A

PROJECT REPORT

ON

“WORKING AT URBAN COMPANY.”

A Project Report submitted to Hyderabad Business School in partial fulfilment

of the requirement for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

(SESSION: 2019-21) - MBA VI TRIMESTER

Submitted by

M.RUPESH
221923601030

Under the guidance of

Dr. Sree Ram
Associate Professor

GITAM
(DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY)
Rudraram, Patancheru (M), Sangareddy Dist., Telangana
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this Project Report titled “WORKING AT URBAN COMPANY”.

Submitted by me to the Hyderabad Business School, GITAM University, Hyderabad, is a

bonafide work undertaken by me and it is not submitted to any other University or Institution

for the award of any degree diploma /certificate or published any time before.

Name and Roll. No of the Student Signature of the Student

M.Rupesh
221923601030
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Project Report title “WORKING AT URBAN COMPANY” submitted

in partial fulfilment for the award of MBA Programme of Hyderabad Business School,

GITAM University, Hyderabad, was carried out by M.RUPESH under my guidance. This

has not been submitted to any other University or Institution for the award of any

degree/diploma/certificate.

Name and Designation of the Guide Signature of the Guide

Dr. Sree Ram

Associate Professor
Hyderabad Business School;
GITAM University
Hyderabad
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to my manager Mr. Samir
Gantra (Category Manager, Tier 2 cities) for the keen interest, inspiring guidance, continuous
encouragement, valuable suggestions and constructive criticism throughout the pursuance of
this report.

I would like to convey thanks to my project guide Dr. Sree Ram Assistant Professor for
ready assistance, keen interest and valuable suggestions.

Last but not least it would be unfair if I don’t extend my gratitude to all my faculties, to my
parents and all my friends for their active cooperation which was of great help during the
course of my training process. Without the support of all the above mentioned people this
study would not have been successful. I Once again thank you all for your great interest and
support throughout my study.
Introduction:

In developing countries like India, the service sector can lead to inclusive growth through
backward and forward links (Banga 2005), by ensuring equitable access to basic services at
low prices (Deloitte 2011), by creating employment opportunities, and by developing human
capital. India is among the world’s rapidly growing economies. In 2010, the gross domestic
product (GDP) grew at 10.6% compared to an average growth rate of 7.5% in emerging and
developing economies. Although the growth rate decreased to 7.2% in 2011, it was still
higher than the average growth rate of emerging economies (6.2%).1 The service sector has
been a major contributor to India’s GDP and to its growth. It is the second largest employer
after agriculture. India’s trade in services has increased overtime, and services account for the
largest share in India’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and outflows. The growth of
India’s service sector has drawn global attention. Unlike other countries where economic
growth has led to a shift from agriculture to industries, in India there has been a shift from
agriculture to the service sector. In this respect, India has been considered as an outlier
among South Asia and other emerging countries (Ansari 1995). Gordan and Gupta (2003)
and Jain Ninan (2010) have, however, pointed out that with the rise in per capita income, the
share of services in GDP increases. Kochhar et al. (2006) argued that India was a negative
outlier in 1981 compared to other emerging markets as the share of services in value added
and employment was below that of other countries. After the 1990s, the service sector grew,
and in 2000 India became a positive outlier in terms of the share of services in value added
but continued to be a negative outlier in terms of its share in employment. The growth in the
service sector in India has been linked to the reforms of the 1990s. In the first 3 decades after
independence in 1947, India was largely an agrarian economy. The service sector started to
grow in the mid-1980s, but growth accelerated in the 1990s when India initiated a series of
economic reforms after the country faced a severe balance of payments crisis. Reforms in the
service sector were a part of the overall reform program which led to privatization, the
removal of FDI restrictions, and streamlining of approval procedures among others. Existing
literature shows that liberalization and reforms have contributed to the growth of the sector
(Chanda 2002, Gordan and Gupta 2003, Jain and Ninan 2010). With economic growth and
the rise in per capita income, demand changed from necessary to discretionary consumption
and propelled the growth of services (McKinsey & Company 2007), and the elasticity of
demand for services at high incomes has contributed to the growth of the sector
(Bhattacharya and Mitra 1990, Gordan and Gupta 2003). Technological progress and the
availability of highly skilled manpower has led to the growth of services in information and
communication technology (ICT) and ICT-enabled services (Chanda 2002). Developed
countries now outsource services to developing countries like India, leading to a rise in
demand for services (Bhagwati 1984, Hansda 2001). Significant government expenditures on
community, social, and personal services have also accelerated growth in the sector (Ansari
1995).

The services sector is not only the dominant sector in India’s GDP, but has also attracted
significant foreign investment, has contributed significantly to export and has provided large-
scale employment. India’s services sector covers a wide variety of activities such as trade,
hotel and restaurants, transport, storage and communication, financing, insurance, real estate,
business services, community, social and personal services, and services associated with
construction.

