The increase in family savings during the pandemic and the need to improve the inside of the four walls that limit freedom during incarceration have pushed reforms to a real boom. Adapting the home to telework, improving exteriors or removing partitions were imposed on new trends to turn the home upside down. Enric Aparici, CEO and co-founder of Here your Reform, says demand is expected to “remain strong” despite the impact of the crisis on production costs and reform implementation times. This boom is accompanied by the support of new technologies and the collaborative economy, the need to solve certain problems at home, resulting in a proliferation of applications that allow reformers and mechanics to be recruited with one click. So how do these apps work? How do they support employment?
The cooperative economy ensures that a consumer’s needs are easily satisfied by another member of the community. “The number of non-digitalized industries is decreasing day by day. And the reform sector bills 60,000 million euros a year. “The platforms for finding reformers and repairers will gain a lot of importance and add a lot of value in the years to come,” Aparici concluded. The industry lagged behind the travel and banking industries in developing these apps, but now professionals can be found directly on the Internet.
This type of change also makes self-employment more attractive and accessible. “Digitalization and new practices are reorienting the industry and address one of its main problems: staff shortages and generational change,” says Carlos Sanz, managing director of Habitissimo, a reform platform.
youth charm
And despite incentives for wages to exceed 30% of the inter-professional minimum, young people do not see the industry as attractive enough, making it harder for companies to find staff. “In the end, what these platforms do is allow the youngest to participate and contribute to their digital skills. Sanz says no previous experience is required.
This is one of Habitissimo’s facilities. “The platform provides easier access to these positions. Professionals who sign up not only value having a business, but build their reputation with their customers and capture them by posting their previous work,” adds Sanz. The Mallorcan platform, which connects professionals and users looking to improve their homes, was launched in 2009 and is the largest Helped more than one and a half million people with more than 50,000 certified professionals during the pandemic. The user specifies what he needs through a form and collects up to four budgets, also knows where to find inspiration, trends. Transformative digitization of these activities “Previously, you trusted word of mouth, but you didn’t really know the quality of the professional until you got the job done. According to Habitissimo, opinions about platforms are now fundamental”.
greater benefit
They also cover up costs by bypassing commercial retailers. «The professional has the freedom to decide in which field he wants to work through a geolocation service and can negotiate the price directly with the client. According to the CEO, this could lead to higher revenues,” he said.
In turn, customers have better deals. “If someone compares a service that can be purchased through an agent or directly through a network of professionals, they will be able to find a significant improvement in price over ten points,” says Jorge Oliveros, CEO of Wolly by Mobius Group. Its platform consists of another app for finding professionals for home renovations and retrofits, such as electricians, cleaners or plumbers, created in December 2020 in the midst of a pandemic.
It currently has more than 200,000 customers on its database and over 20,000 published services with nationwide coverage. «The annual growth is more than 200% in activity and turnover. We have identified an open niche in the market and are working on it,” adds Oliveros.
Registration on the platform is 100% free for individuals who receive up to three quotes after the requirement is published. Their plan is to expand into southern Europe via Portugal, Italy and France in the coming years. Other platforms like TaskRabbit or Timbrit are part of the change that will stay here.