When it comes to needing small, odd-jobs done around the house, it’s hard to know who to call. There is no shortage of social media outlets to search to find someone willing to complete the tasks, but it’s harder to know if you can trust the person you are letting into your home. Dallas native, Dave Heimbuch, has created a unique way to solve this problem with his app, Hidrent. This innovative app pairs trusted community members, firefighters, with odd jobs to ensure that each user has a well-trained and trusted handyman coming into their homes. Hidrent allows homeowners to post odd jobs on their platform where off-duty firefighters can see the details of the work and accept the job. Once the work is complete, the firefighter can then submit their hours into the app which allows them to invoice the homeowner and receive payment–all within the platform.
Who thinks this helpful app for neighborly firefighters is ? #SharkTank
— Shark Tank (@ABCSharkTank) November 13, 2021
Because Hidrent is only currently active in two major cities, Phoenix and Tampa, Dave is looking to partner with a Shark that is willing to invest $300,000 and their strategic expertise and growth strategy in exchange for 8% equity in his company. Hidrent is able to make money by taking a 23% fee off of all services rendered through the Hidrent app. Through the first 6 months of 2021, the app brought in $325,000 in revenue which already exceeded 2020’s entire yearly revenue. One of the big challenges that Hidrent faces is that the majority of their clients are elderly and they need to tap into that demographic to become a trusted service in their community. This is going to take a lot of legwork to grow Hidrent’s reach into other cities.
Although it seems that Nirav Tolia, founder of Nextdoor, would be the perfect partner for Hidrent because he already knows how to expand social platforms in individual cities, he knows what a hard road it is to establish trust and ownership in this space. He is not interested in investing in Hidrent, however, Lori Greiner, who admittedly has a soft spot in her heart for firefighters, would like to work with Robert Herjavec to support and grow Hidrent’s mission. Because they have complementary skill sets, Lori thinks that she and Robert can help them rebrand and grow the business. The pair decide to extend Dave an offer of $300,000 in exchange for 33.3% equity in Hidrent. Although he gave up more equity than he was hoping to, Dave thinks that his partnership with Robert and Lori will help to grow the company’s mission and expand its social reach and impact. He is looking forward to their partnership together.
You all know I have a soft spot for firemen, they are our #EverydayHeroes #SharkTank @ABCSharkTank
— Lori Greiner (@LoriGreiner) November 13, 2021
Luv businesses that help people and this business helps everyone involved – the firemen that do the service & the people getting the service. #SharkTank @ABCSharkTank
— Lori Greiner (@LoriGreiner) November 13, 2021
What did you think of the business spotlight on Hidrent? If you were a Shark, would you invest in Dave’s handyman service and app? Do you think that Lori and Robert are the best partners for him? Start the conversation in the comments below!
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