Let’s face it, there are days we feel there are more errands to run than there are hours. People’s lifestyles are increasingly becoming busy that there is no time for simple errands like shopping, collecting parcels, going to the dry cleaner’s, booking tickets, and taking pets to the vet and so much more.

Schedules are already tight with work and school, side hustles and spending time with family and other responsibilities. But what if there was a way to run errands without having to deal with the headache of long lines at the supermarket or government offices?

ErrandsGuy is the answer to people with a long to-do-list, people who can afford to delegate tasks to errand runners to save them time if they cannot fit everything in their schedule.

ErrandsGuy, is a company based in Nairobi which connects individuals and companies with young and skilled people who run errands for pay.

Depending on the task, there are skilled and unskilled errand runners.

“We have people who have done basic bookkeeping, graphic design, digital marketing and other courses who have registered on our platform. So while you are at home they can help you design flyers, do data entry and file your monthly returns,” says George Gichuhi Kamau, the CEO ErrandsGuy.

And for errands that do not necessarily need skilled people, the company dispatches errand runners out on duties like distributing flyers or branded merchandise, shopping, deliveries and so on.

Currently, ErrandsGuy has 17 in-house employees spread across Nairobi, Nakuru, Vihiga, Mombasa and Kisumu counties. But being work that is built around the gig economy, it has more freelance workers on its database that are called upon when the need arises.

The gig economy is reshaping traditional employment and giving young people more opportunities to earn money and become micro-entrepreneurs. Its popularity has grown steadily over the years, with the help of technology, and many are joining in to get a primary source of income or to subsidize their income.

How it works

Clients book their services through the online platform errandsguy.com and an alert goes out that a customer needs a specific service.

ErrandsGuy started three and half years ago. George, then a salesman, used to sell products for insurance companies. The income however, was not enough to sustain him and his young family.

On many occasions, while he was out trying to sell insurance, he would find that people would often ask him for directions, or if he knew the location where certain services were done, or a vacant house for rent. George would either accompany them or help them find a solution to their problem.

His wife, insisted he start charging people for this service. And that’s how he became the errand guy; going to pay people’s electricity and other utility bills, standing in line at banks to deposit school fees, banking cheques for people and so much more.

In the beginning, it was a one man show, but soon George realized that he did not have all the skills required to run the day to day operations. He needed to find someone tech savvy because technology is a key enabler for their services.

“I had to look for a co-founder, who is well versed in technology matters because the needs of our business are diverse. As we grow, so do the needs of the business. We have to ensure that we have skills that support the growth of the company to have a greater impact to the customers,” George says.

Errands around the digital area are growing and the company is tapping into that space to create more opportunities for work. Filing returns is a popular request by clients who do not know their way around the iTax platform.

They also receive requests from clients in the diaspora.

“Sometimes, somebody will come and tell you ‘hey, George, I’m in the UK. I bought a parcel of land in a certain place, please go and see how it looks like,”’ he says.

Like many businesses, ErrandsGuy was also greatly affected by the pandemic. The company saw reduced activity because business came to a standstill for SMEs who are the key segment they serve.

However, things are steadily looking up. ErrandsGuy is soon rolling out a freemium digital marketing bookkeeping package for SMEs, startups and micro businesses for 60 days.

Thereafter it will be on an affordable subscription model.