MamooInPakistan.com – Task outsourcing service by Tohfay.com
Tohfay.com has taken a very positive step towards targeting Overseas Pakistani’s with families back home, allowing them to get the day to day mundane tasks done when they’re not physically present. The one service usually provided by the relatives and done through favors, hence the name Mamoo i believe. This is one area which i personally feel very much in need of, even though im just in a different city. I would definitely be a buyer if i was abroad.
The idea is interesting. Its a twist on the personal assistant outsourcing model utilized in the states. You setup an account, tell them whatever you need to get done, they give you the result bill you by the task. Most of the tasks are information based, which is a real necessity once you are conducting business from outside the country, but in addition they provide man power support as well. They’ve offering services in the metro cities of Karachi, Hyderabad , Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Peshawar.
What i really like about this service is the Teemar Dar service, which is a medical assistance service for families. It includes case management, medical help, nursing, medical information, pharmacy and prevention services. A real boon in our part of the world where health is not necessarily considered until something goes wrong.
Now for some constructive criticism. While navigating the site, a couple of things which really bugged me was the design. While the service categories are listed on the main page, pricing and information regarding them is burried deep within the site. Yes, two clicks are deep! Also, i think a couple of testimonials as well as examples of usage would be beneficial.
All in all, a good service for the overseas pakistanis market. We wish you all the best.
Website: www.mamooinpakistan.com
5:21 pm
hmm interesting.. I am not sure if ppl living abroad would want “Teemar Dar” service.. i just don’t see that as an option…
but they could’ve done better with the name. MamoonInPakistan is very intimidating and to some it might even be offensive..
just my 2cents
10:04 pm
I should add that this service just received Angel funding offers when Tohfay.com went to Boston as a BAP finalist.
I hate to be the downer here, but it just seems more like a “We do everything under the sun” claim but where I really dont think they have professional trained staff already ready to do these things. I think they will react more on an order-to-order basis.
There’s just something about the “please give us money, we’ll do anything” story that loses the charm of this idea.
10:48 pm
I would have loved if this service was collaborative effort which would engage users in building community and sharing information.. rather than just pay me money and i will get it done for you
11:09 pm
Lol yes Obaid that would be a good day.
Unfortunately no one here really knows the strength of community-driven businesses here. I haven’t seen one such business here yet.
11:11 pm
ob: true, the name could’ve been looked into a bit more.
osama: i’ve seen a couple of indian outsourcers who provide the same services to NRI’s, yes, its going to be on a case to case basis, but most of these areas do not require specialized staff to perform, so ostensibly, decently trained staff could perform a multitude of tasks without much supervision or guidance. afterall, aren’t those the kind of jobs we give our mamoo’s anyway
anything specialized we’d do ourselves 
11:13 pm
ob: please do explain just how do you, e.g. take someone to the hospital for a checkup, in a ‘collaborative information sharing way’?? i realize the web2.0 concept of the read/write web is very sexy and everything but do you really think it applies here?
11:16 pm
mansoor: first you have to tell me that WHY on earth would anyone pay someone else to go take their relative to hospital.
I do think that web2.0 concepts apply here.
11:29 pm
osama: community driven business require a model.. and a community :p both lack quite a bit here yet…
ob: consider the case where you have grandparents who are quite old and cannot move around much on their own who need to get to a routine checkup, only there’s no one to take them (just one scenario, quite a few others exist btw) what do you do? and about letting someone else take your relative, please do realize that a large part of our population is being taken care of by ‘someone else’ whether it be the live-in maid, or the driver, or even the cook :p in search of better lives, the middle income group have either left the joint family system and are mostly busy in their work or have gone abroad, leaving their elders behind….
its just about putting yourself in their place. .. sometimes, even a driver who would go the extra mile makes a huge difference in someone’s lives.
11:33 pm
ob: btw, still waiting for how web2.0 would apply
12:26 am
mansoor: here is why i think that the idea is horrible. As you mentioned above most of the ppl living abroad have either left elderly parents or relatives in joint-family system or they sponsor them out of pakistan. If neither of that is true than they have hired a maid who already does all that for them.
Other services that these guys provide can be built better using web 2.0 techniques. For example, getting information regarding universities and colleges. This can be built upon collaborative input by users. Trust me ppl love sharing and expressing themselves online.
12:27 am
Mansoor, Ob: both of you are grossly undermining what web.2.0 really is.
Its not collaborative information sharing place.
Many models exist – this is what my firm does in its new media consulting arm. Communities exist as well – offline communities of trust and relationships.
The problem is when people try to move those communities online they do the usual “build a portal and they will come” approach which completely disconnects the web-model with the physical-model of how people get together.
