Development of Handyman Search Service

Business Challenge

The client came up with the idea of creating a unique digital platform from scratch and thus uniting companies engaged in craft industries. The customer analyzed the German market. This research helped to identify that lots of companies operating in craft industries are looking for new ways to sell their services. Based on the results of this analysis the client decided to design/implement the system that will open new opportunities for such firms.

The software has an aim to connect the companies from the following areas: electrical services, sanitary, heating/climate, painters, glaziers, scaffolding, window fitters, roofers, tilers, tinsmith, and others. Through the creation of the digital platform for communication and employee hiring our client pursued the goal of building a network of customers and contractors from craft industries.

On the one hand, this B2B solution was intended to extend the opportunities for the firms from craft industries and provide easy search for new customers. On the other hand, the client intended to turn this craft software into a full-fledged network in Germany. Digitalization in the craft sector is one of the topics that has become popular in Germany today.

Solution

The customer having a precise digital transformation strategy in mind hired a dedicated development team with .NET / Angular stack for the realisation of the project. All team members had several years of experience in software development, good technical background, and excellent hard and soft skills. Of course, the software engineering team was managed directly by the Head of IT and development from the customer’s side. The dedicated development team worked on a model of two-week sprints. Management conducted daily meetings and got up-to-date statuses of the work of each team member. At the end of each sprint software development team arranged demos to showcase the progress to the company’s shareholders. After all, the engineering team had planning sessions to identify and estimate the scope of work for the next sprint.

In short, the development team was responsible for the following tasks:

• Architecture and design of the system
• Back-end and front-end development
• CI/CD configuration (Azure DevOps)
• Testing
• Deployment and support

How does the handyman search service work?

The digital platform is a suitable solution for craftsmen or companies looking for support from other craft businesses in Germany. The web portal for project-based cooperation covers all the topics related to craftsmanship. The creation of a platform for craftsmen is a big step in terms of digital transformation. Software solution empowers craft businesses with alternative ways of growth.

Software for craftsmen gives craft suppliers the ability to manage and allocate their resources rationally as well as to propose partners’ employees/services for an exact period. Also, firms can perform the search for specialists with corresponding industry skills, experience, and location in narrowly specialized areas according to the current needs of the organization. The developed craft business software simplifies the process of craftsman search, making it easier to find a fitting worker within the defined time and rate, etc. Additionally, it helps companies from the craft sector to get additional profit from the work of an employee, who currently has no internal tasks and can be involved in external activities.

In brief, the designed system has the following parts of functionality:

Companies module

This is a page, where craft suppliers fill in general information about their business. Generally speaking, the company owner defines the craft industries, in which his firm operates. He also adds additional information like the number of employees in an exact industry, addresses of company branches, contacts, organization’s brief description, which can also include the corporate logo. In addition, the company owner can manage his profile as well as add his avatar.

Сraft business software offers an extensive company search with different criteria. The more information the company profile has, the higher the probability of appearing in search results. So, users can execute searches by location, craft industries, employee skills & qualifications, and certifications. For example, a customer has a project in Hamburg where it is necessary to conduct wiring in new buildings. He can execute a search by Hamburg + electrical services industry and find in company search results possible cooperation partners. The customer can review detailed company profiles to decide if this is a good match for him and contact the craft supplier to discuss the details.

Projects module

Companies can post projects on this digital platform while looking for support from other craft businesses. So, they just need to add information about the work to be done and brief descriptions. Additionally, they can define an industry or several industries and point out the amount of craftsmen needed. For example, there is an order for painters to design, decorate, and paint the walls of an office center.

On the contrary, craft suppliers have also an option to search for assignments from other companies and apply for them. Accordingly, they propose their help through the realization of an exact task. For instance, the company is focused on repairing buildings and has staff employees with different skills. This firm finds the project from another company and the scope of work includes replacement of the roof on several houses. In this case, the craft supplier applies the project and proposes roofers with respective skills for cooperation.

Employees module

Software for craftsmen has an employee module. In the employee module, craft suppliers create their employee’s profiles. Сertainly, the company adds its craftsmen, defines their skills & qualifications, and levels, and selects scopes like refrigerant certificates, driver’s license etc. Indeed, the company may add as much information as it deems necessary. 

