On-demand lawn mowing app launches in Durham
By Alex Dixon, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
He had a half-acre of grass to cut, which had grown to around 8 inches tall.
But, he discovered he could solve his problem with a smartphone app.
Launched in
A customer downloads the app, enters their address, grass length and some other details about their lawn. The app then calculates the price, and a customer can schedule the service as early as the next day.
"With our app, you know exactly when providers are going to be there," said Wills Mahoney, co-founder of Mowz.
Once the Mowz provider is done mowing, they take a picture of the lawn and the customer rates the job for quality control. Customers can then use the provider for future jobs.
Wilson said the service cost him
About 70 percent of the Mowz revenue goes to the providers.
The application hires local contractors who choose from submitted requests. Mahoney said the contractors must have at least
"You're not just scheduling some random guy on the street" he said.
Lawn Works has about a 40-mile radius of coverage for requests that come in.
Since the app launched in
Mahoney launched Mowz after launching a similar app in
Plowz uses the same model to connect customers with snow plowing services.
Plowz and Mowz serve 31 cities throughout the U.S., and Mahoney said for the majority of covered cities, both apps provide service.
Wilson said the weather in
"Not everybody has a snow plow," he said. "(Most) people have a lawnmower."
Mahoney said the company evaluates demographics and judges interest for service based on how many people in a city download the app.
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