KWOTIMATION™
Technology and tiling brought together to help tradies win more and waste less
KWOTIMATION™ is a local SAAS start-up with a vision to help save tradespeople and their customers time, money and stress.
While quoting jobs is an essential but costly part of doing business for tradespeople, customers are seeking timely and accurate estimates for work in a world where nearly everything can be found on a smartphone.
Joshua Faraimo (Ngāti Toa) and Jarome Cavubati are the brains behind new software that can help tradies save costs and time while getting accurate quotes to potential clients before their competitors.
The tech start-up was selected to participate in Kōkiri 2020, the national kaupapa Māori business accelerator programme run by Te Wānanga of Aotearoa from its business and innovation hub, Te Ahikōmako – Centre of Māori Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Co-founders Josh and Jarome are joined by team member and operations-extraordinaire Rayleen Elliot (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Kahungunu).
After running his own successful tiling company based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), Josh knew that ‘it’s a pain in the butt’ for tilers to go out to quote jobs. The workload of organising appointments, travelling to sites and then creating the quote can be a barrier to growth for some businesses. “I decided to start a new tiling venture, Tiling.co.nz, to provide accurate online quotes for work then manage the tiling projects that were accepted by clients,” says Josh.
“Our quoting technology we developed for Tiling.co.nz worked for us and the tiling arm of the business was growing. We started thinking that our platform could work for other tiling businesses,” says Josh. “Before you know it, we were on the tech start-up journey with KWOTIMATION.”
The technology behind KWOTIMATION™’s Online Pricing System (OPS) allows business owners and contractors to upload customized pricing and then their customers are able to quote the tiling work online for themselves. “This removes the need for tilers to actively manage the quoting process. It’s good for the business, the clients and the environment,” says Josh.
The proven business acceleration processes used during the 12-week Kōkiri prorgamme, have helped the team reflect on their start-up journey so far and get a clear pathway for future development and business sustainability. “Because we’re a business that’s be born from solving a real problem, we were solely focused on that problem,” says Josh.
The structured sequence of the programme has helped the team critically review all aspects of their start-up including strategy, pricing and customer segments. “Working through the sprints has forced us to review how our business was progressing and to stay focused on the customer’s core problem that our software can solve”.
KWOTIMATION™ are currently seeking early adopters to help validate their product and get feedback from tradesperson and their customers using the pricing system. The next industry they are looking to enter is painting and decorating in Aotearoa, says Josh. Opportunities to take the platform overseas and create international relations are part of the team’s long-term business ambitions.
Connect with KWOTIMATION™
CONTACT: Josh Faraimo – Co-founder | LinkedIn
PHONE: 0212350965
EMAIL: [email protected] | [email protected]
WEB: www.kwotimation.com
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/KWOTIMATION
LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/company/kwotimation
SCALE-UP NZ PROFILE : Company Page – Kwotimation Ltd
Kōkiri 2020
Kōkiri is a Māori business acceleration programme, based on kaupapa Māori values, focused on accelerating early-stage Māori led start-ups who have bold ambitions and are impact positive. Kōkiri supports Māori-led start-ups that have high-growth potential to develop their business capability and wellbeing, through tailored experiential-based learning, supported by mentors, coaches, and experts in a safe and culturally responsive learning environment. Kōkiri 2020 is proudly funded by Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and Callaghan Innovation and is sponsored by MYOB, Spark, FINDEX, AJPark, Hillfarrance, Poutama Trust and ATEED – and Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development.