You are invited to be part of the next revolution on the way you ask for work to be done.
Hi, and Welcome to YouKwoteMe.
I am delighted to personally invite you, to what will be the next online revolution on the way people ask for work to be done at home and businesses to search for work.
Pascal Baptista
Who are we
My name is Pascal Baptista and I can say that I have been working in the construction industry all my life since the age of 16. I am from the generation where concrete used to be mixed by hand to build an entire house, the building trade was so hard that at the end of each day I was coming back home, I wasn't sure if would go to bed before or after having a meal so tired and hungry I was. Even if this seemed hard times, I do not regret any second of it.
From there I went to school, did several training courses, went to university and ended up as Project Manager working for the top 10 construction companies in the UK.
What are the reasons for YouKwoteMe?
"The fact of being in the construction industry for so many years did not save me from issues with local builders!"
The idea started when I decided to have my own home and moved to cannock due to work. The house we moved into was from 1960s, the walls were fully covered with wallpaper all around, so we thought that we move in, buy or hire one of these wallpaper removing steam machines, peel the wallpaper out, paint the walls and job was done. Unfortunately, we soon found out the walls were not as good as expected and it became so a big job that we decided to start the process of contacting construction companies. Not being from the area, I decided to start hunting builders from Google, Yellow pages, 112, 118, local newspapers and ask around to a few people as they were going past and we were starting to get involved with the neighbours. After a few weeks I managed to get 11 contacts, between text messages, voicemails, emails and calls in noisy background. I finally managed to book appointments with 8 of them which is pretty good I think. From these 8 only 6 turned-up. Out of these 6, 1 said the project was too big, the other said was too small, and 4 said I will be giving you a quote by the end of the week. Unfortunately, one came back with a quote. Well frankly, I had no choice then to give the job to him unless I wanted to start again and delay the start for another 3 or 4 weeks which is the time it takes between searching, speaking, booking and waiting for the quote. Unfortunately, after a few weeks we started to notice that some of the things they were doing were just not right, at the time I was working away from home so my wife was highlighting to them things that should have been obvious to them as professional builders. Anyway, at the end we had no choice then to search again for someone to finish off the job which ended up costing us a fortune and after 1 year (instead of 6 weeks) it was finally completed.
"Surely it must be a way where you can post your job online and traders would simply reverse bid on your job."
This was the trigger to start think on a way to make people's life easier, a place where you can get the best quote and they can choose which trader wants to bid on jobs, not the other way around. A place where Clients and Traders can publish their jobs, ask and answer questions, make viewing bookings, Traders to decide the job they want to do and Clients for Traders they want based on their reputation, have a way to record progress, accept and reject time and quote changes, keep records of all the process from the day the job was posted to the completion date and beyond. And most importantly, a place they can be secured that if there is an issue with a builder it can get solved and highlighted to others.
"This is when YouKwoteMe was born."
Established in 2014, YouKwoteMe project has developed a tested and proven four steps concept where people and Traders can literally save time and money on any builder project. By collecting some of the feedbacks, we have even expanded this concept to other areas such as Website design, building regulations and plan and permission drawings. In addition to that, we have started to make an impact to the local community by engaging with the local Scouts group and helping them to build a website for free with other projects on the pipeline such as converting a storage room to an office.
"We are helping local communities to build a website and an office conversion."
Why a revolution?
YouKwoteMe has been likened to give the same impact as eBay, Shiply and UShip. Imagine a few years back when eBay did not existed. Try to remember how you use to sell your unwanted objects?
So now imagine the same for the work you need doing at home and business? Imagine a place where you simply post your job online and traders, builders, professionals and building merchants can submit quotes or reverse bid on the job they want to do? All fully traceable and protected.
Why YouKwoteMe?
For Users
Are you looking for a builder, a professional or to purchase construction materials but you don't really know how and where to look for?
YouKwoteMe is the solution!
The only think you have to do it to post your job at YouKwoteMe.com and wait for the lowest bidder to win your job using the YouKwoteMe reverse auction system.
Once the lowest bidder wins the job, the builder do the work as per your listing, the Builder receive the lowest bidding price and at the end both Builder and User reward each other under the YouKwoteMe feedback rating.
Job done!
For Traders
Are you a Builder, a Professional or a building merchant, you are new in the industry or a well established business?
Are you simply looking for new clients, buildup for feedback and increase your profit but you don’t really know when is the best time to advertise, what to write, how much to invest, where to publicise where you can guaranty to have the right balance between money spent and return without depending on luck or on a phone call that never comes?
YouKwoteMe is the solution!
The only think you have to do is to subscribe at YouKwoteMe.com, insert your details, look for jobs or simply wait to receive job notifications from us and price the jobs you want to do using the YouKwoteMe reverse auction system.
Once you become the lowest bidder, you win the job, you do the work as per the listing and agreement with the Client, you receive your lowest bidding price and at the end both You and your Client reward each other under the YouKwoteMe feedback rating.
How YouKwoteMe works?
There are 3 main areas working within the back end of the site.
1 - The registration process
As User
Users register for free and currently there are no plans to charge for posting jobs.
As Trader
Traders, Professionals and Building merchants are subject to verification processes to obtain the YouKwoteMe Approved Trader Stamp. We are currently running a credit check to 100% of our registered Traders no matter which subscription plan they are in. In parallel to the credit check, we will be contacting the builder in an attempt to collect as much information as possible and update the builder's profile.
