Looking for Feedback on HOA Software

Hello,

I have worked in resident amenity services for a long time with apartments but saw that HOA's don't have access to the same services or an easy way to get ahold of reliable service-based businesses near their communities. Because of this, I went out and built a company that allows your community to use schedule vetted trusted small business providers at a discounted rate through one platform. We need communities to get feedback so that we can improve our web platform. It's free to you, free to residents, and free to the providers.

From the point of view of a board member or President. What do you think about our idea? As someone who has never been in an HOA Im hoping this forum can provide some valuable feedback on what value this brings to the community and some general thoughts.

Thank you, I appreciate any time anyone chooses to give us by responding!

Hello Tim,

That's a good point. If we included the online reviews of these businesses in their profile on our platform do you think this would help?

And as far as services, these are mainly lifestyle services as opposed to companies like Angieslist. What other companies come to mind for you?

In my experience, the contractors that a management company provides are mainly for maintenance and contracted repairs. Is this incorrect?

I understand, maybe I should be more specific....

Our services focus mainly on local service businesses such as dog walking, maid services, car washes, ext. Our current market research says the management companies vet then provide them as vetted options but you don't really have a way to use all of them and keep track of them conveniently.

Is this a service that exists in yor knowledge?

These services are not the responsibility of an HOA, nor should the HOA do any "vetting" because of the liability it can incur if things go wrong.

Occasionally you'll see businesses that advertise in the community's newsletter, but usually there is a disclaimer somewhere stating that the the homeowners should do there own due diligence when hiring.

It sounds like you're providing services to homeowners. They're your customers, whether they're in an HOA or not, and those are the folks you should market your services to. The HOA is not your customer since you're not providing anything that it could use to fulfill its responsibilities.

Then you should talk to Nextdoor or others of that ilk to see if they'd be interested in your services. The HOA is not going to be an unpaid adjunct to your marketing department, or do your job for you. You can buy mailing lists to target people living in the areas you're interested in. You can develop a track record of providing a useful service. In other words, the same old fashioned hard slog that any new business has to go through.

If you hope to deal with HOAs, I strongly suggest that you educate yourself about what they are and what they are not. Right now I don't think you understand them.

I was unaware that the communities' mailing addresses were public record, I will have to look into that.

And I understand, I currently run a service-based business and completely understand how important building trust is. I want to integrate google, yelp, and host community reviews so that consumers have a wide range of reviews at their fingertips. In addition to this, I want to make it convenient for you the consumer to talk to service-based business owners without having to call and wait or get updates if they're running late. Is this not something that anyone here thinks would be helpful?

On a side note, just a quick thank you to everyone who has contributed their thoughts here today. Your time is valuable and I appreciate it more than you know.

What do you mean by aim low?

And how do you suggest I improve the concept? What current pains do you see in the interactions between yourself and small businesses? Currently, we have adopted quality system for report feedback to consumers, contractor check ins to let you know if they're late or on the way, and a direct messaging system if you have any questions for the provdider. Then all of your appointments are kept in one secure portal for all the businesses that you use.

Ah, I meant that more in the sense of how we connect individuals. WE will strive to promote a competitive market that forces providers to either step up and be accountable to consumers for a high level of quality or be removed from the platform by consumer choice. Hopefully, this will solve the issue! There's not much however I can do about any ugly discussions on message boards. Sorry, Gene!