it alone.

 

You were in the Ventures Platform acceleration program, how has that helped your business?

First thing first, I have to thank the founders of this accelerator programme for believing in us and our project. Ventures Platform invested funds into WeSabi, which helped us grow so fast, asides this, we had access to amazing and hands on mentors, who were always willing to help us. Since we went through the Ventures platform, we have been growing at an average of 20 per cent every month till date. We still have access to the amazing network too.

 

Being in the programme, what would you say was the best part of the experience?

The scrum – This is a session that holds once a week, to determine each startup’s progress. It was always a very intense session, where each company had to show progress made. It was a good experience for the WeSabi team, we learned so many new things about growing businesses, what works, what doesn’t. I also loved the periodical events; it provided a good time to network and to tell outsiders about your business.

 

What is your goal for this company?

My goal is to become a market place for the informal and blue-collar sector in Africa.