\n Ben Mottram, 52, is a web designer-turned-CEO of ServiSeek, an app that aims to connect clients with businesses offering a range of services, from haircuts to interior decorating.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ben was inspired to create ServiSeek three years ago, when his wife was struggling to make a hair appointment in Wimborne, where they live.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ben Mottram (Image: Submitted)\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cIn a geeky way I suppose, I created a little program which would pull all the information off of Google for local hairdressers and send emails out to them.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Then I thought, what happens if you brought this into an app that someone could use in a more practical way?\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n After a few years of work with a small team of developers, Ben released the pilot version of his app in Spring, taking to Facebook to alert the public.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI was amazed,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI put it out on Facebook asking for feedback and I got an amazing response. I think I got about 600 people signing up for it in a month.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The first users of the app were able to identify some of its bugs and make suggestions for extra features, which Ben implemented over a further two months for the next release.\n<\/p>\n
\n The app was finally accepted into the Apple iOS store on Tuesday, October 13.\n<\/p>\n
\n The app is similar to other tradesperson recommendation sites, but without the pesky hidden fees.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cI went out to local businesses, one cleaning lady said that on other sites it would cost her about \u00a330 in tokens just to reply to a customer\u2019s request.\n<\/p>\n
\n “That\u2019s not good for the customer or the business.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n ServiSeek offers a fair alternative and is free for anyone to sign up. Businesses can create a profile showcasing their work, message customers, and even take payments through the app.\n<\/p>\n
\n The app successfully processed 60 jobs on its first release.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ben said: \u201cWhen you\u2019re actually creating work for people, it feels like you\u2019re doing something really worthwhile.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI want to help local people and businesses so they can connect together in a fair, safe way.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ben has been working in tech since the 90s and brings a personal approach to the role of CEO.\n<\/p>\n
\n He said: \u201cWhen people come back to me, it\u2019s not like I\u2019m some faceless guy in California.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019m here, trying to fix the app to make it good for them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ben is appealing to customers and businesses to give the app a go and provide feedback.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI really want people to try this out and see how it works,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019ve put my heart and soul into this, and I think it can genuinely be a really great service for people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Mottram, 52, is a web designer-turned-CEO of ServiSeek, an app that aims to connect clients with businesses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[85,46,321,125],"class_list":["post-657139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}