Through her on-demand work platform GoGet, Francesca Chia connects low- and semi-skilled part-time workers with businesses looking to scale up
Before taking the plunge into the world of entrepreneurship, Francesca Chia worked at Boston Consulting Group as a management consultant. Though she learnt a lot from her time there, she knew it was time to start something of her own.
In 2014, she and her two co-founders created GoGet, an on-demand marketplace that connects businesses with workers, nicknamed GoGetters, who assist with on-demand errands and deliveries. The business has since expanded to connect businesses and individuals with GoGetters who hold specific training and can assist with a range of jobs that include logistics, sales and marketing, administration and operations.
The idea behind GoGet was to empower businesses to scale up quickly without having to scale their full-time overheads, Chia explains. At the same time, GoGet aims to empower flexible part-time workers and serve as a platform for them to earn a living—an enticing offer considering the vast majority of the labour force in Malaysia comprises of low- and semi-skilled workers, many of whom are not protected and living paycheck to paycheck.
“Small-medium enterprises make up the backbone of the economy in Malaysia and provide most of the employment opportunities in the country. We thought we could use technology to help break down big jobs into smaller bite-size jobs that can be distributed to a flexible workforce,” Chia explains. To date, GoGet is used by over 5,000 companies, including Lazada, Yoodo and Fashion Valet.
Most recently, GoGet raised a US$2 million Series A led by Monk’s Hill Ventures back in October 2020.
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The future of work will be more remote friendly
Challenges Posed By Covid-19
Despite going through many ups and downs during her entrepreneurial journey, Chia says nothing could have prepared her for the challenges Covid-19 posed. When the Movement Control Order (MCO) was announced in Malaysia in March 2020, GoGet received a flood of jobs and requests on its platform.
These ranged from businesses scrambling to adapt to the new MCO environment as well as consumers stocking up on essentials for the following weeks. The huge influx in business severely taxed GoGet’s IT infrastructure; Chia says they had to quickly look into upgrading their systems to keep up with overwhelming demand.
“Almost overnight we had to think of new standard operating procedures for our GoGetters and enact measures like contactless deliveries for those engaged in logistics jobs,” said the 32-year-old entrepreneur. For two weeks, Chia and her team worked 20-hour days to keep GoGet running. It was fast becoming an essential service.
Chia says that the silver lining to the arduous experience was that it helped them prepare for subsequent MCOs in the following months. “Thanks to our earlier experience, we knew what to do and could better serve our GoGetters and clients.”
GoGet currently employs 25,000 GoGetters through its platform. Their services are mainly available in the the Malaysian districts of Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Bahru. During the most recent MCO, in early 2021, GoGet also helped businesses and consumers perform interstate deliveries while travel between states was prohibited in the country.
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