Entrepreneurs and the companies they create are celebrated, and for good reason. Everyone wants to start the next Instagram or Tesla. But for every company that succeeds, many fail. Only 20% of all businesses make it past the first year. Building a business as an entrepreneur takes dedication, vision, passion, and many, many hours of extremely hard work. That’s why we’re very proud to be ranked in the 2017 Entrepreneur 360 list of the best entrepreneurial companies in America.
That work becomes even harder when you’re building a new category and concept like Massage On Demand. Samer Hamadeh, our founder and CEO, created Zeel in 2010, intending to help customers access the best in wellness. He soon realized that the real need was for convenient access to high-quality massages from experienced, licensed therapists.
Entrepreneurship and inspiration
Samer, inspired, realized that the best way to accomplish this goal would be to to provide massage on location and on demand, in customer homes, hotel rooms, workplaces, and events. In addition to the first website dedicated to same-day massage booking, Zeel would also use new smartphone technology to create a revolutionary massage app, one that would allow customers to book a massage as little as an hour in advance, 365 days a year. This was the brainchild that became Zeel Massage On Demand, which we introduced back in 2012, 5 years ago.
Zeel continues to lead in the massage category – we are often imitated, but never equaled.
First-class security
Providing the best in mobile massage at home means providing top security and safety protocols for both customers and massage therapists – and that’s why security has been part of the Zeel DNA since day one. We put the safety of both our therapists and customers first and have a strictly enforced no-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior. (In fact, Cosmopolitan recently recognized Zeel for setting the standard in on-demand app safety.)
For customer safety, we conduct stringent vetting processes on massage therapists in our network. All therapists in Zeel’s network are licensed in their state of practice, insured, experienced, and vetted in person by the Zeel team.
For massage therapist safety, Zeel ID verifies customers and verifies their mobile numbers before they can book their first massage. We do this with our partners and not with social media like others do, which is spoofable. Zeel also has massage therapists check in and out of appointments on the app; so we know where they are, who they are with, and for how long.
Customer service stars
Five-star massage at home also require an all-star customer service team – and client and therapists alike constantly tell us how much they appreciate our dedicated, caring, smart team of award-winning customer service experts, accessible via email or text around the clock. With Zeel’s award-winning customer service, a live person is always available for both massage therapists and customers via text, email, or phone when massages are in session. We also constantly review feedback about therapists and customers.
Beyond in-home massage at Zeel
Entrepreneurship means continual innovation. The Zeel family of ground-breaking massage resources includes Zeel Corporate Wellness, which helps companies bring the benefits of massage into the workplace, and Zeel Spa, a revolutionary platform that allows spas and resorts to book vetted and licensed massage therapists from the Zeel network, enabling them to handle last-minute therapist callouts and peak demand.
Zeel has grown from one city in 2012 to over 70 Zeel locations by the end of 2017. We look forward to many more exciting innovations in 2018.