Market Size
The services sector is a key driver of India’s economic growth. The sector contributed
55.39% to India’s Gross Value Added at current price in FY20 #. GVA at basic prices at
current prices in the second quarter of 2020-21 is estimated at Rs. 42.80 lakh crore (US$
580.80 billion), against Rs. 44.66 lakh crore (US$ 633.57 billion) in the second quarter of
2019-20, showing a contraction of 4.2%. According to the RBI, in December 2020, service
exports stood at US$ 18.72 billion, while imports stood at US$ 11.50 billion.
Nikkei India Services’ Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased to 52.8 in January 2021
from 52.3 in December 2020.
Industry developments
Some of the developments in the services sector in the recent past are as follows:

 The services* category in India attracted cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI)
worth US$ 85.86 billion between April 2000 and December 2020. The services
 category ranked 1st in FDI inflow as per data released by the Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
 In December 2020, a cohort of six health-tech start-ups—AarogyaAI, BrainSightAI,
Fluid AI, InMed Prognostics, Wellthy Therapeutics, and Onward Assist—have been
selected by the India Edison Accelerator, fuelled by GE Healthcare. India Edison
Accelerator, the company's first start-up partnership programme focused on Indian
mentors, creates strategic partners to co-develop healthcare solutions.
 The Indian healthcare industry is expected to shift digitally enabled remote
consultations via tele consultation. The telemedicine market in India is expected to
increase at a CAGR of 31% from 2020 to 2025.
 In August 2020, Japan committed ~Rs. 35 billion (US$ 476.11 million) under the
Official Development Assistance for the health sector to fight the COVID-19 crisis in
India and improve resilience of India’s health systems against infectious diseases.
 In September 2020, LinkedIn and NSDC collaborated to accelerate digital skills
training for the Indian youth.
 In September 2020, NASSCOM Future Skills and Microsoft collaborated to launch a
nationwide AI skilling initiative to train 1 million students in AI by 2021.
 In September 2020, Byju's acquires 3D virtual lab startup LabInApp to strengthen its
edtech presence.
 In October 2020, Bharti Airtel entered cloud communications market with the launch
of business-centric ‘Airtel IQ’.
 In June 2020, Jio Platforms Ltd. sold 22.38% stake worth Rs. 1.04 trillion (US$ 14.75
billion) to ten global investors in a span of eight weeks under separate deals,
involving Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista, General Atlantic, Mubadala, Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority (ADIA), TPG Capital and L. Catterton. This is the largest
continuous fundraise by any company in the world.
 In December 2020, Gamma Skills Automation Training introduced a unique robotics
& automation career launch programme for engineers, an ‘Industry 4.0 Hands-on
Skill Learning Centre’ located at IMT Manesar, Gurgaon in Haryana.
 In December 2020, the 'IGnITE’ programme was initiated by Siemens, BMZ and
MSDE to encourage high-quality training and technical education. 'IGnITE' aims to
develop highly trained technicians, with an emphasis on getting them ready for the
 industry and future, based on the German Dual Vocational Educational Training
(DVET) model. By 2024, this programme aims to upskill ~40,000 employees

Government Initiatives
The Government of India recognises the importance of promoting growth in services sector
and provides several incentives across a wide variety of sectors like health care, tourism,
education, engineering, communications, transportation, information technology, banking,
finance and management among others.
The Government of India has adopted few initiatives in the recent past, some of these are as
follows:

 On January 15, 2021, the third phase of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
(PMKVY) was launched in 600 districts with 300+ skill courses. Spearheaded by the
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the third phase will focus on
new-age and COVID-related skills. PMKVY 3.0 aims to train eight lakh candidates.
 In January 2021, the Department of Telecom, Government of India, signed an MoU
with the Ministry of Communications, Government of Japan, to strengthen
cooperation in the areas of 5G technologies, telecom security and submarine optical
fibre cable system.
 On November 4, 2020, the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr.
Narendra Modi, approved to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between
the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the Department of
Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) of United Kingdom Government to
cooperate in the field of telecommunications/information and communication
technologies (ICTs).
 In October 2020, the government selected Hughes Communications India to connect
5,000 village panchayats in border and naxal-affected states and island territories with
satellite broadband under BharatNet project by March 2021.
 In September 2020, the government announced that it may infuse Rs. 200 billion
(US$ 2.72 billion) in public sector banks through recapitalisation of bonds
 In the next five years, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is
working to increase the contribution of the digital economy to 20% of GDP. The
government is working to build cloud-based infrastructure for collaborative networks
 that can be used for the creation of innovative solutions by AI entrepreneurs and
startups.
 On Independence Day 2020, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi announced the
National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) to provide a unique health ID to every
Indian and revolutionise the healthcare industry by making it easily accessible to
everyone in the country. The policy draft is under ‘public consultation’ until
September 21, 2020.
 In September 2020, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced a new electronics &
hardware manufacturing policy aligned with the old policy to increase the state's
electronics output to US$ 100 billion by 2025. Under the policy, it aims to meet the
requirement for incremental human resource by upskilling and training >100,000
people by 2024.
 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for continuation
of the process of recapitalization of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) by providing
minimum regulatory capital to RRBs for another year beyond 2019-20.
 Government of India has launched the National Broadband Mission with an aim to
provide Broadband access to all villages by 2022.
 Under the Mid-Term Review of Foreign Trade Policy (2015-20), the Central
Government increased incentives provided under Services Exports from India Scheme
(SEIS) by 2%.

