kaZING: Blockchain Part 1

Trust and reliability are two of the biggest challenges in the On-Demand Home Service Market today. Two key advantages of blockchain entries are that they are cryptographically verified. That means they can be mathematically proved to be authentic, and they are immutable, which means they can never be changed. The ability to authenticate and permanently store data in a public and decentralized manner offers numerous opportunities for blockchain technology to positively disrupt many aspects of our daily lives.

One area we believe is ripe for change is the home services market.

As you’ve heard from my other posts, kaZING brings together the labor, resources, and materials for small on-demand projects at a price point that challenges larger service providers. 

How can we do this? 

Well, kaZING has architected a modern platform and technology solution using the latest and greatest innovations available. For example, kaZING leverages blockchain technology to automate user verification, reputation management, payment processing, contract life cycle, and dispute arbitration. The leading market players are using outdated technology where they’ve essentially created a digital version of the Yellow Pages similar to Yelp: a centralized directory of contact information sorted by type of service provider. That is nothing more than adding some reviews and outcome management mechanisms.  Innovative circa 2012, but the world has changed significantly since then.  

Their approach is a fundamental misunderstanding of what we think a large, growing group of consumers need and desire. They do not lack the ability to use what is essentially a digital Rolodex. Instead, we believe they want turnkey services in lifestyle management for homedwellers and back office management for service providers. The desired product is no longer the provision of the underlying service, but rather the knowledge of what to do when to do it, and how to do it. Consumers want help managing the entire process: identifying what needs to be done (project-specific knowledge), knowing how best to complete it, scheduling appointments, managing the project, verifying the completed work, processing payments, reviewing the vendor, resolving disputes, and anticipating future projects. 

We believe companies that succeed in providing these services will be building more complex, multi-touch relationships rather than merely providing transactional referrals and a fancier version of the Yellow Pages and Yelp. Existing platforms such as Angie’s List, Thumbtack, and HomeAdvisor operate with a pay-to-bid business model. Innovative way back in 2012, but seen as cumbersome and problematic in 2019. 

Why? 

Vendors are required to pay to place a bid on any project on which they want to work. We believe this business model leaves customers and vendors vulnerable. The vendors are rewarded for underbidding, and customers are required to blindly trust the lowest bidder. We believe this business model is outdated, inefficient, and unfair to everyone involved. kaZING is bringing transparency, security, and, most importantly, fairness to the home services industry using blockchain technology.  

More to come soon on this topic…