This is a First Look: It's the first time any news outlet or blog has covered this startup. You can read more First Looks here. (We do this a lot.)
So here's a scenario: your company gives you a 50% discount to go horseback riding. All's good, right? Well, when you find out the discount is in San Francisco, that kinda burns. A similar scenario happened to employees in Austin, whose company gave them a "perk" out in San Francisco. Austin company dimeSocial aims to fix this by giving the employees the option to curate their own perks.
Perks have long been a way for companies to set themselves apart and give employees a morale boost. Whether it's free meals while working in the office or a ping pong table in the break room, these perks are part of what draws in and keeps employees. Perks can even become defining aspects of the company's culture.
"It's which company fits your lifestyle better -- dimeSocial is a low-cost, low-maintenance way for companies to actively enrich the lives of their employees, allowing them to drive their own happiness," said Victor Sverdlin, CEO of dimeSocial.
dimeSocial gives companies and employees curated perks to local products and services. If the perk isn't listed on dimeSocial, they can submit a request to dimeSocial and dimeSocial will work to get the perk.
The process is markedly easier than the current system for taking advantage of company perks. Instead of filling out forms and receipts in triplicate and getting multiple levels of approval, using the dimeSocial app lets employees realize the benefits on the spot. They can show a QR code, a barcode, type in a coupon code, or even directly email the service provider to get their discount.
DimeSocial is working with companies like Harvest, Mytable, preschools, realtors, bars and venues to make discounts available to employees. They're working on getting other service providers such as financial providers, lawyers and masseuses.
The platform also allows for small business to reach a greater audience. It doesn't offer steep, one-time discount offers for services like LivingSocial or Groupon, but rather it is a continuous perk for a people who are interested in utilizing a business. Instead of generating a large amount of users who are only interested in a product or service because of the discount, dimeSocial gives the product and service providers the ability to capture a dedicated number of people who are already interested in their offering. It's a way to target a defined customer base at a low cost to generate repeat business.
"We don't want that one-time 30-40-50% discount... because that's hurting the providers," said Sverdlin. "And we're not here to hurt anyone. We want a 10% discount that can be counted on day-in and day-out -- something that will enrich the employees lives and not hurt our providers."
"My company became great because I had great employees, not the other way around."
dimeSocial is still in beta, but they already have about 3,000 employees across 7 companies they're rolling out to. Houston is their second market, buoyed by demand from oil and gas companies trying to retain talent.
"We're a very powerful tool for retention and attraction of talent."
Sverdlin moved to Austin from Florida last November to launch the company. Austin was the perfect market because the culture and willingness to adopt new technologies. He used to run a successful boutique IT support company for lawyers and CPA's. His experience led him to come up with the idea for dimeSocial.
"It wasn't me who made the company successful," he said. "It was the fact that I invested in my employees in terms of training, in terms of time, and making sure they were taken care of. My company became great because I had great employees, not the other way around."
Sverdlin wants to give companies another way to appreciate, attract and retain top talent.
"That mindset I want to see in every workplace in America. That great companies are made by great employees."
