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VirtualyMe App
The VirtualyMe App is aimed at servicing the small business owner who doesn’t have the budget to employ permanent admin staff. South Africa has 5,6 million registered company’s in survivalist mode. Most of them will not succeed because they lack the necessary knowledge and assistance in running a business.The App will provide the user with 24/7 assistance for your business.The idea is the user will downloads and registers,they get an itemized list of their task.Once a task is completed they get a notification.Easy rating system of the service and payment is deducted from their credit card.Its like an Uber like service for Virtu Assistants.
The company will take 20% of the total they make and 80% will be kept by VA.
State your goals
Create a platform for all PA/VA’s in South Africa and globally who need assistance in gaining clients and have proven track record of providing professional work.
Training will be provided to new administrators and continues support will be available to them.
What problems (particularly in value chain competitiveness and global disruption) are your community’s stakeholders facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic?
A South African study has revealed that’s from the start of the lockdown there was a 70% decline in PA job advertising.The first to get retrenched are PA’s,administrators because companies do not see the value they bring to an organization. A lot of companies need to survive during this time and having a solid right hand in your business is crucial that is why the App is important in closing the gap.
What minimum viable solution(s) are you proposing to address the challenge(s) in your community?
The App will provide employment to a section of people who are lost in this pandemic.For a business to survive they need the skills of a professional and efficient administrators and for the director to concentrate on the core business.
Share your story (your narrative)
I grew up in an impoverished part of South Africa.I was given up for adoption as a baby and spent all my life at an orphanage in Soweto.After finishing high school I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.I became an office assistant and moved on to become an executive Assistant to some multi national executives.i enjoyed my role and learnt a lot.i have more than 10 years experience in this field of making someone’sd life much easier.That is where my idea for the virtual Assistant App came to me.I was retrenched last year and really needed an avenue to provide for my two kids.I am a single parent and not having an income is horrendous to my self esteem.
Please provide any additional relevant information that you would like to share.
This idea will change the lives of women in my community And provide them with income in the comfort of their home.
Your Final Proposal for challenge
yes
Hi Lungile,
One of your stated goals is, to empower women administrators, and your idea is aiming at changing the lives of women in your community. Growing up in Soweto, how many women administrators are you going to impact? I guess Soweto is surrounded with a significant number of unemployed women. Re think and possibly revise your goal.
What minimum viable solution(s) are you proposing to address the challenge(s) in your community?
The App will provide employment to a section of people who are lost in this pandemic.For a business to survive they need the skills of a professional Andy efficient administrators and for the director to concentrate on the core business.
I presume you meant who have lost their Jobs in this pandemic.
Talking about facts,
1) how much can you make from this concept, are you developing the app yourself?
2) Do you have the technical Know how to develop the concept?
3) How do you intend to go about publicity knowing fully well you need to get a job. How will you secure one for yourself before others?
4) How is this different from the normal Job search serviceses out there.
5) what is unique about this concept, what makes this idea stands out.
6) How much will it cost you to provide this kind of service
7) what makes you a better fit for this service you're proposing?
Hi Lungile,
I hope you are safe and well. The project´s presents a very nice idea. Thanks for sharing it.
After going through the project´s details some questions and suggestions questions came to mind in order to help refine your project.
1- In terms of information presented
The description presents very relevant information, however it would nice if a paper or an article from credible source could support the information mentioned that implies a research, as follows:
“Many people have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.The first to get retrenched are PA’s,administrators because companies do not see the value they bring to an organization.”
It was not clear if you project is under construction or if still an idea. Do you a minimum viable product for the app to add?
Can you describe the features features that are relevant for employers and assistants looking for work explaining a little what makes the app stand out for users?
2- In terms of technology
Nowadays the urge for data protection has increased. So, does the app has cybersecurity technologies to protect users sensitive information?
3- In terms of business model
The app will support companies who
Does the app has any feature to market the solution to women?
The target audience are women. So, how does the app will address a male application who wants to join as worker?
Can you detail the business model regarding generation of revenue for investors and costs for users ?
I really hope that my contribution have added value to your project. Keep up the great work!
Best regards,
Niedja Cavalcante .
