Group makes apps more accessible thruSMS-based services

CEBU, Philippines - Local start-up company The Now Group, Inc. provides SMS-based services for its technology-based innovations to make these more accessible and convenient.

The  group, composed of John Kim, Jeffrey Simon Lo, Henrich Lee-Yu, Rodel Maranon, and Ruffy Heredia,  has come up with innovative smartphone applications such as iTrabaho and Foodpick that have SMS-capability features for greater accessibility and convenience.

Kim, the managing director of the company,  said that the  popularity of the smartphone provides hype for start-up entrepreneurs to provide digital applications and make it globally successful. 

“The growth for smartphone technology is fastest in the Philippines. Most of the Filipinos can afford to buy smartphones. Cebuanos, in particular, are very keen on becoming the next Facebook maker,” he added.

As the team’s initial project, iTrabaho is the first SMS-based job site in the Philippines that caters to the needs of both employers and employees.

It also allows jobseekers to search jobs, create a resume and apply and with its unique SMS service, enables jobseekers to send their resumes and get further updates of their application through text. 

Kim said that they have already succeeded in achieving its return of investment after six months from launching the iTrabaho, citing that the website’s average unique visitors range from 12,000 to 36,000 daily and 42,000 monthly. 

Lee-Yu, developer for iTrabaho, said that the company aims to work out solutions for  society’s problems and needs.

With iTrabaho for instance, he added that they saw the need to provide a new and easier medium to search for jobs with the rising demand for manpower.  

He also said that the Now Group is partnering with schools and universities to help fresh graduates find jobs in a convenient way.

FoodPick, on the other hand, is an image-driven lifestyle application  launched in June 2012 that serves as a food recommendation engine.

It conveniently allows users to pick and choose food preferences on what and where to eat with its random suggestions of dishes, complete with photos and details about the restaurants and cafes in the database.

It offers a wide array of selection from 520 restaurants in Cebu and 1,800 in Manila. 

Unlike Cebu-based restaurants that have less marketing budget, Kim said that the company considers Manila as the strongest market for FoodPick but is still available for Cebuano users.  

He cited that the company has an initial investment of P1 million for each smartphone application. 

He further clarified that users are not being charged with the SMS-based services since the clients who benefit from the applications pay for the subscription model.

Recently, the company has signed a partnership with local gadget manufacturer, MyPhone to  deliver quality phone applications to Filipino users.

Kim added that the Android sales of MyPhone reaches 100,000 annually, accelerating the exposure for the smartphone technology of the start-up team.

He further encouraged hopeful technopreneurs to start building something of their own and come up with different local technology for developmental changes.

“We find a lot of talent in the Philippines. We want them to be inspired to build what they believe in. We want to create an ecosystem of start-ups who have done something and made it successful,” he stated.

To develop more technopreneurs, he believed that aspiring start-ups should get more hands-on mentoring, work experience, regular meet-ups and gradual education. (FREEMAN)