Thursday, October 21, 2010

New Website Links NYC Service Providers with Customers

Say you're a dog walker, tutor or a handyman -- in other words, one of New York City's unsung service entrepreneurs.  A new website called SkillSlate  provides a place for you to list your service(s), price, geographical area and customer reviews.

SkillSlate, in an email, tells us they have 650 service providers in Brooklyn "and growing," and they just announced $1 million in venture funding yesterday. So far, there are ten categories of services covered: cleaner, DJ, dog walker, hairdresser, handyman, massage, mover, personal trainer, photographer, and tutor.

The website is new so there are only a few reviews so far. It's funny how seeing a photo of the service provide might influence who you will call. Also, it's amazing to see the big difference in rates. One dog walker charges $75 an hour; another charges $20.

One thing to remember is that handymen who charge more than $200 for a job are supposed to be licensed and bonded (insured). (Here's a handy Dept. of Consumer Affairs booklet about that.) To find out if a handyman is licensed, call 311 or go to www.nyc.gov/consumers

SkillSlate appears to be very helpful to both service providers and those looking for one. Check it out.

Go to McBrooklyn's HOME PAGE.

4 comments:

Brian said...

Hi, this is Brian from SkillSlate. We greatly appreciate you writing about us, thank you so much for your post! Stay tuned, we have more good stuff on the way...

Thanks again,
Brian

Bartek Ringwelski said...

I'll chime in as well -- I'm Bartek, one of the co-founders of SkillSlate. We're really excited to create a platform that lets New Yorker's hire other New Yorkers.

We're going to be adding 100+ categories in the next 2 months -- so stay tuned!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good idea. Will you have a writer or editor category?

Brian Rothenberg said...

To Anonymous regarding: "Will you have a writer or editor category?"

Yes we will! We are in the process of adding it and should have it public within a few weeks - stay tuned.