One Thousand Hands for One Thousand Needs

One of the biggest assumptions many of us make on a daily basis is that everything will be fine while we tackle the more important and immediate tasks that take up most of our time. We have this blind faith that our laptops will continue working despite the heavy processing work, our washing machines won’t break down despite the constant rattling, and our air-conditioning units can survive one more night without disintegrating.

And then, the inevitable happens.

We become disappointed, distraught, and lost. Who do we call? How much will it cost? With the amount of distractions at hand, we simply can’t afford—literally, and figuratively—one more jumping at us at the most inopportune moments. It is a nightmare most city dwellers would rather not endure: the prospect of having to deal with problems we have chosen to ignore. But they exist, and they need to be addressed. So what is the solution?

To Hong Kong-based tech entrepreneur and investor Mr. Harry Cheung, it is an app, aptly called “Thousand Hands”.
“I remember the frustration of having my air-conditioning unit break down, then being unable to find someone to help fix it for me at a reasonable price, and I think this is a common problem many of us face. Something breaks down, and then we face the difficult decision of whether to fix it, or to dispose it then get a new one, especially once we realise how incredibly expensive it is these days just to have something serviced,” comments Cheung.

It was this experience that led Cheung to come up with the idea of introducing a virtual marketplace that connects service providers and customers in the form of an app, and thus, Thousand Hands was born. Simply calling the app a virtual marketplace might be a devaluation of its true worth though, as a focal point of its conception revolves around giving back more power to consumers, specifically when it comes to appraising the value of the service required. Director of Thousand Hands (Malaysia), Mr. John Hwang, explains further,

“While the app was developed to benefit both service providers and consumers, we felt it’s necessary to design a system that addresses a long-standing frustration many people have faced and that is the experience of being overcharged for something. People generally have an idea of how much they are willing to pay to get something fixed, and Thousand Hands provides that platform for consumers to state their price, so to speak.”

Thousand Hands feature in the app 

As “customers” on the app, users are able to list jobs that they have on Thousand Hands (e.g. lawn mowing, laptop fixing, plumbing, etc.) and attach the range they are willing to pay to have these jobs taken up. The jobs will then be listed and auctioned to bidders, or service providers, who can then place a bid on the job by matching the customer’s price tag.

 Once the customer has amassed a number of bids on the job posted, they are then able to pick and choose the service provider they would like to hire based on the cost of the service, along with ratings and reviews of the service provider. The economy is ultimately one that greatly benefits customers, as they are now able to dictate how much they are willing to pay for a service, and service providers, who also have the option of taking up jobs that they deem worthy of their time while gauging how much people are willing to spend on the services they offer.

“It is an app that serves as the ultimate check-and-balance system,” comments Cheung. “Thousand Hands not only connects service providers and customers together, it also allows for people to assess the value of the services they provide against their own expectations.” 

Thousand Hands feature in the app with various categories for you to post on service needed and also service providers to look for business

While Thousand Hands was officially launched on September 8th at the Malaysia IT Fair, the app has been made available for download on iOS and Android platforms. 

As it stands, there are currently 9 core categories on the app:

(i) Cleaning; 

(ii) Landscaping and Gardening; 

(iii) Laundry Services; 

(iv) Air-Conditioning Services;

(v) General Domestic Repairs (“Handyman”); 

(vi) Shopping Assistants;

(vii) Wait-and-Queue Assistants;

(viii) Delivery Services;

(ix) Tech Support and IT Services.

Posted 2 services needed with the rate offered

While I was exploring the app, I found these:

First example: service on cleaning with details given

It could be a source of part-time income!

Second example: service on broken fridge with details given

Thousand Hands is a free app, and the only transactions that occur will be between service providers and customers. The transactions can either be cashless via the application itself or alternatively, customer can pay service provider cash directly. Ezy Planet, the company behind the app, is currently working with e-Wallet by Boost (owned by Axiata) to give users a new experience in the digital world. Thousand Hands will also focus to better support the needs of the e-commerce community by releasing some of their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for a more flexible method of transmitting real-time fulfilment data to improve merchant and consumer experience! It is hoped that this will further strengthen the app and allow it to grow even faster.

For more information about Thousand Hands Malaysia, visit www.ThousandHands.com or www.facebook.com/ThousandHandsMY