Wixom-based LawnGuru, an app launched last May that offers on-demand lawn care for metro Detroit residents, is now offering on-demand snow removal services.
"When it starts snowing and you need to find help, most of the (lawn/landscape providers) are out in their trucks working away from their phones and offices," says Skye Durrant, co-founder and president of LawnGuru. "It's really hard to get ahold of someone unless you run outside and you're able to flag them and even then it becomes a cash transaction — it's just really an inconvenient way of finding help."
Durrant says the service will help snow removers fill their routes with more jobs, and at the same time, make the process easier for customers so they don't have to sign monthly contracts or gamble on if it will snow or not.
"Customers just know when a storm comes, they'll be able to request and be matched with someone almost immediately and have their driveway and sidewalks cleared without having to go through the challenge of having to find someone (at the) last minute," Durrant says.
To get started, customers enter their home address into the app. Following that, they can see providers working in their area and request service, which instantly notifies a nearby professional. Durrant says there is a response time of less than two hours for snow removal services.
He says there are 40 providers in the system, extending from Brighton to St. Clair Shores. Durrant says LawnGuru services more than 100 ZIP codes in Michigan. The startup now has 2,000 customers, up from 600 in June.
Durrant says the company plans to expand to such markets as Grand Rapids, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Cleveland.
To download the app, click here.
