Uber Success Story
We are talking here about Uber, which is a company working in the field of delivery technology and taxis, and it has branches all over the world and has become very popular in the recent period with its expansion in several countries and its idea depends on the service of finding a taxi or a means of transportation provided by people who own their personal cars from By pressing only one button on your mobile phone, and through this click, the car will reach you at any time and anywhere.
Idea start:
American national Travis Kalanick (the founder) attends a conference in Paris, and upon leaving he finds it difficult to find a taxi to return to his home, so the idea came to his mind, writing it in a tweet on Twitter in search of support for her. The billion-dollar tweet, after this tweet was the reason for businessman Ryan Graves to communicate with Travis Kalanick, an engineer and developer.
So the whole story was a coincidence, but it was a coincidence that later contributed to improving and introducing happiness to the lives of millions, and made hundreds of thousands around the year rich, as well as eliminating unemployment in many countries scattered over the surface of the globe.
Since modern technology spreads like wildfire, especially if it comes into contact with the reality of humans, the idea of the most famous application in the world and the most controversial came as well, so work began on the design of the application and its strategy.
In June of 2009, the project began operating with an initial capital of about $200,000, and a year later, in 2010, the capital reached $1.25 million, and despite the successes it achieved, the application remained imprisoned in America until 2012.
Uber, as a startup, has managed to revive what we can call the business of mobility, or specifically the taxi industry, and Uber is one of the models that can pose a disturbance to the major monopolistic entities, as Uber was able to join the club of “unicorn” companies, which is a description given to companies startups worth more than a billion dollars.
Launching into the world
Uber began taking off and flying in the global sky at the beginning of 2012, as its services reached about 58 countries and more than 300 cities around the world. Thanks to it, thousands were able to improve their monthly incomes, and transportation became easier for millions who used to rely on regular taxis.
On the third anniversary of "Uber" in 2011, the company's capital amounted to 44 million five hundred thousand dollars, and the company changed its name from Uber Cap to Uber, and the company became a multinational and its capital bears the flags of several countries.
Despite this unparalleled success, “Uber” did not enter the Middle East until recently, however, some individuals applied the same idea in the Arab region, but with names and capitals that are not related to the owners of the first idea.
Some of the Arab countries in which Uber has spread:
1- Egypt.
2- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
3- Jordan.
4- United Arab Emirates.
5- Lebanon.
6- Morocco.
7- Qatar.
Uber app success secrets
Building an app, and marketing it in the Apple and Google Stores, is not easy at all, it takes time, tools, and talent to turn it from idea to implementation.
Adding new features requires great effort, from idea to design and engineering. Then you will have to do this work twice to make sure it works the same on iPhone and Android.
All of the above represents only the beginning, and given that the operating systems of Apple and Google for mobile devices are the most popular and the best, this invites you not to develop your applications for other operating systems such as Windows Phone, or the new Windows 10, but Uber took the initiative where others refrained, so it built the application for Windows 10 as well as on tablets, and smartphones. It has also provided its application for PC.
Before that, Uber was one of the very few that officially supported the app on Windows Mobile 8.1, even when none of the app developers cared about it.
While startups would love to do what Uber did and launch apps for every single operating system and platform, that basically points to a lot of hard work all the time.
It's neither cheap nor easy, especially given the engineering miracles Uber performs in getting an app that works everywhere and on every system regardless of device or operating system. This kind of strategic application only works with massive resources, such as those of big tech companies like Amazon, Google, or Microsoft, or strong will and management like Uber.
If we move to the success of Uber, we will find several aspects, the most important of which are:-
1- social
With regard to the customer himself, smartphones are now available with most people, which gives them privacy and luxury, so Uber comes and supports these personal requirements by satisfying a need or service requested by the customer with the click of a button, then the car comes to you wherever you want, and the latter does not lack luxury as Uber is required in cars They work with modern models.
And in the context of the social reasons for success, did you know that one of the reasons, which may be unintended, is the attraction of people to the stories and experiences of Uber drivers, most of whom do not practice driving as a primary profession.
Uber also provides a fair and publicized price to the customer and good treatment.
2- The personal touch
Before you ride an Uber car, you are aware of the driver’s name, photo and ratings, which provides you with a state of reassurance and peace of mind and creates a closer transportation experience to you. It is permanent and, of course, is more important than the customer who forgets you at once when the transaction ends.
3- A service according to your request and seamless use
The focus or attention of the average person is 8 seconds, and any person intuitively wants to meet his service as quickly as possible, and then Uber was able to solve this problem with regard to finding a car, where you can through the Uber application find a car in 6 seconds or a little less and rely on communication via GPS, which allows the driver to quickly reach the customer, as well as choose the most appropriate route to avoid traffic congestion.
Here, the most important thing for startups in the service industry becomes clear, which is to meet a specific demand or service in a faster and more efficient way than competitors, whatever the field of investment, this is the ideal way to make a business booming.
4- Your reputation in the service sector is the most important thing
The Uber model and other experiences of emerging companies in various fields are distinguished by providing a service to different segments of customers, including a unique experience for both parties. Establishing a strong relationship of trust between the company and its customers is crucial to success. And in the service industry in particular, the best way to do this is through an effective rating system, which is what Uber does by allowing its drivers and passengers to rate the experience as a whole through the application, which allows it to eliminate riders and drivers with bad behavior and gives confidence to customers that they accept a quality experience.
5- Innovation by experience
Uber is constantly testing new markets from the ground up, starting with the required service until its final form, and these experiences are an important pillar in its strategy, in addition to its resorting to solutions that suit the marketing community in which it is located (Uber provides the first service to transport customers by helicopter to avoid crowding).
Usually, entrepreneurs spend a lot of time anticipating what consumers want and how to solve their problems, but in fact, innovation and experiments bring quick and good results for the growth of companies, and this is confirmed by watching the company’s employees and their talk about the nature of work in it based on imagination next to technology.
6- Service request method
Here is a technology. It is certain that Uber did not neglect this thing, and it is the other secret of success. Wherever you are and whatever your device and its operating system, you can move through Uber, so you can call the car from:
- Facebook Messenger.
- Apple smart watch.
- Desktop computer via Microsoft Outlook.
- Availability of the application for the paid version of Google Maps.
In addition, of course, to the Uber applications for iPhone and Android, which are the best and most popular operating systems for mobile devices, in addition to the ease of use of the application itself, safety, and the ability to evaluate the driver by the customer.
And Uber does not leave itself permanently dependent on other companies, but rather seeks development and independence, as it announced last month an investment of $500 million in an ambitious global mapping project to get rid of its dependence on Google Maps and pave the way for self-driving cars, and self-driving cars rely on more maps. A detail of the ones currently used, which prompted the company to invest in such a project.
If you wanted the picture more closely and to realize the extent of the change that the idea of Uber has brought about, have you ever imagined that taxi drivers in Egypt and some Arab countries would search for a company to join them that would run their work for them through a smartphone application that is connected to the Internet permanently?
But on the other hand, we do not forget that Uber's entry into some countries led to some crises because ordinary taxi drivers see that this type of company opposes and reduces their profits.
And if we are talking about the reasons for success and the bright aspects that led to the launch of Uber, but this comes in light of talk about losses in the first half of this year that Uber incurred due to compensation and support provided to drivers around the world, which puts it in strong challenges.
Uber remains a role model in adopting creative ideas and presenting innovative projects based on the principle of positive risk-taking, the success of which is guaranteed at this time.
EN