2 - Posting a Job Online
A job can be posted using 3 procurement methods:
Restricted Bidder
Builders wanting to submit a bid would have to ask the Client first if they can. The Client receives a notification and either accepts or rejects the request. Upon acceptance, the Builder would than submit his quotation or request for a viewing. At the end of the job listing the Client will have a list of Traders and quotation to choose from and start the job with.
Restricted Reverse Auction
Builders wanting to participate on the reverse bid competition will need to submit the request first. The Clients decide if they would allow the Builder to reverse bid or not.
Reverse Auction
Anyone can reverse bid on your job.
3 - Post Auction tools
By posting your job at YouKwoteMe you and the Builder will receive protection up to the end.
There are several tools available:
Daily Diary Logs: This is a timeline setup where both Clients and Traders can record progress using a combination of text and attachements.
Change Request: This is an approval system where both Clients and Traders can record changes and let each other know if this will have a direct impact on cost and/or time. These changes will have to be approved or rejected for the changes to take place. Another way to record what it use to be informal chats most of the time leading to disputes.
Disputes Resolution Centre: Using the tools and The YouKwoteMe Contract we have not been asked to act yet but we have a dedicated team ready to act as a third party aimed to resolve any problems you may have.
Meet the Team?
We have been working very closely together to make this project happen, always trying to push the limites.
Some people would say "The sky's the limit" well not for us!
Lyndsey, Marta, Pascal and Vinnie are here to serve you.
Lyndsey James Hinton: Is our Business Development and Marketing Manager, for the past years she has been helping in the development, design and marking of significance landmarks such as motorola and Nokia. She is a key turning point strategy for the development of such a significant and challenging project.
Marta Baptista: Marta is our Customer Relations and Financial Manager, working hand in hand with the Client to understand the project meets the need with dealing with customer requirements and the day to day running of YouKwoteMe. Marta has a strong people management and financial background in large organisations.
Pascal Baptista: CEO and founder of YouKwoteMe, the mastermind behind the concept and the project. Pascal has a Masters Degree in Construction Management, is full member of two Engineering Associations, in addition with a few training courses and experience he is the front face of the project and makes sure the functionalities of the website is updated and interlinked in a logical way.
Vinnie Pickles: Is the experience that any organisation needs. Vinnie has been working in the construction industry all his life, managing small to multimillion pound projects. He is our overall internal decision making, he is adored by all of us, his knowledge is just priceless.
What we will do once we have achieved the traget?
In business terms, the YouKwoteMe concept turns out to be complex, this is simply because there are targeted streams we need to make sure it is not lost. One side of the coin it that the system does not work if Clients have posted their jobs and there are no Traders to reverse bid on these job, on the other hand, there will be a lost of interest on the Trader's side is there are no jobs for them to bid on. Therefore, it is fundamental that we keep a correct balance between the two.
From this we will be able to let people know who we are and what are the benefits of YouKwoteMe. Currently we are running campaigns with google, FaceBook and Tyne FM radio. We have consulted numerous organisations and our strategy is to increase these campaigns to other radios such as Unity Radio, Radio 1 and Free Radio for a month this includes an exclusive 10 minutes interview on the Friday afternoon peak time radio show.
Increase the number of adverts on the national level in conjunction with targeted locations and needs as the jobs are getting published.
Finally, we are always aiming to help key Charities to overcome the continuous need for material and skilled labour. As previously demonstrated, YouKwoteMe has managed to bring both needs together which is the need for a local company to help and the need for work to be done. Even if we are happily doing these works for free, we need to retain the overall sustainability, unfortunately without it we will simply cease. Our next project, which is even bigger the once we have done to date, would be to renovate the house of a single dad with two daughters. This single dad has been working all his life to the RAF and helped many people within his little world. The plan his to bring all trades in and get his house completed in 1 week, all for free, including material and labour!
Our Marketing strategy to a sustainable growth are:
- Encouraging people, businesses and local Charities to join YouKwoteMe
- Make the website better by adding other features such as login via FaceBook, Google+ and LinkedIn. Builders to receive text messages each time a new job have been posted and/or a lower bid has been submitted...
- Submit applications to Trust Mark to allow YouKwoteMe to act as a validating organisation to Traders wishing to also become members.
- Creative Partnerships with like minded brands to help Traders to get the right qualifications and Users to get the right cover. We have a partnering with an Home Insurance company to credit check the traders. From there we would need to add a tool to automatically allow the approved Traders to bid on their jobs if they wish to restrict it, and for the Client or the Trader to purchase an Insurance backed guarantee based on the end auction price.
How can you help us?
We have several options:
1- You can go at www.YouKwoteMe.com register. If you have a job please post it online and we will do our best for you to get the right competition.
2- You register your interest to help the local community with either the local Scouts, to renovate the RAF single Dad house or any other projects we would do in the future.
3- Register at www.YouKwoteMe.com as a builder, Professional or Building Merchant and pledge NOW...
4- If you find that we have been working hard and we do deserve a tip from you please do so and Pledge NOW...
So to conclude... you are invited to become part of the next revolution on the way work is being procured and how Builders are searching and submitting quotes possibly worldwide.
Thank you for reading our project. Pledge NOW...
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