“Whenever any breakdown occurs at your home, office or business place, finding the right technician is very difficult. Even if the problem is fixed once, no one bothers to come for follow-ups and checking.Suppose you are in need of a plumber to get your tap fixed or an electrician to help your vacuum cleaner get repaired, all you have to do is make a phone call. We started with the aim to make sure that our services are just a phone call away from our customers. We could have no better name than this.”
-Bimal Bastola, founder of Ek Call Home Solutions
After completing Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Surat, India, Bimal Bastola, aged 27, was working for FIAT Automobiles, Pune. But he made the choice of returning back to his hometown, Pokhara, due to his circumstantial family issues. After his return; he met Perish Ghimire, a Physics student. Together, they laid the foundation of ‘Ek Call Home Solutions’ in January 2017.
Ek Call Home Solutions provide the services related to electrical, plumbing, flooring, masonry, painting and electrical appliances repair. One can visit the website to know about the service and range of pricing. They have two options: either to book their services online or to make a phone call.
Similarly, the company also rents the tools that are usually not available in individual’s home or office. At present, Drill Machine, Metal Grinder, Drain Snake, Body Fat Analysis Machine, 24FT ladder, Telescope Ladder and Die Set are available once you pay the Hire Charge.
Generally, there is no fixed price for the fix-up tasks. But here at Ek Call Home Solutions, there are criteria to determine the costs. “For any inspection, we charge a minimum of Rs.200. The total costs after the service is determined by the certificate level and work experience of the technician and location, guarantee and complexity of the work. We also consider the availability of repairing materials. We maintain cost guidelines in our website,” shares Perish Ghimire, the manager of the company.
Grabbing the unexplored opportunities
Pokhara is the city which is progressing in the sector of tourism, agriculture and education rapidly. Even the outskirt parts of the city are being transformed into touristic destination and migration of people from the nearby districts is significantly increasing. As the development activities continue, manpower acquainted with technical skills will be in high demand. The company has realized the importance of organizing such manpower. Also, its initiation has helped to make the service quick, reasonable and durable.
“Ek Call Home Service has realized the importance of organizing manpower and helping them find the customers. Now we have a plumber and an electrician on a monthly salary scheme. Other trained workers work on the contact basis,” shared Bastola in a conversation with Glocal Khabar.
“Day by day, numbers of clients are increasing and people are satisfied with our work and follow-ups. We have benefited more than 300 customers already,” adds Bastola.
Recalling the initial days
As the concept is totally unique, it took few months for the people to know about it. Sunrise Bank was their first client when they needed an electrician urgently. The bank had known about the company when they went to open a bank account. Very few clients consulted them at the beginning who became really impressed with the services. Fortunately, those clients recommended Ek Call Home solution to other people. Social media platforms also played an important role in finding both technicians and the customers.
Today they receive 3-4 calls and email bookings daily.
Future Plans
The group aspires to take this company into large scale. At first, Bimal Bastola and the team had no helping hand and invested 10 Lakh rupees on their own. Now, as the company is getting popular day by day, interested investors have started coming to them.
“Some investors have approached us for the partnership. Now we plan to expand our services and hire full-time technicians. Our main focus will be on carpentry, painting and masonry in the days to come.”-Perish Ghimire
To the aspiring entrepreneurs:
Initial days can be difficult for everybody as entrepreneurship is all about implementing new ideas. Make mistakes, learn from them and remain persistent with your concept. We have countless of opportunities lying in Nepal, grab them quickly.
Startups for Better Nepal!
Presented by: Prashant Bhandari
