Like every year-end, November 2021 was characterized by bringing together groups of friends who were already beginning to say goodbye to the year. This was the case with Patricia Misa, and her group of schoolmates who organized a party to meet again after years.
Place, food, drink… everything was solved; minus the return of guests to your home. It is that as in most parties, alcohol was going to be present and none of the guests wanted to stop enjoying a drink due to the obligation to drive.
Although the situation was finally resolved and everyone was able to enjoy the party without running the risk of driving with alcohol in their blood, the situation turned on Misa’s little light and led her to undertake.
As he told in an interview with Coffee & BusinessThe day after the party, he had the idea of creating a chauffeur service that anyone can access. And so he did.
For 11 months —with the support of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) of the ORT University—, Misa worked on the idea until the product was launched on the market.
So it was that on November 16, 2022, Gebo officially emerged: a venture with the aim of providing a professional service for anyone who needs a qualified driver to transport them in their own vehicle.
In practice
“It was a challenge,” said the entrepreneur, referring to the launch of Gebo.
It is not easy to go from theory to practice, especially when it comes to a venture. But little by little, more than a month after starting work on the street, Misa maintained that she was able to face each of the difficulties that arose. And she affirmed that in Gebo “the calls are exploiting”.
“For having left recently, the average number of trips is very good. And every weekend there are more,” said the entrepreneur in an interview with Coffee & Business.
Asked about the number of drivers to meet this demand, Misa said that there are currently 10 drivers in Gebo. But she explained that it is a scalable number, so the idea is – as the demand for travel increases – to add more and more workers to the staff.
The hiring of drivers in the enterprise is direct: a call is made for those drivers with a professional license, those who meet this requirement take a driving test with which the personnel is selected. Those selected go through a phase of psychologist proposed by Gebo, and if it is considered that they can do the job, they are hired.
“We transport vehicles with their passengers or owners inside,” Misa recalled.
By the way, he explained that for different reasons someone may need a driver to drive their car, for example: he went to a party, and drank alcohol but wanted to return in the comfort of his car; In this sense, he said that a few weekends ago it happened that a family of five who went to a party —the parents wanted to drink alcohol—, but did not get into a traditional car (such as cabify, uber or taxi) to return home, and they had a seven-person van that could be driven by a Gebo driver.
Night is a key time for Gebo, but it is not the only time of use. In fact, Misa said that recently there was a passenger who had to travel to Salto at night to work the next day, so she decided to hire a driver.
Regarding the success of Gebo, Misa said: “The most recurring return is the comfort of being in your car; in your world”.
How to get a driver?
Gebo offers its service 24 hours a day, and as Misa explained: “It is a preventive service”. This means that the sooner the consumer books it, the better the reception will be because there will be much more drivers available.
In any case, if someone requests a driver in the middle of the night and there is availability, they can get a Gebo by contacting the venture through WhatsApp.
Asked about the price of each trip, Misa explained that it depends on the distance traveled but that it starts at $300 for a short trip, for example: from Pocitos to Parque Batlle. And the form of payment —for the moment— is by transfer or Mercado Pago.
This until the application is developed, where the trips will be scheduled and also paid through a payment platform in which people can include their card.
