Get2Go is an app-powered, on-demand taxi service provider in Qatar, connecting the drivers with customers via a cutting-edge mobile application. They use HyperTrack to find and assign trips to nearby drivers. This is an interview with CEO, Adnan Faroque
Leigh: Can you please tell me your name, your title, and the name of your company?
Adnan: My name is Adnan Faroque, and I'm currently the CEO of Get2Go.
Leigh: Perfect, thank you. If you have to say what your company does, a short description, what would you say?
Adnan: Our company is an on-demand taxi service that's providing taxis via the application and we are integrating with blockchain as well, getting into FinTech as well.
Leigh: What kinds of problems or issues were you facing, before you started using HyperTrack?
Adnan: If you don't mind, this is gonna be a long answer. Hope that's not an issue, right? So we started our application, you know, based on Google services, and we were using Google Maps and our application was not at all optimized.
Being in a small market, we got a lot of customers, a lot of drivers on our application, unfortunately, the application was not able to cope up with the locations and the estimated arrival time, and the prices were jumping up very high. Even back in June 2021, we had a very less number of rides, but the cost was very high, we had to optimize. And then in late August, I remembered HyperTrack, I had use HyperTrack as a normal service for my other company 'Far-out advertising' and it was quite amazing to work with them. And we just started emailing HyperTrack, and then they gave us a brilliant solution. And after that, life was pretty much easy. We cut down our costs to 10%, of what we were paying to Google services. The tracking is unbelievable, to what we had since before, we're able to track our drivers, how long they have driven, how many steps they've taken, and it keeps a very good record of their work. And that keeps us on our toes, keeps them on their toes, and we can see and judge their efficiency as well.
So the biggest problem that we were facing was on tracking itself, as we were using Google services, at specific the Maps API, the Places API, and the Distance Matrix. It was costing us very high, number one.
Number two, we were not able to get accurate locations. So when our customers were booking taxis, they weren't able to see where the actual taxi was, or whether taxis coming to them or not. And drivers were getting locations 50 to 60 kilometres away from where they were. And there was something that was not working, our costs were going up pretty high, it was up to 50,000 - 60,000 Qatari Rials, and it was something that was not acceptable and it was not up to our budget as well. So yeah, that was the biggest problem that we were facing.
Leigh: Great. How did it feel, knowing that inspite of spending so much you weren't able to guarantee certain things for your customers?
Adnan: Well, that was actually quite demoralizing, because we were burning a lot of our funding in terms of paying the drivers, and then giving refunds to the customers because the drivers were not reaching. It was damaging our reputation, our brand awareness was gradually dropping down. We were getting a lot of one-star two stars reviews on our application, this was pretty bad. And our investors were coming up to us and asking us what was wrong with the application. And it had caused a lot of damage to us at that stage.
Leigh: Right, got you. What was the breaking point? What was the moment where you said enough's enough, we need to find a solution?
Adnan: Yes. So when we started aggressively marketing, and we started going to social media marketing and digital marketing, and we were addressing the problem that why we started the company for. We were quite successful in our marketing campaign, I would say a bit too successful, we got a huge influx of customers on our application. And that was one of the biggest breaking points. We were reaching numbers that we were not expecting, and we could not give the demand to our supply. And this was creating a lot of issues in terms of finance, in terms of customer satisfaction. Specifically when it came to customer satisfaction that was our breaking point.
Leigh: I understand. Tell us a little bit about finding HyperTrack what what was it like when you found them?
Adnan: Yes. So in my previous company, which I founded, it was an out-of-home transit advertising company in which we were required to locate, to track the cars, and we were looking at solutions. So I was just Googling, and I actually found HyperTrack results after multiple searches across multiple websites and went through it and I saw that the service was quite cheap.
I know HyperTrack has a trial period as well. And I tried the trial period and it was working amazingly. And then we ran the company using only HyperTrack’s $99 package and it was running very well.
HyperTrack would be one of the reasons why I got to exit the company with profit. And when I started this company, on our breaking point, I remember HyperTrack could help us because I remember going through the documentation that HyperTrack also has a ride-share feature on it that helps with ride-sharing. Yes, I remembered that, and our chief technical officer, Mohammed Alkhatib also informed me about this. And then we started going through it. And once we started communicating with HyperTrack, we were ecstatic that the solution was absolutely right for us. And from there, yeah, it was a magical story for us.
Leigh: Great. What do you feel sets HyperTrack apart from other companies like it?
Adnan: So the difference between HyperTrack (and others), technically what I could see, is that it's highly optimized, and financially, it saves us an immense amount of money, and aesthetically, I believe it's quite brilliant. When you're looking at the system, even a person who does not know how to code would understand how to operate on a HyperTrack dashboard. So as a whole, I believe the product is quite brilliant and it will help lot more of logistic and ride-hailing companies, once they get to know what HyperTrack is.
