Business of the Week: Yardhub, Inc.
Some homeowners may be uncertain how much their landscaper is going to charge them each time they visit their property. Other providers may try to get paid in cash in an increasingly cash-less society.
There are times when the homeowner may not know if a crew is going to show up or may think service is unnecessary. Failure to maintain proper insurance is another prevalent problem in the industry.
Then there are many quality landscapers who have to wait months to get paid after rendering services or who may be losing thousands of dollars in income because of antiquated billing practices.
If any of those problems are recognizable for customers and vendors, Westchester entrepreneur James Albis and business partner Bill Ralph have introduced a new mobile technology device and website that hooks up the landscaper with the homeowner.
Last week they launched Yardhub, Inc., an online resource where Albis and Ralph sign up reputable landscapers across Westchester and Fairfield counties who have been fully vetted to be matched up with homeowners across those counties.
Albis said he came up with the idea after he and his family moved into their Somers home. As a new homeowner, he had no idea where to turn to find a trustworthy landscaper other than to search online or ask his neighbors.
He said the mission is to change the way the public buys and receives its landscaping services.
“It’s a one-stop source where everybody can easily order and pay for all of the services outside the home,” Albis said. “No more sending an invoice to the homeowner, no more showing up at 9 o’clock on my doorstep where I’m going to pay you cash like the paperboy.”
For homeowners, they can sign up to have an account by visiting the Yardhub website, www.goyardhub.com. When service is needed, they include information about their property, the type of service they want and when they want an appointment and they will be booked in as quickly as 90 seconds, Albis said. The customer will be quoted a price without any guesswork. They will also pay a small service fee, he said.
After each job is completed, the landscaper is required to upload photos of the work to the company’s job-complete dashboard, which will trigger electronic payments within 24 hours. Each customer’s account or credit card will be billed.
Albis said he believes Yardhub will also be a boon to the landscapers and expects many vendors who enroll to receive more business.
“While this is a great place for the homeowners, it’s also a tool for the landscapers to allow them to get paid in a more efficient kind of manner,” Albis said.
He said that some landscapers may fear losing longtime customers and acknowledged that the service isn’t for every vendor. The plan is to sign up the top 10 to 20 percent of landscapers in the region, he said. As more people learn about the service, Albis hopes to have as many as 100 providers be part of the network to call upon.
“We provide the best service, we provide the best quality and we fulfill the transaction for the service provider,” he said.
In addition to landscaping, Yardhub can match customers and vendors for any service outside the home, including tree removal and snowplowing.
Appointments can be made using a personal computer, laptop or mobile device.
For more information, visit www.goyardhub.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/