Road Ahead

 Services sector growth is governed by domestic and global factors. The Indian
facilities management market is expected to grow at 17% CAGR between 2015 and
2020 and surpass the US$ 19 billion mark supported by booming real estate, retail,
and hospitality sectors.
 By 2023, healthcare industry is expected to reach US$ 132 billion. India’s digital
economy is estimated to reach US$ 1 trillion by 2025. By end of 2023, India’s IT and
business services sector is expected to reach US$ 14.3 billion with 8% growth.
 The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has created a common
national market and reduced the overall tax burden on goods. It is expected to reduce
costs in the long run on account of availability of GST input credit, which will result
in the reduction in prices of services.
Industry Profile

Home Services Market Size and Forecast

Home Services Market was valued at USD 281.65 Billion in 2018 and is expected to witness
a growth of 18.91% from 2019-2026 and reach USD 1,133.40 Billion by 2026.

increase in smartphone adoption has allowed for the rise of the home service market through
its positive influence on the online on-demand services market. The Global Home Services
Market report provides a holistic evaluation of the market. The report offers a comprehensive
analysis of key segments, trends, drivers, restraints, competitive landscape, and factors that
are playing a substantial role in the market.

What is Home Services Market?

Home services is a term that is used encompasses various intangible assets that are provided
by businesses for residential homes. There are several businesses that are provided by home
services that span across various sectors of business such as repairs and maintenance,
installations, home improvement, and others. As the number of services that can be provided
by the home service market increases, the scope, and therefore the industry of home services
is growing. With the increase in the adoption of technology comes the increase in the online
as well as mobile booking services. Home services are essentially a more modern and
simplified way to buy as well as schedule professional services.

Applications of home services include services such as construction, interior design,

electricity, plumbing, non-HVAC home applications, gas and more. From the consumer’s
point of view, home services is an attractive service model as it is timesaving for the
consumer. The “Global Home Services Market” is split into four segments, i.e. on the basis
of repairs & maintenance, installations, by segment and by geography. These segments give
an overview of the market and offer a qualitative and quantitative market study of the
product/service.
Global Home Services Market Overview

Smartphones are witnessing substantial growth, their increasing adoption has led to an
increase in the bulk manufacturing of the product. This growth in the demand for
smartphones has led to the lessening of their cost overall. It is factors like these that have led
to the increasing adoption of smartphones worldwide.

With the increasing convenience that home services are providing, the demand for online
home services are increasing. Especially in consideration to the present generation, as they
are the largest consumers of internet services, the on demand devices are quite popular. With
this increased demand comes the widening scope of the home services business. In home
service, there are various applications that are now being carried out through home services
such as beauty, home cleaning, electrical, repair, carpentry, plumbing and more.

One of the biggest challenges that is facing the home service market is the lack of a pricing
model. Due to the relatively new nature of online home services, there is now standard that
has been set for the services that are to be provided. In order to understand what goes behind
understanding the prevailing trends and fixing a price for a particular home service. When
considering what is going on in terms of various matured industries such as food, cab
ordering, and e-commerce, it is apparent that these industries have moved past the point
where a standardization of their pricing module is required. Due to these already established
pricing models, companies in this industry can focus on other aspects such as customer
acquisition and retention.

Global Home Services Market: Segmentation Analysis

The Global Home Services Market is classified on the basis of Deployment, Repairs &
Maintenance, and Region.
Home Services Market, By Deployment

On the basis of Deployment, the market is bifurcated into

 Online
 Offline

The market for online home services held the largest share in the global market owing to the
fact that the scope and customer reach of this segment is large and flexible.

Home Services Market, By Repairs & Maintenance

On the basis of Repairs & Maintenance, Global Home Services Market has been segmented
into

 Electricity
 Plumbing
 Gas
 Heating
 Ventilation
 Air Conditioning
  Non-HVAC Home Appliances
 Handyman
 Others

The market for plumbing in the home services market is expected to be the largest, while
HVAC sub-segment was expected to be the fastest-growing over the forecast period.

