NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Companies / Construction

Helen Twose: Website nails hunt for tradies

Helen Twose
By Helen Twose
Columnist·NZ Herald·
25 Oct, 2012 04:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Mark Dickson of builderscrack.co.nz, a web-based service connecting homeowners with verified tradespeople. Photo / Richard Robinson

Mark Dickson of builderscrack.co.nz, a web-based service connecting homeowners with verified tradespeople. Photo / Richard Robinson

Helen Twose
Opinion by Helen Twose
Personal finance and KiwiSaver columnist at the NZ Herald
Learn more

Unless you are blessed with the handyman gene, getting something fixed around the house can be the bane of home ownership.

Calls to tradespeople go unanswered and those who do pick up the phone are often either too busy, don't have the skills for the job or fail to show at the agreed time.

Such was the experience of Mark Dickson's wife Shona as she looked for people to do work on the couple's first home, a mid-century-era house in Christchurch.

She searched for tradespeople using the Yellow Pages and newspaper ads, trying to guess how reliable they were from the size of the ad, says Dickson, 36.

"There just seemed to be a whole lot of problems associated with that traditional model," he says.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Discussing it in 2006 the couple knew there had to be a better way using a web-based system.

"It seems simple in retrospect but it's actually pretty profound - the idea that you take a few minutes to post a job once on a website and tradespeople already registered on that website compete for the job," Dickson says.

Within a few days of their brainwave, a friend recommended he talk to Jeremy Wyn-Harris, 38, an IT whizz and serial entrepreneur.

After an agreement settled with a handshake over a beer, the pair spent the better part of the year developing a prototype.

Dickson's old school pal Keith Roberts, 36, who has a background in business consulting, came on board to kick-start the business side.

Discover more

Opinion

Helen Twose: Kiwisaver - Hard job to pull out and cash in

24 Sep 09:30 PM
Opinion

Helen Twose: Comparing KiwiSaver providers not so clear

01 Oct 08:30 PM
Opinion

Helen Twose: KiwiSaver scheme still compelling

08 Oct 04:30 PM
Companies

KiwiSaver fund managers reap $125.8m in fees

23 Oct 01:20 AM

That germ of an idea has since grown into builderscrack.co.nz, an online service matching interested and available tradespeople with homeowners wanting work done.

Once the job is complete, homeowners rate the person they used, enabling tradespeople to build up a record of good (or bad) reviews.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Features of the site include a tool to help estimate costs and links to relevant industry licensing authorities.

Since launching in early 2007 builderscrack.co.nz has had 24,000 jobs posted with a combined value of $30 million, more than half of that in the past 18 months.

It is free for homeowners to list a job, with the fees coming from the tradespeople - 5 per cent of the total job cost or 3 per cent for tradespeople who upgrade to an annual "pro" membership.

"I still remember the first fee that we made from a tradesperson - $49.95 - it was a real joyous moment," Dickson says.

The co-founders put in seed money at the beginning and after making small loses in the first few years the business has been self-sustaining and profitable.

"We've sort of demonstrated, I think, that you can scale a business like this without investment at the beginning [by] keeping it simple."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Builderscrack.co.nz now employs nine staff including Wyn-Harris, but both Dickson and Roberts have maintained their day jobs. Dickson has a PhD in geomorphology - the study of landforms - and spends his day researching the impact climate and sea level changes might have on coastal landforms such as the cliffs around Auckland.

"I'm still very much committed to my day job. It pays my mortgage and I love it as well."

Roberts is the Geneva-based head of strategy and corporate development for Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group.

While the day-to-day running is managed by their staff, Dickson does get involved in developing ideas for growing the business and perfecting the site.

"Right from the beginning I've read every single piece of feedback that we've had from customers and we're always talking about how to keep it simple."

In retrospect the economic downturn has been a boon, says Dickson, with the shortage of work making tradespeople more open to using the website. He says that when things pick up and people have more money for renovations, those tradespeople will have an established track record of positive reviews to back up their bids for work.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Growth has been organic for builderscrack.co.nz, with 50 per cent of customers coming from word-of-mouth referrals, 60 per cent using the site for repeat jobs and a quarter posting more than four jobs.

No job is too big or too small.

The average total cost is around $1000 and Dickson has seen everything posted - from the man who needed a plumber to retrieve his wife's engagement ring out of a drain, through to new house builds.

"The size of the average job completed on the site has increased over time and I think it's because people have got increasing confidence that they're going to find someone reliable."

Wife Shona has used the site 18 times to find tradespeople for their Christchurch home, now rented out following a move to Auckland.

"If it works and we have a really good experience then I know other people are having good experiences as well."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Construction

Premium
Construction

Fletcher was under-insured, convention centre subbies claim

07 Jul 10:35 PM
Premium
Opinion

Property Insider: Mansons begins Graham St project; free car with Westgate home; how’s Resido going?

07 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Property

'Grit their teeth': Sweeney on Dubliners living on proposed MetroLink route

07 Jul 03:05 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Construction

Premium
Fletcher was under-insured, convention centre subbies claim

Fletcher was under-insured, convention centre subbies claim

07 Jul 10:35 PM

Millions at stake in the Fletcher v subbies trial.

Premium
Property Insider: Mansons begins Graham St project; free car with Westgate home; how’s Resido going?

Property Insider: Mansons begins Graham St project; free car with Westgate home; how’s Resido going?

07 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
'Grit their teeth': Sweeney on Dubliners living on proposed MetroLink route

'Grit their teeth': Sweeney on Dubliners living on proposed MetroLink route

07 Jul 03:05 AM
'A substantial breach': Builder's work under scrutiny after installing leaky gazebo

'A substantial breach': Builder's work under scrutiny after installing leaky gazebo

04 Jul 04:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP