CariJasa joins the race to give Indonesia’s services sector a reboot

This year the Indonesian services industry will get a much needed shakeup. Startups are coming at it from all angles. Go-Jek is one such startup. Its core offering is an on-demand motorcycle taxi app, but it recently added courier, personal shopping, and food delivery services. In effect, it turned every motorcycle taxi driver into a personal assistant.

Then there is YesBoss, which launched in June. It’s modeled after the Magic app in the US and claims that, with one simple SMS request, it is able to get you anything (provided it’s legal).

Professional services

Other local entrepreneurs are looking at Thumbtack for inspiration. This US-based startup targets professional service providers: those who solve problems beyond the scope of personal assistance. These could be computer technicians, photographers, or interior designers.

In Indonesia, two startups are set to launch this year with offerings similar to Thumbtack’s: Seekmi and CariJasa.

It makes sense, since professional services, especially those pertaining to repairs around the house, are a constant source of frustration. Service quality tends to be low, and workers can be unreliable. Few individual service providers have an online presence, so seekers must rely on recommendations or flyers.

See: O2-oh-no! Why Indonesia is a super tough market for on-demand startups

Close competitors

CariJasa is almost identical to Seekmi, which Tech in Asia recently profiled.

This is how it works: first, a service seeker submits a request form. Then, the platform matches it up with several providers. Those providers then send quotations to the seeker via the platform. Finally, the seeker makes a decision. The process continues offline. The platform takes a fee for each submitted quotation. This ensures that service providers only submit serious offers when they are confident they can fulfill the seekers’ requests.

CariJasa was founded by Ravi Melwani, whose previous entrepreneurial experience was in the franchising industry. He ran the Indonesian branch of MindLab, an educational after school program for kids, and a coffee booth business. However, he found the growth potential for franchises too limiting, and that’s when he set his eyes on tech startups.

Melwani now works in a team of six at the GEPI coworking space. The startup is bootstrapping. The team is working on getting service providers to sign up, but according to Melwani it is still at the very beginning with only about 50 entries so far. This number is supposed to rise to 1,000 by the end of the year.

The CariJasa team

From what I’ve learned, CariJasa puts more emphasis on public profiles for its service providers than Seekmi. Melwani wants the companies listed on CariJasa to be easily browsable, and encourages service providers to make sure their profiles are complete and up to date. CariJasa also offers monthly plans for service providers who plan to use the platform regularly to pitch to clients, and offers them dashboard features to track and plan bookings.