For every industry it is important to have SWOT and PESTEL analysis.

SWOT Analysis for service industries on e-service business model

 Strengths
 Weakness
 Opportunities
 Threats
Strengths:
 Higher benefit to the customers. ƒ
 Flexible customization ƒ
 Availability of services regardless time
 Geographic availability of services ƒ
 Speed of service production ƒ
 Speed of service delivery ƒ
 Good in-house training programmes for many “types” of knowledge. ƒ
 Low capital intensity. ƒ
 In knowledge-intensive services highly qualified and highly specialised staff is
needed but recruiting them involves heavy search costs; these costs can be
reduced by using electronic databases.
Weakness
 Data privacy protection ƒ
 Lack of well-defined regulatory framework for educational service export.
 Inadequate international marketing programmes for the promotion of e-services.
ƒ
 High costs of ICT end user service connectivity in many countries. ƒ
  The understanding of the electronic service demands a tight management of the
company’s electronic service routines. ƒ
 Unfriendly interface that has as a result the misjudgement of the service provision.
Opportunities
 Appearance of new partners/alliances via new type of service provision.
 New customer segments. ƒ
 Chances to meet ecological, medical and ergonomic requirements. ƒ
 Collaboration and communication opportunities between departments of large
institutions with many branches. ƒ
 Potential for improved effectiveness and efficiency through transformations (e.g.
commercialization and cost recovery programmes.) ƒ
 Development of codified data processing electronic services (e.g. home banking).
 Decrease direct procurement costs through e-procurement. ƒ
 Service development. For services with a high information input the Internet
offers a growing range of new possibilities to increase efficiency.
Threats
 Inadequate budgets decline in real terms (inflation). ƒ
 Unstable macroeconomic and political environment. ƒ
 Retrenchments most of the times begin from the bottom with the community
service providers. ƒ
 Low internet connectivity in many countries. ƒ
 Low investment in ICT infrastructure ƒ
 Legislative differences. ƒ
 Environmental effects
PESTEL ANALYSIS
 Political
 Economical
 Social
 Technological
 Environmental
 Legal
Political
Political factors usually involve things that impact your business from a government or legal
standpoint. Political is similar to legal and social, but is a bit different, as political factors
seem to change more often. Some examples are:
 Income Tax and other taxes

 Minimum wage laws

 Union influences
 Federal, state, and local environmental policies
Economic
Economic factors are financial fluctuations that are typically out of your control. For
example, interest rates go down meaning your business loan cost more last year than it will
this year. Some other examples include:
 GDP loss or growth

 Inflation rates
 Company debt
 Income of potential customers in your area
 Employee salary trends in the service business industry
Social
Social factors refer to the cultural norms and attitudes of your targeted demographic and that
of your employees, partners, competitors, etc. For example, an increase in demand of ‘green
energy’ use can affect the energy source you use to power your equipment and vehicles.
Other factors are:
 Customer age

 Cultural norms and traditions

 Population growth or decline
 Service career attitudes
 Diversity
 Religious influences
 Public health and safety
Technological
Technological factors have a direct impact on the cost of doing business and the efficiency of
your business. Falling behind on technological trends, using outdated equipment or software,
and examining the technological barriers your business faces to enter a new market all fall
within this category. Other factors to consider include:
 Automation opportunities

 Technology incentives, like tax credits

 Better equipment coming on the market
 Service business software updates
 Improvements to mobile devices and other communications
Legal

Legal factors will directly influence the company’s operations of your service business right
now. Some legal factors can also determine your final cost of doing business and impact
demand for your company’s services. These legal factors include:
 Consumer protection laws

 Various insurance laws and mandates

 Antitrust laws

Environmental

Environmental factors refer to anything that can impact your business from an ecological or
environmental standpoint. This part of the analysis will matter more for some industries than
others. For example, if you own a landscaping business, you’ll need to concern yourself with
the weather every single day, while plumbers can work indoors. Other environmental factors
may include:
 Environmental impact of service business practices

 Geography

 Access by road, rail, air

 Waste management
 Local attitudes towards pollution

Company Profile
COMPANY PROFILE Urban Company

Urban Company (Formally Urban Clap) was launched in Delhi in November 2014 with a
handful of service professionals. Over the past five years, it has expanded to four countries
(India, Australia, Singapore, and the UAE). The new brand encapsulates the company’s
strategy to offer multiple types of services at home, like Urban Beauty for salon and makeup
services for women at home, Urban Spa for massage therapy for men and women at home,
Urban Cleaning, Repair, and other services, such as fitness and yoga at home and pest
control.

