Quest
From Zero to Hero: How Three SMU Students Are Revolutionising Gig Work in Singapore
Launched by student entrepreneurs, Quest is a mobile app that supports the expanding gig economy in Singapore by connecting gig workers with potential clients.
Each of us probably has at least 50 connections. But when you need help with unconventional, quirky tasks, who do you go to?
Consider this: You and your circle of friends have run out of ideas on how to surprise a loved one on an important occasion. Who do you call? That was exactly the predicament faced by Evan Chow, co-founder and CEO of Quest.
“Skilled workers are an untapped community whose expertise we can explore. What we need is a platform that can mobilise these people with trust ingrained at its core.” – Evan Chow
In fact, beyond skilled professionals, the people around us can potentially be of great help as well. After all, you don’t need a creative aficionado to pull off a surprise, or a professional programmer to guide you in coding. It’s all hands on deck and anyone’s allowed to pitch in!
Yet, without a platform for individuals to reach out to each other to ask for and provide help, this vision is no more than a pipe dream.
Noting this issue, Evan assembled a team together with fellow Singapore Management University (SMU) student entrepreneurs Craig Choy and Matthew Wu. This is their journey.
Quest is co-founded by three student entrepreneurs from SMU. From left to right: Matthew Wu, Evan Chow, Craig Choy
Launched in June 2021, Quest is a mobile application that connects gig workers with potential clients instantly and at cost-competitive rates.
Users can outsource anything on the platform. From typical freelance services such as coding, copywriting and videography to spontaneous odd jobs such as furniture assembly or ad hoc delivery services, Quest is truly a one-stop online marketplace for everything.
On the other hand, those that chip in to help get to earn some quick cash for their services. Freelancers can also take this opportunity to build up a credible portfolio and a repertoire of testimonials for their services.
This aspect comes in especially handy against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. As jobs have been slashed and deemed non-essential, many individuals have turned to freelancing to supplement their incomes while waiting for full-time employment.
Quest’s users have enjoyed connecting with other like-minded individuals to start their business ventures.
The official Quest mobile app has only just recently hit Google and Apple stores on 21 June 2021. Within a week, Quest had already accumulated over 800 downloads across Apple and Android devices. The app has also clinched 24th place on Apple’s Lifestyle chart within two days and has been consistently ranking within the top 100 ever since.
Before the official launch of the app, however, Quest has primarily operated through the instant messaging service Telegram in its Beta testing phase. The team had wanted to test out their business hypothesis before committing to a full-fledged app. Within two months, over 1,000 users joined their channel which validated the team’s value proposition.
Within six months, Quest has a user base of over 3,000 individuals. The transactions between individuals have amounted to a whopping $70,000 in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV).
The Challenges of Student Entrepreneurship
The journey for the team hasn’t been a cosy bed of roses, though. In Quest’s embryonic stages, the co-founders’ lack of experience in the startup world understandably evoked feelings of doubt.
Craig himself was just learning how to code in the classroom, yet he was immediately thrown into the deep end being tasked to develop an entire app from scratch!
“I applied what I learnt in school as much as I could, only this time, I’m no longer in that sandboxed environment. All my decisions will have consequences.” – Craig Choy
To combat these challenges and to grow brand awareness for Quest, Evan, Craig and Matthew pushed themselves to compete in competitions. They also regarded their amateurity as an opportunity to develop Quest with its own trademark.
Additionally, age was also a card they learnt how to play to their advantage. Being young meant a keen awareness of today’s viral trends among youngsters which the team could incorporate into Quest.
For instance, the co-founders incorporated gamification to give Quest a sleek and youthful appearance. Users who put out requests are known as “Citizens” while those who offer up their services are known as “Heroes”. This Citizen/Hero duality was inspired by well-loved games like MapleStory, which Evan had played when he was younger.
“If MapleStory has an entire user flow for in-game characters to ‘post’ quests and requests for players to hunt down monsters or gather herbs, why can’t we have such a platform in real life?” – Evan Chow
In retrospect, these leaps of faith as well as tenacity have indeed paid off. The team has already garnered immense support all around. For instance, Quest has secured over $70,000 in grants. This figure comprises a $50,000 pre-seed funding from Enterprise Singapore’s Startup SG Founder Grant and $20,000 from the National Youth Council under the Youth Action Challenge. Quest is also currently under SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship incubation programme – Business Innovations Generator (BIG).
Bigger and Bolder
Moving forward, the Quest team has some big milestones it wishes to hit. For instance, Quest aims to expand its user base to include blue collar workers as well.
The team also hopes that Quest would bring communities closer together. Perhaps someday Singaporeans would be more willing to go the extra mile to help a stranger without paying too much attention to the monetary reward pegged to it.
Download the latest Quest app:
You can learn more about Quest here
- hello@quest-inc.co
- The Greenhouse, 40 Stamford Road, SMU-Connexion, Level 3, Singapore 178908