Alpha Mead Launches Call2Fix App
Alpha Mead launches Call2Fix app
“More than 70% of a building's lifecylce is spent in maintenance.”
This was the sentiment expressed by Femi Akintude, Group CEO of Alpha Mead Group (AMG), at the company's recent launch of its latest product, the Call2Fix app.
AMG is a provider of Total Real Estate Solutions, including facilities management (FM), real estate development, training, warehousing, and logistics. It is Nigeria's first facility management company to be certified to an international standard — ISO 9001: 2015.
Numerous research papers on Nigeria's building maintenance culture substantiate Akintude's assertions. They also serve as a reminder of the country's failure in this area.
According to a 2018 research paper published by the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 80 percent of campus buildings required maintenance. These figures are not surprising to those familiar with the system.
Alpha Mead hopes to address this issue, and after nearly 36 months of research, the company has launched its Call2Fix app officially.
According to Akintude, the app was created to address the difficulties inherent in managing and maintaining a home.
While elaborating on why access to these services should not be limited to the wealthy, he states that the initiative's objective is to "continuously connect people and organizations in need of these services with trained artisans or material suppliers from the comfort of their mobile devices."
Recognizing the emergence of the proptech industry in Nigeria, Akintude says the company is leveraging existing processes and systems while leveraging technology as the nexus for these operations.
Why Call2Fix?
Sesan Ogunyooye, AMG's Head of Marketing, identified six pain points in the FM sector: low artisan skills, growing safety and insecurity concerns, unprofessional conducts, highly manual and human-driven, largely informal and concentrated in the B2B space, and a contribution of less than 0.01 percent to Nigeria's GDP.
The company has four value propositions to address these issues: reliability, security, convenience, and accountability.
How does this function?
Ogunyooye describes the app as "a ride-hailing service, but for home management," with the motto "You call, we fix." As with the popular Uber app, Call2Fix allows you to find technicians nearby who are rated on a 5-star scale based on customer recommendations.
The app is completely free to download, as is creating an account. You can open multiple accounts simultaneously, depending on whether you want to be a customer, a service provider, a materials supplier, or all of the above.
In addition, an enterprise account is available, which enables organizations to grant employees administrative access to all their requests and maintenance concerns.
As a customer, you can communicate your requirements via the app or by phone. Additionally, you can use the video and visual features to communicate what needs to be fixed. After you submit your request, you will be assigned an artisan.
For service providers, registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is required, at the very least with a business name. You must aslo have a bank account in your business's name.
Background checks are conducted on all artisans employed by a service provider. When a customer complains about an artisan, the artisan is immediately blacklisted, investigated, and possibly fired.
There is a marketplace through which you can purchase materials directly from the app. Thus, you can rent ladders or purchase PVC pipe without ever leaving your home. To avoid overcharging, you make payments through the app rather than directly to the artisan. After your issue has been evaluated, you will be presented with five quotes. This provides you with a range of options based on your financial situation.
Interestingly, customers may be able to obtain loans to purchase goods and services. Ogunyooye, however, notes that the feature is still in beta.
Appointments can be rescheduled for your convenience. Likewise, you can create a requester account for a family member or domestic help.
Plans for training and expansion
The company, according to Ogunyooye, intends to organize training for artisans. This is not the company's first venture into soft skills education; the company previously partnered with the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board to teach soft skills.
This is consistent with AMG's goal of utilizing Call2Fix to help Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Real Estate sector realize the economic potential of the FM industry.
Currently, Call2Fix is only available in Lagos, but Ogunyooye stated that the company will expand into other major cities in Nigeria over the next three months.
Also, there are plans to expand into other African countries that offer Alpha Mead's services. The ultimate objective is to control the largest market share in the facility management industry.
