The annual income of Hello Tasks by providing domestic workers is now Rs 1 crore

The journey of a startup starts from the thought of getting down from a seven-story building and buying something. Initially, this startup was to deliver various types of household products or provide family assistant services. Initially it was called 'Robot Dako'. That is, if you need to buy a product for your home, then hire someone from Dako Robot to do that work. When this service was promoted on social media, many people mistook it for maid service. Consumers are therefore turning to robocalls for domestic helpers. And that's how the company got a new business idea. After that, the robot called service was replaced by a domestic helper service called 'Hello Task'. This initiative is the result of efforts of two brothers Mahmudul Hasan and Mehdi Samar.

In 2018, a new startup named Hello Task started its journey. Since its inception, the company has received investments of more than three crore rupees. However, in 2022, the company decided to reduce investment and walk towards profit. So in the beginning it started as a startup, but now its two founders are claiming it as a regular company. 16 employees are working regularly in the company. The company's app is available on the phone called Hello Task. By using this app, anyone in Dhaka can hire maids for various household tasks. The company is offering this service in two ways – hourly and monthly.

how to start

In 2017, he took Tk 2 lakh from his father, a mehndi souvenir businessman, to study in a private university. He launched this startup with that money. Now their annual income is close to Rs. In 2018, the startup received a loan of Tk 40 lakh from a financing project named Udayan of Mercantile Bank. Initially they started their startup called Robot Dako. Later, seeing the interest of consumers in finding domestic workers, Hello Task was launched.

Recently talked about the initiative of the company with the co-founder Mehdi Samar. He said that his house was once in Mohammadpur. There were many clothing factories on the way to and from the road. At the beginning of the month many women workers throng these factories in search of work. But most did not get jobs. The issue of employing these unemployed women workers as domestic workers came to mind. Again we were aware of people's great interest in domestic workers. Therefore, the company initially hired 10 workers who were looking for jobs as domestic workers at a monthly salary of 15 thousand taka. Two old motorcycles were bought to transport these domestic workers to their workplaces. In 2018, 700 to 800 applications for domestic workers started coming every day. At one point, there was a shortage of domestic workers to fill it. Then a private non-profit organization named Nari Maitri became a beacon of hope for the organization. Some non-profit organizations like Nari Maitri, Oxfam, USEP School and Bangladesh Labor Research Institute (BILS) jointly organized a mass literacy project called 'Suniti Project'. It is planned to provide various types of training to around 16 thousand women there. In this project, the responsibility of Hello Task was to provide jobs for trained women workers.

Mehdi recalled that Hello Task hired 50 domestic workers from these trained workers. The monthly salary is assumed to be 12 thousand taka. The business continued like this for several years. Then comes the corona epidemic. Two years of the pandemic, their business was hit. During this time, the company took various initiatives to improve the quality of their app, business model and services. Create your own IVR (Interactive Voice Response) technology. Mehdi Samar also said that our institution has great potential in the country. Although we are not yet a profitable company, we will break even in July this year.

Entrepreneurs said that due to the introduction of IVR technology, when a customer applies for service, the call goes directly to the housekeeper's mobile phone. Domestic workers can accept job applications by pressing 1 on their phones. Then through the message where and when to go, detailed information goes to their mobile phone. As a result of the use of this new technology, the efficiency of the organization has increased on the one hand, and the cost has decreased on the other hand. The technology has been linked to the national emergency number 999 to ensure the safety of domestic workers.

Where, how and how much service

The founders of the company said that they are currently providing more than 3,000 services per month in the capital. The company provides customer service in more than 1000 neighborhoods or mohallas. Currently, their app has 130,000 registered customers. So far, Hello Task has served more than six lakh users. At present the company has the most customers in Bashundhara, Dhanmondi, Gulshan and Banani areas. 30 percent of total registered customers of the company are residents of Bashundhara area.

The number of registered domestic workers of Hello Task is now around 450. Those who provide housework services on hourly and monthly basis. A customer has to pay Rs 690 to hire a maid for three hours. And 7 thousand 800 taka has to be paid for monthly service for three hours daily. But 70 percent of customers take daily service.

Entrepreneurs said that if a domestic worker works for eight hours a day, he can earn 20,000 taka per month. If customers want, they can apply for service by paying only 10 rupees. There is also the advantage of a quick change if the housekeeper does not like it.