Urban Company is a leading online marketplace for local services such as repair &
maintenance, home cleaning, homecare & design, pest control, packers & movers, business
services, event management, weddings & party management, health & wellness, salon, etc.
Urban Company was founded in 2014 and it is headquartered in Gurugram. The company has
grown significantly since its launch and currently it offers more than 100 services. It has
more than 1 lakh trained and skilled professionals including plumbers, electricians, wedding
photographers, makeup artists, DJs, chartered accountants (CAs), etc. The company has
operations in various cities including Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad,
Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Noida, Faridabad, Gurugram, and Ghaziabad. Till
now, Urban Company has served more than 3 million customers across the country.

Over the past five years, it has expanded to four countries (India, Australia, Singapore, and
the UAE), built a fleet of more 25,000 trained professionals, and served over five million
households. It operates in 14 cities in India (including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh,
Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Ludhiana, Lucknow,
Vadodara, and Visakhapatnam).

In August last year, the Gurugram-based home services startup raised $75 million in a Series
E fundraise led by Tiger Global Management, the US-based investment major. Along with
Tiger Global, the round also saw participation from existing investors, including
Steadvidew Capital and Vy Capital.

History

The idea for Urban Company came when the founders realized that the home services
marketplace was hugely disorganized in the country. Founders Abhiraj Bhal and Varun
Khaitan were batch mates at IIT Kanpur and after their stint at The Boston Consulting Group,
they decided to launch their own startup. They started discussions in Delhi and later, Raghav
Chandra also joined the team. Urban Company was launched subsequently in 2014, with the
mission to make key services available online. Earlier, service professionals were only
available through phone call lists, but with the tech innovation introduced by Urban
Company, people can hire service professionals online, via their PC or mobile app. This
transformation has helped both service providers and people who need them.

Funding

Urban Company has received investments worth around $60 million through six rounds of
funding. Investors include VY Capital, Trifecta Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, SAIF
Partners, Accel Partners, Ratan Tata, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.

About the Founders

Urban Company was founded by Abhiraj Bhal, Raghav Chandra and Varun Khaitan. Abhiraj
leads operations and service provider on-boarding at Urban Company. Prior to launching
Urban Company, he had worked with The Boston Consulting Group as a consultant. Abhiraj
is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and IIM Ahmedabad.

Raghav Chandra is responsible for technology and product development at Urban Company.
Earlier, he had worked at Twitter and had even launched an auto rickshaw startup in India.
Raghav is an alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley.

Varun Khaitan heads marketing and product growth at Urban Company. Earlier, he had
worked with The Boston Consulting Group. He is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur.

Services

• Haircut at home

• Cleaning & Disinfection

• Salon at home

• Appliance Repair

• Painters
• Electricians

• Plumbers

• Carpenters

• Massage Therapy

• AC service & Repair

• Pest Control

Acquisition

Urban Company has acquired two companies - Handy Home in January 2016 and Good
Service in August 2016. Handy Home was an after sales services platform that allowed
people to book brand-authorized repairs and other services for electronic appliances. Good
Service was a Delhi-based concierge services provider. Both acquisitions have helped Urban
Company to expand and strengthen its service offerings.

Competition

Urban Company competes with other home service providers such as Locally, Housejoy,
Helpr, Zimmber, Sulekha, Justdial, Yellow Pages, etc.

UrbanClap Business Model- How it Works

Being an online platform, UrbanClap connects internet users with offline workers. UrbanClap
was essentially a search-and-find tool during the initial stages.

Today, however, it has a model that lists professionals, trains them if necessary, and then
connects them to the users in real-time. On the site, users can effectively book regular
services.

We just need to check the app, select the services we need, and then schedule service
according to their own convenience. Whereas one location UrbanClap promotes the process
of identifying trained local business professionals; it also supports service providers by
removing intermediaries and allowing them direct access to consumers.
The business model of UrbanClap works in two-ways.

1. Fixed Charged Services

For plumbing, electrical work for home maintenance, the organization accepts the money
from the app and then charges its dues to the hired assistance.

They cut a different fee off the collected funds.

2. Services Without Any Fixed Charges

The company is paying lead generation and funding listing to the experts.

The customers are not charged right away. They know the operation. The specialist shall pay
a fee for approving the order. If the expert is able to persuade the customer to purchase the
service, then monetizing is a success.

Five options are given to the user from which to choose the most comfortable choice. If the
service provider’s profile is not shown, he earns payable credit. If the algorithm is successful,
then less work must be performed by the user.

