AGARU PROJECT
‘happiness makes us grateful, but gratefulness makes us happy.’
Agaru (Japanese): to help something rise, to lift something, to bring up
Why?
Hospitality is VERY challenging.
Here is our thesis:
1 in 10 jobs in the world are in hospitality (about 700+ million people). Customer service is the lifeline of all enterprises. However, it is delivered by staff of unknowable skill, to guests with unknowable benchmarks, making staff performance nearly impossible to measure or prove.
How do we approach that challenge?
Simple: ask.
We ask everyday customers to give us an idea of the quality of the service. It could be anyone and anywhere, but good service is universal.
We then collecting data of those whom are great at their job, and do it with heart.
Ideally this record will serve as a reference of skill, and be part of the staff credentials wherever else where they may go. We’ll vouch for the staff talent so that they can find other opportunities or training or even loans and access to credit otherwise unattainable.
Enterprises will gain better insight of the performance of their teams with more granular data of the customer experience and customers will be rewarded for expressing their gratitude in a simple way, where they can help others help themselves through their talent.
Expressing gratitude has a surprising amount of other benefits, and science has shown that being grateful towards others will make you happier. And it doesn’t take any money or effort.
Our team:
We are a team of hospitality experts and entrepreneurs with many years on the field. We have lived the pain and the stress of the job over and over. And we think its time things are done easier, with greater benefits for all participating.
Our vision:
To be the reference resource for service workers everywhere
Our Mission Statement: Helping talent rise
Founder:
Adrian Marquez, Anthropologist (University of Toronto), Sommelier.
20+ years experience in restaurant trade. Lifetime entrepreneur.
ADVISORS
Technical:
Ian Kelk, Engineering and Product Manager (Computer Science, University of Toronto ).
13 years experience launching online products and properties, and developing simple solutions to complex problems.
Nataly Rico, E. Eng, MBA candidate.
Electrical Engineer with many years of experience in business and managing personnel in Venezuela as an entrepreneur.
Linkedin
Daniel Oliveira, MBA
Currently marketing at a large multinational, years of experience in Consumer Goods