In a recent article from the Wall Street Journal, Geoffrey Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) talks about how the fabulously wealthy may call their servants by ringing a little bell. In the lifestyles of the the middle class, one can now summon a household staff just by tapping on a smartphone. People can have a maid, masseuse, doctor, chef, valet, personal shopper, florist and bartender at the touch of their fingertips. Each has it’s own app and can arrive at your door in as little as 10 minutes. Yes, this sounds ridiculous. But it might also be the future of how busy non-billionaires get chores done.

“Can tech companies really offer better experiences than the taqueria, flower shop or dry cleaner down the street, while taking a cut for themselves? Not necessarily. Quality control is a challenge when the supervisor is just software. While I didn’t have any major problems, I’ve heard horror stories from readers and colleagues who have tried shipping and laundry apps. And these apps have been coming and going quickly: At least two on-demand car wash services have already gone defunct in San Francisco.”

I think this is a valid concern, but what needs to be  addressed is that just like any business, including traditional businesses, there will be a decent amount of turnover. If we talked about every store front that went out of business, especially in a city like San Francisco, you’ll see that there are dozens that close on a regular basis. There is such a large influx of on-demand services that there isn’t a big enough market anywhere, let alone San Francisco, that can handle such a high volume of new services.

The same goes for quality control, just take a look at Yelp and you’ll see the hundreds or even thousands of one star reviews. With many of the larger marketplaces such as Uber and Instacart, consumer ratings hold the power.  If a specific individual receives multiple bad ratings then they’ll no longer be able to continue as an independent contractor. This acts as quality control for the consumer and it also allows marketplace owners to be more informed to see where they need to make improvements.      

So, are we sacrificing quality for convenience? In some ways, maybe, but there are far more pros than cons. San Francisco is full of innovation, which means people are extremely busy; so if you’re someone who works an 80 hours week, having the ability to accomplish things you normally wouldn’t have time for is priceless. Quality control is key and as time passes it will continue in to increase as the under-performing services are weeded out. You’ll have to exercise trial and error like many other things in life, but once you find something you like, it could make your busy life easier.