5th: Save my car

This is one of my old ideas.

In a nutshell, it’s like Uber of roadside assistance.

I once experienced a dead battery on a highway. After I called my roadside assistance service, who generally dispatched the request to a near towing provider. It took over 5 hours for the tow to come. We could not do anything but waiting under the sun and busy highway.

The idea is very simple, first, for the user, there will be a smartphone app.

The app is used to send request for assistance to a server, information include:

• car model
• problem description
• photo
• auto GPS location

The app will show how many providers nearby, accepted the request, and provided a quote to provide the service.

In the car service provider side, there will be a tablet placed in the shop. It will display a request sent to the shop with all the information. It will ask the provider to bid, or decline the request.

The service provider can offer an estimate based on the limited information, the bid could be a range, but must include how long it will take them to reach the client.

Once the provider starts leaving the shop and heading to the client, the feedback will be provided to the client so that the user knows the help is coming.

The benefits of this idea could be:
– save time to make phone calls (did I mention I had to wait for the phone to connect with the service provider?)

– save time to describe problem and location (we could potentially use AI to determine what the problem is and sen save time to describe problem and location d the request to the service provider)

– know who is coming (feedback is very important, did I mention when I was waiting, I had no idea how long it would take and if the help was coming?)

– offer multiple providers (because the request is sent automatically to the nearby shop, we are not relying on a single point of provider. In fact, I would be so happy if a help could come earlier with some extra cost at that time).

Honestly, this sounds like a good idea. Unfortunately, I never get the chance to implement it. The real issue is, chicken and egg problem. How do I convince car shop to participate when I don’t have any client? How do I convince user to join the program when there is no provider?

I guess the most important problem is: I don’t have any funding to support this idea.