Hi Lungile, I voted for you to encourage you to restate your pitch. I believe you have alot of potentials and you can make your idea come to reality, but at this stage it still sound vague. Tell us what assistance your app will help us solve as regards to our businesses? You will need to list them. What task do you mean? Is it like task management app like Trello? Why will I get deducted when I complete these tasks using your app? Use your time and state them one after the other. What value will your app give? What impact will it create in your community? Keep pushing, you're almost there
Hello Lungile, well done on this idea. It is not clear if you would be rolling out this idea to other areas similar to Soweto and if you would scale it to cover the rest of South Africa and hopefully Africa after that. All the best
Hi
this is great achievement that is about empowering women and giving back to community! I think that considering unemployed women will be more impact in your idea.
Hi lungile, thank you for coming up with such an idea and i believe it will bring a good impact in your country. however i am very much interested on how the users of the app will be able to create paycheques. are you partnering with a financial institution or an external library to handle such tasks? do you need any technical and financial assistance to get it done? if so how are you planning to acquire the techinical team and as well fundraising. few points to consider when formulating with such plan might include deciding whether to get funds from an angel investor or VC, or bootstrapping from your own capability. getting an incubation might also be an important step. otherwise am much interested to see your app working and helping many women and men
Good one! how do you make money from it.
Hi Lungile,
I would like to address some of my questions. You mentioned that the pandemic has caused many people to lose jobs. Doesn't a virtual assistant come to replace existing people at their jobs? Additionally, replacing existing people with virtual assistants is expected to help businesswomen be more productive. What technology are you using to make the technology so good, that it would be equivalent to a human assistant? I think that a more detailed explanation of your problem statement and the goals could cover my doubts. Nevertheless, this is just my opionion.
Thank you! Best of luck with your idea!
Hi Lungile,
I like the name of your initiative very much but if I could know the details of your initiative I would be able to understand your work in a better way. You can share with us the details of your initiative such as: Who is your target group of audience? What kind of problems are you solving in society for women? You can share the link of Virtual Assistant Finder App with us.
Hi lungile?your initiative is nice just need to know your business model
Nice initiative. It will be a great app eventually. I will recommend that you look into:
(1) How the app will handle payment in case of dispute over dissatisfaction. You can include something like an escrow for payment and also, dispute resolution.
(2) The app can take like 10% of the service fee from each side for the maintenance of your business/app.
Your business can partner with Payoneer or escrow.com.
I hope these help.
Hello Lungille
Good though and consideration to the unemployed especially during this pandemic
Quick question?How will the App link a user with a potential employer? Kindly elaborate.
Wishing you best of luck
Best Regards
I am guessing the revenue will come from the businesses that use yuor service. How much will you charge, how much is for the women and how much do you keep yourself?
Status label added: Community feedback received
The idea has been progressed to the next milestone.
HELLO Lungile
My advice Start small and build momentum, Being a social entrepreneur can be very difficult, you are constantly in a field dominated by changing dynamics, you will often face business challenges, and you have to start small and build your enterprise from the ground up. You must be resilient, realistic, and passionate about your goals and the impact you are trying to achieve.
To add to your solution, I am sharing with you questions from one of our trainings that can help in refining our ideas and projects
What business model will you follow to implement this idea?
What methodology or strategy will you use during different processes of implementing this idea?
Which are the processes you have to go through until the finalization of the idea?
What means or tools do you need to implement my idea?
Which are your potential collaborators, investors?
Thank you
Hello Lungile, great submission. This has so much potential. What is your vision and mission in relation to changing live of women and girl child and how do you plan on sustaining your app? All the best in your project
Hello Lungile,
I think it is great that you use your experience to come up with an idea to change women lives and look for support in order to make a business out of it. I read most of the comment you have received and they tackle all the relevant elements that I think are missing in your pitch. Therefore, my suggestion is to take all those valuable comments, questions, and get them organize in categories. For example:
Definition of the problem (figures that show that is relevant)
What is the solution-technology?
What is your value proposition?
What is the market size you are tackling?
How do make money? Your business model
Do you have competitors?
Who is in your team? This way you show that the necessary abilities to develop this project are covered.
This way it might be easier for you to revise and refine your idea and build a strong pitch!
Hope it is useful.
Wish you all the best!
Status labels added: Expert feedback received, Mentor feedback received
Status label removed: Expert feedback received
You need to elaborate more on your MVP. State the key activities in it and elaborate the mechanisms and process that addresses the needs of your target audience.
Start working on your final documents.
Users tagged:
Status label added: Expert feedback received