Leigh: Thanks. Can you talk to us a little bit about how you and your team are using HyperTrack?
Adnan: We're using HyperTrack on a daily basis to track our drivers in order to increase their efficiency in picking up customers and picking up delivery orders. So what we do is we track the location, we track the time - estimated the time of arrival between the driver and the pickup location, and from there, we assign the drivers manually. That's how our operation department works, whereas the technical department actually uses the ETA to assign the drivers automatically.
Leigh: What do you like best about HyperTrack?
Adnan: Well, the favorite thing is the accuracy, in locating, I was quite astonished first when I saw that we could actually track the number of steps as well, the waiting period and the speed that they're driving, the amount of information that we are getting. It's amazing.
So it stays as a record as for anyone who would ask about their efficiency of work or how much they have worked. We can give them the right answer and the part that we can actually go and retrace where they were, the day before yesterday or a couple of hours ago. This is something that's quite helpful for us.
Leigh: Is there anything that doesn't quite work for you or you'd like to see improved?
Adnan: Well, at the moment, as far as we have seen, I believe HyperTrack is quite excellent. And I believe, for us as running a company, we don't see anything else that HyperTrack is not providing us, they're providing exactly what we want, even more than what we want. So we're very, very happy with HyperTrack.
Leigh: So how do you and your team feel after you started using HyperTrack? How did it feel overall for your team?
Adnan: Our team actually got a sense of relief. They're quite happy because from the finance point of view, we're saving a lot. In terms of working, it is much easier, because they have already given us a dashboard, so we don't have to make one ourselves. Our drivers are quite happy because they get to see the locations. The marketing in the customer service department is quite happy because of positive response from the customers. So after HyperTrack came inside, everyone is quite happy and we are questioning why we did not do this solution earlier on. So yeah that is a thing.
Leigh: What results have you seen after implementing HyperTrack?
Adnan: The results were we had an increase of around 30% of a customer retaining and coming back to us. We have seen our drivers using less fuel, which is quite important in our business, the fuel efficiency has gone up. And we've seen that our drivers are performing much better in terms of picking up customers or picking up orders. We have seen that our operation department is working, you know, with minimum effort and maximum efficiency. So yeah, that's the difference we have seen. So, in terms of working, we have grown because of HyperTrack.
Leigh: What problems are you solving by using HyperTrack and what benefits have you realized?
Adnan: Alright, so what we were solving is first of all, of course, the location, the accurate location, providing an exact accurate estimated time of arrival towards the customers. We have also decreased our costs and reduced the fair prices for the customers. Because prior to this, the way we were using, it was quite obsolete system. At the moment, the fair prices are quite satisfactory to the customer that they're paying an amount that they are happy with.
And also the way we are interacting with our drivers is also quite different now. What HyperTrack has actually bought in, when it comes to the driver, is accountability. Because they are now accountable for every kilometer that they drive and we can see that and we can track that and we can question them as to why they were in a certain location. So yeah, accountability has been one of the key thing that HyperTrack has brought us.
Leigh: Great, what features are you benefiting the most from and why?
Adnan: So I would start, not getting much into technical, but the dashboard is something that I personally benefit from because I get to see everything that's happening on one single platform. Other than that, I believe, from the operational side, the distance that the driver has to travel, and for how long has the customer been waiting, the estimated time of arrival, are the few benefits that we are seeing.
Leigh: Perfect. Do you have any KPIs or metrics of success that you'd be able to share with us? Do you have any numbers available that you could talk about?
Adnan: So one of the KPIs that we had planned is reducing our cost, at least to 50%. Fortunately, when we worked with HyperTrack, we reduced it down to 10%. And that was quite brilliant, when we saw it at the end of the month, that our Google services we are paying so less and when it comes to HyperTrack we are paying much less. So that was quite amazing to see that, you know, we're saving money on this factor as well.
Leigh: Do you feel that the original problem that you are facing is solved or is on the way to being solved?
Adnan: Yes, the original problem that we were facing has been actually completely solved. When it comes to the distance matrix, Places API, and all of these, we are completely away from the Google services. And we are also talking with other applications that are doing delivery as well. And they are asking us what solution we are using because they are also having similar kinds of issues. And once we talk about HyperTrack, even they are confused as to why they never heard about it.
Leigh: Would you recommend HyperTrack to others? And if so why?
Adnan: 10 out of 10, I would recommend HyperTrack to others, and it's because of the solutions HyperTrack is providing and the way they are providing the solutions. It's brilliant. As a company, if you recommend it to any other company and the company gets very good solutions and very good results, it actually benefits us as well. Because we come up as a company that provides good recommendations.
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