Notably, employee profiles appear in employee searches for other companies. If the firm is looking for a cooperation partner, it can execute a search by employee skills & qualifications & scopes. In case of a match, the search executor can get in touch regarding the profile of the interesting craftsmen with the company owner.

Surprisingly, the firm also has the option to clarify the availability of its employees in their profiles on this handyman services marketplace. This helps other craft businesses, who are searching for additional resources to select the cooperation partner taking into account time frames. For example, company A has an employee in the heating/climate industry with proficient qualifications in heat pump installation and this craftsman will be available for the new projects in 2 months. Company B also has a person with these qualifications, who is available in 1 week. In turn, the customer has an order to install the heat pump no later than 1 month. He will select company B for the cooperation since the company has a skilled employee with the necessary qualifications and availability that matches the customer’s requirements. Anyway, it all depends on the situation.

Another key point is that employee search is featured with the search agent. For instance, the customer might execute an employee search, but no results are found. In this case, he has an option to configure his search agent. As soon as matching search results appear in the system, customers will be informed about them through the letter on a daily or weekly basis. Hence, the customer doesn’t need to open a handyman search service to check out if there have already appeared available craftsmen with the required skills.

Membership & invoicing module

The first thing to remember, each company has access to some scope of functionality based on its membership. In general, software for craftsmen offers 3 types of memberships. One of them is free with limited functionality; two others – paid. Paid memberships give access to advanced functionality and additional benefits. Сraft business software has a view, where companies can review, manage their current memberships and order additional packages.

Messaging module

Surely, the handyman search service has a messaging module. This module enables message exchange between platform users. Also, users here receive contact requests from employees, company, and project searches.

Forum

The digital platform has a forum, where users have access to interesting articles and materials from craft industries related topics. Furthermore, they have an option to comment on the postings and communicate with other forum visitors. In addition, it is also possible to post your articles with topics that somehow correlate with the craft sector. 

Must be remembered that this forum has a special search field that enables easy search for the articles by an exact word or phrase. In general, all articles are placed in various industry categories. If, for example, the user wants to read news and innovations from the sanitary industry, he can just select this one and review all the postings.

Admin tool

Handyman search service has an admin tool. It is available only for the platform owner team. In this admin tool, the client reviews extensive information about the platform users. Admin tool for handyman services marketplace showcases the following information:

• Companies. The list of registered companies includes basic information about the firms. F.e. date of registration, selected membership, etc. Admin can open the company and check its detailed view. This information includes the data about the company industry, a brief description, and so on. Also, on the company detailed page admin can use the company deletion option and remove the company from the system. In addition, administrators can edit the information in companies’ profiles. Admins do this action only in the case if there is a corresponding request from the company. 
• User login statistics. This overview showcases the statistics about users’ visits to the handyman search portal.
• Search statistic shows the most popular searches among the users.
• Vouchers generator for marketing campaigns. Platform owners can generate voucher codes with platform registration discounts to encourage users to use the platform.

Business Impact

At this moment the customer has a stable web version of the handyman services marketplace. The start-up successfully attracts new companies to use this craft software, conducts marketing campaigns to promote its handyman search portal, and builds plans to expand the marketplace.

Due to the technical expertise and professionalism of our platform development team, the handyman search portal was implemented with a high level of quality and according to the client’s needs. The customer was satisfied with .NET development services and Angular development services, provided by our software engineering team.

Having the handyman search service on Prod, the customer is ready to expand the company. After promoting the product in Germany, the client intends to “conquer” new markets in other countries, where the topic of digital transformation in the craft sector is acute. In the future, the client aims to extend the functionality and is thinking about the creation of a Xamarin application.

Chudovo: custom handyman software provider

Digital transformation in the craft sector is quite a broad topic and can refer to various branches. Certainly, digital transformation services for the craft industry along with an understanding of industry needs, are the core strengths of Chudovo. Our software development team has experience in research, conceptualization and design, architecture and development, testing, deployment, and support of the software for craftsmen. With industry-specific knowledge, our team can help your company implement complete handyman software solutions.

Our company has different cooperation models and can provide the options that suit your firm the best. Our specialists can be useful both when developing projects in craft industries from scratch, and to strengthen your team in the further development/maintenance of an already existing solution. We can also help you, even if you are only at the idea stage. Our development team will be able to consult you and even help you choose a technology stack to implement your digital transformation solution in the craft sector. Contact us and let’s discuss your craftsmen software.