What on earth is EIR ? 01: Meet Ching who revolutionises the handymen services
Entrepreneurs in Residence are our project or startup leaders. They are the ones in charge of getting shit done! They are responsible for building startups that help people, enable them and solve their problems.
Ching Bennet join the Whatnot team as an Entrepreneur in Residence in charge of Readyfix, a platform for the hassle-free handymen service booking in Bangkok, only 3 months ago.
She jumped in, all guns blazing, achieved 600% revenue growth and nearly 4,000 followers on social media starting almost from scratch.
- Readyfix makes the process of fixing your home simple. Whether you need a faucet fixed, a leaky roof repaired, or get your house upgraded — professional handymen & technicians are at the tips of your fingers.
- ReadyFix — Launched late August with a tiny bootstrapped budget.
- In the first month, it got its first customers with close to 800 followers on Facebook.
- Only four months after the launch, Readyfix has more than 3,500 followers, over 60 happy customers per month and growing!
Kastis and Neon asked Ching about Ching:
Kastis:
How does a day in your life look like?
Ching:
My day starts with checking my phone to see if there were any hassles at work during the night. Before the shower, I’ll check daily sales, emails and then browse FB, Google, Stock market, my portfolio. Then, I get ready for my daily 10 am ReadyFix team meeting.
Kastis:
Right, so how do you usually manage your team? How do you guide them in these daily meetings?
Ching:
So we have a sprint plan that lists all tasks. I explain each task and the reason why they are important. Then I assign the right person for each task. Set deadlines. Everyone sticks to the plan but the plans are always ambiguous in a startup. They can then always reach me for any small or big chat they’d need to perform better.
“In Agile product development, a sprint is a set period of time during which specific work has to be completed and made ready for review.”
Neon:
What is your take on Sprints and Agile methods?
Ching:
Working in sprints is useful to keep everyone in line. Also, help to recheck if anything is missing or we’re forgetting something. It’s not easy to wear many hats at the same time.
Neon:
Your team have different backgrounds, do you face any difficulty implementing these techniques?
Ching:
Everyone is different. It’s hard at the beginning to get to know everyone’s expertise and what they are good at. After a few sessions of daily meetings, I kind of get the idea of what assignment I should give and to whom. Then the next assignment is easier and more effective. Working with Agile tools helps to manage the projects and learn how to help my team adapt to them quite quickly.
“People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.” — Elon Musk
Kastis:
How do you try to keep your team inspired?
Ching:
Mostly I’ll let them speak their thoughts and solutions so they will have more ownership along the way. I gave a lot of my energy in the meetings, I also try to keep it fun and relaxed at the same time. It makes my team more comfortable to speak up.
Neon:
How do you keep that psychological safety going in your team?
Ching:
We communicate a lot. When it comes to problem-solving or some decision making, I’ll ask everyone, by name to share their ideas, to explain their reasons behind them and how they would execute. Most people come up with ideas easily but miss the big picture. If the idea is reasonable, I’ll help them to execute it. If something goes wrong, no one is to be blamed — failure is part of the process.
(Here are some tips for creating psychological workplace in aa hybrid workplace from Harvard Business Review : https://bit.ly/3qZEjTh)
Neon:
Is there a secret sauce to making people comfortable speaking up?
Ching:
Every morning we have a few minutes to talk about personal stuff. I’ll share my stories and if anyone wants to share or say something it’s always encouraged.
I don’t compliment if I don’t mean it, because it’s not helping if it’s not sincere. I don’t let criticism in as well. When people get used to negative comments they don’t want to speak up, they don’t want to become a target and they stop learning. There’s a thin line you need to walk to make it work.
I normally say is something like, “it’s a very good idea, can you elaborate on the purpose behind it” I avoid the words like “But, Wrong, No, Don’t like ” and use the words like ”what if“ … instead.
Neon:
Could you tell me something about your coaching style?
Ching:
Coaching is to assist your team members to achieve the goals by themselves but also within the right direction. It’s sometimes easier to do something by myself but I cannot allow it if I expect to grow a sustainable business. It’s very important to have team members who know what they are doing without being micro-managed. Building this trust is the core of my coaching.
“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”― Richard Buckminster Fuller
Neon:
You yourself have quite an interesting background. You lived a corporate life where procedures are more rigid and waterfall style. It’s a huge difference from a fast-paced work culture of a startup. How do you make it work?
Ching:
Actually, after working in large corporations for 16 years, I also spent the last 3 years running 2 businesses as an entrepreneur.
It was kind of like a startup with a small team, daily meetings, multi-tasking, testing new products & services, launching them and seeing the results. The only difference is that I didn’t have tools to help me, so everything was pretty much manual, done with spreadsheets.
Working at Whatnot is much easier with all the tools to track progress and make sure all tasks get done on time with less repetitive communication. Leadership wise, I’m always a team leader of some sort, maybe because my personality is super goal-oriented and focused on getting things done. I don’t feel difficulties running a startup because I was born to be a leader, it’s just only that now it’s all at a faster pace…hahaha
In my corporate life, I had to work with much bigger teams and many stakeholders involved both in and outside the company, so it’s tricky to see things clearly and when you want to make a move — it’s never fast enough.
Running a startup makes it easier for me to see the overall picture of business health and in which direction it’s going.
Neon:
What is the hardest thing to overcome now?
Ching:
Maybe to convince investors who have a corporate mindset. To make them believe in new ideas and take some risks. I understand that they are looking for safe and profitable businesses but if they keep doing the same old things they are putting themselves at even more risk. Low-risk options and great outcomes are usually impossible.
Kastis:
Could you tell us a bit about Readyfix? You’ve done a spectacular job!
Ching:
ReadyFIX is the easiest way to get your house fixed. No headaches contacting dozens of handymen, asking for recommendations, we have all specialists in one place. Roof fixing, plumber, electrician, air-con maintenance, maids or gardeners. People here are worried about them running away with money before finishing their job. It’s a big problem here in Thailand, but it’s not happening with ReadyFIX. We have a clear warranty for any kind of fixing. No show-up? No problem, we have a super admin to remind your mechanic one day and 1 hour before the appointment. No show, no pay.
Kastis:
So is it for people who are tired of getting poor service or getting scammed by their contractors in a way, correct?
Ching:
yes.
We make your life easier when it comes to house fixing or upgrading. We have all kinds of handymen with work guaranteed. Your problem is our priority, so we have an admin on standby to deliver the best professional to your home seven days a week.
Kastis:
You’re really getting shit done, huh? What’s coming up in the near future, any teasers for any of us who live in Bangkok?
Ching:
Soon we will make all processes even faster and more convenient for you. Getting a mechanic, getting the quotation, making a booking, making a payment — everything within your fingers less than 30 mins.
Ching Bennett is a great example of an entrepreneur with a strong work ethic and motivation to build good products that solve peoples problems. If you’re interested to become an entrepreneur in residence for one of our projects here at Whatnot Startup Studio in Bangkok — you’re always welcome to come to see us and have a chat about it.
And last but not least, we’d like to thank you for spending time with us! Here is a little gift from us — a voucher of 200THB discount from ReadyFix. 😊
See you later, alligator!
Kas & Neon & Ching
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