Senior business marketing major Jonathan Avalos expects to launch his Check!t app for Android and iOS on Wednesday Oct. 15th with an updated version the following week. The startup app is designed to hold roommates responsible for completing the chores they commit to within their household.
The Check!t app allows roommates to designate chore assignments, time frames and pledge amounts.
The Check!t app allows roommates to designate chore assignments, time frames and pledge amounts. Jonathan Avalos Courtesy
Avalos came up with the idea for the app after experiencing frustration with roommates’ negligence regarding their chores. Roommates agree to download the app and pledge an equal amount of money each week, which only gets withdrawn from their account if they fail to complete their chores. Pledges can range from $1 to $69.
If individuals fulfill their responsibilities by the end of the week, they do not owe their roommates anything. However, if users fail to do their chores, the app uses PayPal to automatically deduct the established pledge amount from users’ credit cards, evenly compensating roommates who followed through with their responsibilities.
“It’s such an issue with roommates — conflicts that get brought up just because of not doing your dishes, or not taking out the trash,” Avalos said. “Your whole college experience with roommates can be the greatest thing ever, or it can be the worst thing ever, just because of chores.”
The app allows users to enter in chore descriptions and a weekly time frame in which household duties must be completed. Individuals record completion of duties and have the option to add a photo as proof. Then, other users verify that the chore was completed. App administration has the final say to settle disputes that arise surrounding chore completion.
Avalos decided to pursue the app concept and began to seek out coders and programmers after receiving encouragement from Patricia Skalnik, an associate professor in the School of Business and Management.
Avalos initially got into contact with a developer in Lake Forest who expressed enthusiasm about his idea. Facing numerous logistical challenges, Avalos experienced some difficulty in finding sufficient financial resources. Gradually, he was able to acquire investors and decided to get some friends involved with the Check!t app, including APU alumni Nathan Froehlich, Tyler Morrone and graduate student Andrew Jones.
Jones is a supporter and consultant for Avalos, and was involved in the earlier stages of the app last summer.
“I [enjoy] seeing APU business students take risks and use their tools acquired [from] their business courses while taking the leap into entrepreneurship,” Jones said.
Though the app launches nationally this week, the founder will first concentrate on promoting it within the APU community in order to get feedback from students on a smaller scale. After discerning what students like and dislike about the app, Avalos will make changes during Christmas break and begin marketing to other universities in Los Angeles, such as UCLA and USC. If it is locally successful, the app will be marketed on the national level.
The free app comes without advertisements and generates a profit by delegating part of the pledged money back to the company. Avalos emphasized his desire for the app to be used as a positive tool. Rather than using pledges as punishments for lazy roommates, Avalos hopes to help students create healthy and harmonious living spaces.
The app entrepreneur expressed that he has a knack for networking, strategizing and generating unique ideas. Last June, he founded his own company, RelentlessAmbitions. He plans to focus on apps for the time being and explained that the company may branch out to other areas as trends change.
Avalos graduates in December and wants the app to be his legacy.
“I want, ultimately, to end my college career with a bang,” Avalos said.
Check!t will be available to download this week for nationwide users of both the Apple and Android platforms. Further information and updates on Check!t can be found on the app’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.