Working Of UrbanClap’s Business Model

Service Receiver’s End

 Using the app, users can go using a list of resources and select the correct one, based
on their requirements.
 UrbanClap’s business model allows the customer to select a specific service; they can
choose from a range of choices for one product. The option is usually based on a
user’s budget.
 After purchasing the kit, the customer must pick a date and time for the appointment.
 The application enables users to test the service provider and its assets. The presence
can be assured by visiting the visitor’s page.
 Payments are made using advance or COD (Cash On Delivery).
 Users rate the app and review them.
Service Provider’s End

 The app has a dual purpose-one for the individual and one for the specialist
 The practitioners in that field provide a notice when a service is requested. Whether
they embrace or they reject it.
 UrbanClap’s business model is structured to allow the professionals to evaluate their
job obligations and to approve or reject the request for service accordingly.
 When the request is approved, alerts are received from the customer and provider to
validate the booking.
 The service providers are fined if any medical professional backs out.

Expansion Of UrbanClap’s  Business Model

The UrbanClap model has been very popular in the ten Indian cities in which it operates, and
some 20,000 service professionals have been onboarded so far. In addition to the current
source of commissions from hired service staff it also launched a new revenue channel in the
first few years. This second revenue source came from lead generation and funded expert
listings. The company paid a fee for enhanced freelancers exposure should their services be
viewed and monetized through the platform. Through widening its activities, it has succeeded
through gradually raising its sales to 116 crores in the fiscal year of 2019.

Notwithstanding these high sales, however, the company has yet to hit the break-even, as
they’ve made 72 crores of operating losses last year.

Such an unreflective development and thirst for success, as I’ve written before, can
potentially undermine sustainable startup success. It is a problem many Indian businesses are
grappling with and trying to figure out the right strategy for foreign expansion to compensate
for the losses. While it can be difficult to formulate the best combination of foreign activities,
UrbanClap seems to have struck the nail on the head in preparing the expansion overseas.
The business launched on-demand services in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates in 2018 and
the following year it followed up with the establishment of a shop in Abu Dhabi.

It has launched services recently in Australia, too. The decision to move to the UAE was an
important one, given the demographics available in the region. The region ‘s large Indian
population was a strong reason for launching operations there, though cost considerations
made it a viable move too. Customers in the UAE are less price-sensitive, so services are
priced at 3 or 4 times the Indian prices, with more or less the same costs. Motivated by a
similar idea was the switch to Australia too.

Though it has increased the field of activities and the size of the population served, however,
the company has opted to cut back on the broad variety of deals it has put out on its website
so far. In October 2019, Urban Clap was confirmed to be cutting back on non-core services
including wedding photography and event management, while concentrating on home and
beauty offerings that make up the largest portion of its revenue. The company also launched
masculine grooming services in November 2019, delivering men’s salon products in the
comfort of their homes.

Revenue Model of Urban Clap

Urban Clap uses a four-way approach when it comes to earning money. This lists two
categories of options, one being the booking section and the fixed pricing services accounts,
and the other being the non-booking or variable pricing services.

The business takes two strategies focused on the same, to bring capital to the table.

 Commission Model

Urban Clap generates 85 percent of its overall revenue by subscription. They charge some
percentage of the total price of the service to the business owner in the commission-based
process.

In this way, they support all customers by providing them with fast and reliable service.

They also offer services to customers to support and receive.

Depending on their job, they demand specific commissions from each vendor or servicemen.
Therefore, the more work they have done, the more reward they get from providing home
services.
  Reverse Auction

UrbanClap has supported the strategy of charging the specialist for lead generation and listing
for the second group (photographers, interior designers, or yoga instructors). It’s sort of like a
reverse auction. Through this method, the customers are not specifically booking the service.
Instead, they spend time in their awareness of the operation. To approve the request a
specialist must pay a fee.

Monetization here is based entirely on the ability of the specialist to convince the customer to
book the service. Urban Clap introduces the user to five experts, who may vote for one after
their assessment. When a professional’s profile isn’t presented, the professional gets his
credit paid back. Here’s where the algorithm for matchmaking comes in. The better the
algorithm here the lesser is the work to be done by the customers.

 Lead Generation

Lead generation also offers a good way to generate income. But the key source of revenue
generation for Urban Clap is by commissioning charging. The customer defines the
requirement in lead generation. Accordingly, either the client can contact the aforementioned
experts or they can contact the client.

In this way, Urban Clap is giving rise to serviceman customers looking for a specific service.
With this, Urban Clap charges to the lead generation from professionals and servicemen.

 Advertisement

Besides all the above-listed ways of earning money, there is another way of earning more
money which is – advertisement. Businesses, suppliers, and providers use the Urban Clap
platform to display their advertisements in return for the company’s advertisement fees.

Marketing Methods Used By UrbanClap

To look different from other companies, Clap hires various styles of marketing skills based on
their urban services. This way, getting their focus makes way for the mind of the consumer.
Many of the approaches used for the advertisement are:
  Basic PPC or Search Ads

The main purpose of an advertisement is to lead you or your potential customers to wherever you
or they want to or need to go.  And  Google search ads allow you to do just that.  You can see
their search ads on the browser if you enter some keywords related to their website.