I think Ob’s point is that if I needed someone to take care of my grandfather I would ask my family / relatives first, and then my friends. If not them, I will try to get them appropriate services myself.
It is an information-heavy age and some searches and some phonecalls and get me the info I need.
Trusting a company who considers that help as business and source of revenue would be the last person I would contact because they will lack the empathy I need.
This is, ofcourse, unless those people are HIGHLY TRAINED care-givers… e.g. some company with professional nurses for the elderly and certifications.
By MIP is just putting this all in one bucket – would I want to have the same people run minor edits like getting my university transcript and also care for my grandfather, again from the strictly money-making incentive?
Personally, never.
As for new-media models, the best thing to do in this case is to find out where the trust-network is and replicate that model online, rather than juts building something that is “web-2.0″ and forcing people to change teh way the trust and interact with one another just to use the platform. Thats a recipie for disaster.
“Web.2.0″ isnt a cliche coming from the type of portals which exist (e.g. Social Networks!) but rather from the type of interactions that people will have when they get together.
8:52 pm
Salam All,
First of all, I want to thank Mr. Mansoor for taking out the time to write about Tohfay’s MamooInPakistan service. I am a Tohfay partner and would care to explain the model to you guys. We started out as Send Gifts to Pakistan and eventually evolved to introduce ideas including MIP and recently launched Doodpatti for people like OB who are excited about sharing and expressing information . Please look into it if you get a chance.
About Mamoo being Mamoo-well Mamoo is one person you can always count on! I don’t know how many of you have seen the old time favorite Haseena Moin Urdu play called “Ankahi” and remember Salim Nasir’s character who played “Mamoo” – who was there to help everyone who needed his support-even the neighbors! Mamoo is there for you – ab koi fikar nahiN!
The model is yes, designed for ex Pats. To answer OB- WHO and WHY would anyone use the Teemar Daar service – well the answer to that is ANYONE and EVERYONE who is not able to physically be in Pakistan but wants to aid their family members. Example: We had a case where someone’s relative diagnosed with cancer needed an assistant to escort their elderly relative to Ziauddin Hospital (KHI) 6 days a week for 5 days for them to undergo radiotherapy sessions. They contacted Mamoo and Mamoo came to the rescue. It is NOT all about money – you see. It is about the structure that actually supports you. It is about fulfilling the need. Much as you wanted you could possibly not have done that with your job sitting across oceans? Your cousins and friends in Karachi and Lahore do NOT have the time – and I repeat DO NOT have the time to do this favor for you no matter how much they love your family. (This is based on personal experience.)
Additionally, putting the information out there may just not be enough. The legwork and the TRUST that someone will do it for them without calling it a “favor” is what people living abroad are really looking for. People apply for foreign immigration and require birth certificates and affidavits (which by the way is the most demanded service). In some cases, the birth certificate has never been made. How does someone abroad get an attested True Copy from the Authorities and submit a valid document. Remember the work has to be legit. Translation documents such as Translation of Marriage Certificates are required by many people.
We had one person request that they wanted someone to go to their father’s grave and pay respect by putting flowers! It is not a joke – but people out there truly have things they want done that we cannot even imagine -like Mansoor said: putting yourself in their places.
I would like to highlight some of the services that Mamoon has already provided in the last one year to give you an idea and I am sure there are more to come:
1. Arranging for a 30 ppl Breakfast/nashta to her only sister’s in-laws the very next morning after the wedding 2. Getting a house renovated for rent by hiring a contractor for the customer 3. Car rental services for when you’re visiting Pakistan, Delivering a wheel chair for a sick parent 4. Delivering a complete trousseau for a sister’s wedding including: TV, refrigerators, washing machine etc. All this was managed via email and phone calls.
True – The MIP service doesn’t require expertise or specializations. Mamoon is a liaison that works between you and the service provider to make it work. But expertise is not what you want when there is a genuine requirement– you just want for someone to get the job done for you. It’s more like – I don’t want just the information – tell me how I can get it done through someone I can trust!
On social networks and discussion on web 2.0- well that seems to be the key to success we realize. What Mamoo has done has gone ahead and integrated both models. The people of the web 2.0 era are on the Internet and have needs. We are just addressing both needs in one go.
3:08 pm
skemal: thanks for coming here and stating your position on the whole mamoo concept.
2:19 pm
Ok this is sort of a disclaimer! I had no idea GW had covered the website already!
I just did a search of the topic today and Google to check how my article is ranking and realized that ok I am pretty late in writing about them!
Good work GW. And btw I hope you people can spring back into serious action once again!
4:32 pm
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2:36 pm
Really like this website, this really helps and very useful.
10:41 am
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1:25 pm
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11:27 am
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