How do people safely move in this current environment?
There is no question that our lives and business have been disrupted by COVID-19, but not every part of society is equally affected.
While many businesses struggle to keep their doors open, the moving industry is facing challenges from a whole different perspective. Schools closing until the fall, leases expiring, sales of homes pending, and business closings are all possible causes for this moving tsunami.
While moving is an essential business, there are some aspects that make it hard to comply with social distancing directives. On one hand we need to reduce the amount of human contact, but on the other hand a move can not take place without a reliable estimate of what needs to be move. Traditionally this means that someone from the moving company needs to come visit the house and view all the belongings.
There is an alternative that can provide a reliable quote without requiring personal contact. MUVA is an app that enables people to get an automatic quote from an experienced and high-quality moving company, without ever having to leave their home or office. The app was designed to provide convenience for people when they need to move, but the current situation has highlighted another benefit: the app provides the moving companies the ability to provide an accurate quote without having to send their estimator driving out to meet the customer in person at their home or business. While in the app, the customer provides their own a video of all their belongings they want moved, along with the access points to the home or business. These details and video are then reviewed by the moving company, with quotes turn-around in less than a day and often in just a few minutes!
The tech-platform of MUVA Inc launched in December of 2019 in Los Angeles and rapidly expanded to include Orange, San Diego and Ventura Counties. This past week MUVA expanded its territory to include San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Recently I had the opportunity to talk with the Founder, Andrew Ritter, and learn how the business is coping with COVID-19.
I asked Andrew Ritter how things have changed for the moving companies and MUVA since the restrictions and shutdowns over the past 2 weeks. “We were expecting the demand for moving to drop dramatically and instead were shocked that the exact opposite occurred”, said Ritter. “We have expanded the moving companies on our platform to meet the demand. We are very fortunate that our app benefits experienced moving companies and enables them the ability to provide an accurate quote in a fraction of the time of a home visit. More customers are requesting the movers to provide no contact quotes for moving of their home and business”.