 Social Media Advertisement

Quick every user of the Internet is on social media sites. It’s a very good way to reach out to the
public. They’re trying to hit every potential customer they can by using social media ads on
Facebook and Instagram.

 Video Advertisement On Platforms Like YouTube

UrbanClap has been posting very touching and interesting videos to catch the audience’s interest
in soothing their lifestyle through UrbanClap. Thus, this is another way how they are able to
increase their customer base manifolds using YouTube advertisements.

 Paid Marketing via Social Media Influencers

Well, the thing about social media influencers is that they have a massive following who
genuinely trusts them. So collaborating with all the social media influencers and asking them to
promote your service is a very brilliant move that UrbanClap has been doing really well.

Rebranding And Their Way Forward

UrbanClap recently rebranded itself as the Urban Company as a move to help its global
aspirations and create itself as a recognized name worldwide. The rebranding was done to give
the startup a clear, easy-to-remember name, that’s work across demographics and geographic
borders. When the company goes global, having a simple name that is widely appealing would
help it draw customers and get the company’s mission across. This is a startup to make urban life
simpler, and that is the meaning that the new brand name captures.

The effort by UrbanClap to go global comes at an opportune moment as a platform for horizontal
gigs. These gig marketplaces are going to become the flavor of the decade as freelancing takes
hold, and Urban Company is filled with the ability to make the most of it.
Urban Clap is rising higher and higher at a rapid rate. In providing services at home in India it is
one of the most popular startups. To several other cities too, they are extending their facilities. In
addition, they have also been working recently in Dubai to make their services available
efficiently.

There’s no question that Urban Clap is rising, so fast rather than intense competition from other
related on-demand services startups. Regularly they change to provide better services to their
customers. We have also provided an option for chatting so that users can chat with ease with
their selected servants if they cannot call.

Swot analysis for Urban clap:

 Strengths
 Weakness
 Opportunities
 Threats

Strengths

 Budgets fits the choice

 Trusted professionals
 Customized

Weakness

 Limited reach
 Employee loyalty

Opportunities

 Adding more sectors

 Can tie up with manufacturing units.

Threats

 Local labour
  Local unions

Job profile: Operations intern in Men’s Grooming category.

I as a intern worked for a city launch in men’s grooming category and launched it
successfully.

My Responsibilities before City launch:

 Cold calling
 Converting them into walk-ins
 Pitching
 Process and procedure
 verifying their back ground
 Helping Professionals with their loan process
 Aligning them for training
 Giving them the products/kits
 Approving their profile
 Making them live in the market.

My responsibilities after city launch:

 Looking after the supply and demand in the city.

 Looking after city metrics and customer requests.
 Interacting with professionals.
 Dealing with the problems of professionals.
 Raising complaints of professionals to the central team.
 Interacting with customers.

Cold calling:

After joining into the Urban clap my Category Manager (CM) had put me under Prohibition
Period for one week. In Prohibition period my category manager used to give a data in the
excel sheet. I used to do 120 calls per day in that he had asked me to have minimum 70
connects or else until up-to connects I used to do calls. Sometimes It used to be 150 calls per
day but I would not use to make 70 connects. In cold calling I used to have data of hair cut
professionals/Barbers. Most of the barbers in the tier-2 cities are uneducated they don’t know
about the Urban clap. It is used to be very hard for me to pitch them to join our company at
the beginning. Some of the people even supposed to scold me in the call. But one day I got an
idea instead of pitching them about the company and products that we give them. I
understood in the tier-2 cities if we want to convert people to join in our organisation we
should build some trust then I started asking them to come to the office and creating trust,
building trust. Moreover I used marketing our company ads, comms in the social media in
some way people got trust on us and used to come to the office. Then I started converting
them by using my pitch and tactics.

Converting them into walk-ins:

After calling the professionals, my next step is converting them into walk-ins. Most of the
people when I suppose to call them they were like okay we will come to the office tomorrow,
but on the next day they were not supposed to show-up. In initial days it used to be very sad
as an individual, fresher you would be expecting everything goes good but turns to be not. So
that made me even stronger and that has given me even more challenging time.

Pitching:

Pitching plays vital role in converting professional into full time employee. Before start
pitching about the company I used to show them company journey video (in that video
professional used to understand about the company services) professionals suppose to pay
attention to my pitch then i used start the pitch about urban clap company, it’s working
process and procedure that they should undergo and finally pitching about the kit.

Process and Procedure:

In order to join in urban clap professional should undergo set of procedure such as

 Screening
 Back ground verification
 Training

Screening:
In this process professional needs to show his expertise in his area (haircut) to the trainer
via online. Trainers would analyse his performance and selects him if professional did not
perform well trainer would reject them.

