Not to be let down by restrictions and hardships accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic, two brothers from Salalah have pooled in their talent as well as resources to kickstart a home services virtual marketplace. 

Their app – Tamam – comes to the rescue of home owners when they want a leaking tap to be fixed or any other maintenance service linked to electrical problems, carpentry, laundry, furnishings and car-wash, among others. 

Hamid Mohammed al Shanfari, 36, is a business graduate in Information Technology from Limkokwing University Malaysia, while his first cousin Haitham Mohsin al Shanfari, 37, is an engineer. 

They both responded to the need of the hour as people were stuck home and desperately wanted reliable handymen to fix technical snags in household appliances or needed plumbing/electrical and similar services. 

Speaking to Muscat Daily, Hamid said, “Haitham and I established Tamam App on April 20. The application aims to provide immediate solutions and helps in overcoming the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. We specialise in providing cleaning and home maintenance services such as plumbing, electrician, gas, carpentry, laundry and furnishings, besides car-wash.”

The application also provides pest control services and air conditioner repair in addition to interior design and decoration works, apart from other works. “The user can compare and choose from service providers such as prices and offers. Customers can evaluate the quality of services provided by a company from other users’ comments. It also provides special promotional offers such as discounts and free services,” said Hamid.

Elaborating on the business model, Hamid said that they, as operators of the app, work as mediators between companies that provide a variety of services and customers. “The idea of launching this application and website (Tamam.om) was to provide home services from anywhere and any time with the press of a button. We get a small percentage from the charges applicable for the operations and e-marketing that we offer through the application,” said Hamid.   

The brothers are ambitious and hope to launch their business in Muscat and South Batinah soon. “We will strive to provide our services in all governorates of the sultanate beginning 2021. We call on youth to create electronic solutions to overcome the spread of the epidemic.”

For any business to succeed, it needs thorough knowledge and understanding of the field, said Hamid, encouraging other entrepreneurs to follow suit. 

Talking of the challenges, he said, “We have 18 companies and offer more than 120 services and have started work in Salalah, in Dhofar region. Launching the project during the time of coronavirus and attracting companies was not easy. However, But Al Raffd Fund and Riyada (Public Authority for SME Development) provided us support.”