I am a chemist by profession, but after visiting SF I was amazed by the startup culture and since my return from SF, I have been working on the project “RepairShift” with a friend of mine who is an iOS developer.
We followed a simple guideline: build a product to solve a problem or simplify the existing process.
We are in beta mode and were wondering if we could get feedback?
Any input would be greatly helpful.
bit.ly/rsbetaaccess
Features for users under current beta version:
• Help you stay informed about your car’s scheduled maintenance.
• Conveniently submit repair requests.
• Receive quotes from local mechanics for all your repair needs.
• Maintain online invoices and repair history, no more paper trail.
• Cashless transaction
Services under current version:
• Scheduled Maintenance (based on your car make and model)
• Oil Changes
• New Tires
• Tire Rotations
• Pre-Purchase inspection
• Road side assistance
• Diagnostic services
• Alignment
• Battery replacement
• Transmission fluid
If it is recommended to place the product under “Show” I can do that.
Thanks
- Direct to consumer
OR
- Via dealers/mechanics
I don't like that you used a bitly link though. This is HN, you shouldn't be tracking people here who can provide feedback.
This has a lot more "value-add" under the hood than 1 would realize in the start (think about how valuable it would be for buying a used car when you could get a "qualified logbook" of maintenance on a car via your app, big potential indeed).
You need to put the app out there and through usage, see which parts are important and what users use the app mostly for.
I don't think many mechanics would like "cashless", but maybe in your market it is different (although I doubt a mechanic in 1 part of the world could be that much different to another).
If I were your marketing guy, I'd try these marketing segments to use the app: car enthuasists, buy/sell "on the side" kind of people, small carshop salesmen and any other folks you can identify in the used-car market.
Beware of big automakers, as they may have an app like this or 1 of them steals the idea (eventually, unless you scale fast enough).
Good luck though!