Back ground verification:

Generally, background verification is done by government third party agency. In order to

join into the Urban clap every professional should submit their aadhar card, pan card,
bank details upload them into Urban clap partner application. After uploading them
successfully it takes seven days to confirm his back ground verification check.

In Background verification check also there will be three steps

1. Mobile verification
2. House verification
3. Code verification

Mobile verification: In this step, professional would be getting a telephone call from the
Government Third party agency (GTA) and confirms his basic details.

House verification: In this step, GTA person would be going to the professional’s house
and will a take picture of professional and his house.

Code verification: In this step basic enquiry would be done on professional’s area local
police station.

If in case, professional fails in any of these Urban clap wouldn’t consider them to join.

Aligning them for the training:

After screening and BGV done, next step is training professional needs to undergo
training for 4 days for hair and 4 days for skin. In first three days they would be having
theory and practical sessions but on the last day of the he needs to perform on final
assessment on a model. Professional should pass in the Final assessment or else he
wouldn’t be consider as eligible.

Helping them with loan process:

In order to join in the urban clap professional should buy urban clap kit from the
company which cost around
 1. Hair kit – 13,000/-
2. Skin kit – 4,000/-

Total cost around 17,000Rs if professional is willing to buy entire kit with cash payment
they can buy there is no need for loan but if in case does not able to pay entire kit then
company would help them out with providing them with loan. Urban clap provides loan
for the professionals and helps them. In order to get loan approval professional should
give his details like aadhar card, pan card, bank details and signed cheque to the intern.
Intern would be collecting those documents and would be given to central team they will
approve the loan process.

Giving them the products/kits:

After training, professional would be getting the kit items and set to go in the market

Responsibilities after launch:

Looking after supply and demand in city: After city launch the primary responsibilities
would be looking after the demand analysing it and balancing demand with supply on
boarding. If demand is high supply is low we should on board more professionals in
order to reach demand.

Looking after city metrics and request: as, a new city launch every customer is important
we cannot afford to lose a single one. we should carefully monitor the that every request
that we get customer is being picked up by professionals or not.

Interacting with professionals and customers:

To run a business successfully, I recommend that one should have a good relation with
partners. In this case partners alias (professionals) should maintain good relation with
them and also in order to focus on quality we should have good relation with customers
ask them about the feedback and take suggestions from the customers.
 Key learning’s from the job:

 Problem solving
 Handling pressure
 People management
 Dealing with multiple situations
 Working in a Friendly Environment
 Job Satisfaction
 Gaining Great Experience and Variety of Skills

Problem solving:

After joining in the Urban clap I’ve learnt many things for instance problem solving. As, a
intern you would be facing different problems either from the partners or from the customers.
You should be ready to deal with problems and try to solve it by using your own intelligence.

Handling pressure:

Generally in a start-up you would feel tremendous pressure, managing it one of the greatest
things that I’ve learnt in the internship.

People Management:

If you are not a extrovert you would be out of the company reason is you would be handling
number of partners with you. so, in order to maintain good relation with them you need to be
open up and make them feel comfortable and try to manage the partners.
Dealing with multiple situations:

In a start-up you would be dealing with numerous situations, you’re not just confined to one
specific task. Dealing with multiple situations with in the same time one of the key element
that I have learnt in the company while doing the internship

Working in a Friendly Environment

Most of the startups have a working environment with less than a handful of people. Also,
mostly they have overtime work hours. That means you will spend most of your time with
your colleagues more than your family and friends. This disadvantage may come with a
surprising outcome as a friendly working environment and even a life long friendship.

Job Satisfaction
If you compare your work in a startup company and a corporate in terms of its output
perspective, I can say that in startup companies your daily work has a bigger impact on the
product. Because you may be the only frontend or backend developer who is coding every day
and without any bureaucracy, you can find yourself your code is being deployed every time
you say it is ready. I know it looks a little bit scary and big responsibility but in terms of job
satisfaction, it’s priceless.
Conclusion

I personally recommend working in a start-up culture though the pay structure will be low but
the learning experience would be immense. Starting our career through a start-up is a great
opportunity that anyone could have. You would be working with greatest minds in the room.
If you are not looking for great a pay but looking for a great learning experience I
recommend working for a start-up.
Recommendations:

All start-ups are not perfect. In my experience at urban clap I have seen numerous problems
among the professionals, I feel that for any business ground level should be perfect so it’s
better urban clap would focus more on the professionals.

I can understand that this the complete grey matter that we can’t speak completely about it
but urban clap should focus on both professionals and customers.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reference Websites

 www.urbancompany.com
 www.wikipedia.com
 Own experience’s