Sira

What do they actually do

Sira builds scheduling, time tracking, and basic HR workflows for hourly, deskless teams. Managers create and publish shifts in a web app, and workers clock in/out on a mobile app; Sira compiles those hours into timesheets for review (site, Android app).

On top of the core scheduling and time clocks, Sira uses automation to watch for issues (missed punches, late arrivals, timesheet anomalies) and flag or resolve them. Their “agents” can contact workers to fill open shifts, find replacements, enforce breaks, and prepare payroll-ready hours so managers focus on exceptions rather than auditing every timesheet (YC profile, YC LinkedIn post). Today, Sira emphasizes preparing payroll hours and exceptions rather than running payroll itself; native payroll is not yet part of the product in at least some verticals (construction software blog).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Owners/managers of small landscaping crews running multiple teams and seasonal jobs: They juggle paper or spreadsheet schedules, scramble to cover no‑shows, and manually reconcile hours for payroll, which is error‑prone and time consuming. Sira targets landscapers and publishes vertical guidance.
• Small construction contractors and subcontractors with mobile crews across job sites: Crew leads need reliable mobile clock‑ins and attendance proof, and spend hours resolving missed punches and overtime disputes; they often want clean payroll exceptions without a full HR stack. Sira addresses construction workflows and notes no native payroll today.
• Care homes and home‑health agencies managing 24/7 coverage: They must fill last‑minute callouts, quickly contact replacements, and maintain accurate, compliant time records, but much of this is handled manually. Sira highlights agents that contact replacements and flag missed punches.
• Field service contractors (plumbing, electrical, HVAC) with techs moving between sites: They need mobile clock‑ins with location/attendance proof and fast reassignment when someone is late; current tools are fragmented and slow. Sira offers a mobile app and field‑first workflows.
• Small restaurants and hourly retail operators without dedicated HR: Managers spend time calling staff to cover shifts and fixing timesheet errors instead of running the business; they want simple scheduling and automation for payroll prep. Sira targets SMB hourly teams and automates these workflows.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Founder‑led, high‑touch pilots: cold‑call local operators to book demos, run short free pilots with concierge onboarding, and convert by fixing one obvious pain (coverage or payroll prep). This mirrors Sira’s current demo‑driven motion (YC profile, site).
• First 50: Scale outbound with BDRs and vertical content: targeted lists in landscaping, construction, care; use blog posts/case studies as collateral; add small paid search/local ads and webinars to drive inbound while offering short paid pilots (YC jobs, landscaping guide).
• First 100: Productize acquisition and add channels: enable self‑serve signups and vertical templates, invest in app‑store/SEO and paid channels, and partner with local payroll providers, staffing firms, and trade groups to get referrals; lean on payroll integrations since Sira prepares hours but doesn’t run payroll natively yet (construction blog, Android app).

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

There are roughly 3.6M employer firms across Sira’s hourly‑heavy target industries, with about 3.2M being very small (1–19 employees), per the SBA’s 2024 U.S. profile (SBA 2024). BLS reports 80.3M U.S. workers are paid hourly (55.6% of wage and salary workers), a useful basis for estimating addressable hourly headcount (BLS 2024).

Bottom-up calculation:

Employee-based: applying the 55.6% hourly share to small‑business employment yields roughly 33M hourly workers at small firms. At common market pricing of about $2.50–$8 per employee per month, this implies ≈$1.0B–$3.1B in annual U.S. software spend (BLS 2024, Homebase pricing, Deputy pricing, When I Work pricing). Per‑location framing using ≈3.2M small employer firms and $30–$200 per location per month implies ≈$1.1B–$7.7B/year.

Assumptions:

• Small‑business employment mix approximates the national 55.6% hourly share (BLS 2024).
• Pricing bands reflect public benchmarks for scheduling/time & attendance tools, excluding bundled payroll upsells (Homebase, Deputy, When I Work).
• Focus is U.S. SMBs in hourly‑heavy industries; excludes international expansion and higher ARPU from native payroll.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Homebase: SMB‑focused scheduling and time clocks with built‑in payroll, onboarding, and HR/compliance. Notable because it offers an all‑in‑one suite that many small operators adopt quickly (payroll page).
• Deputy: Workforce management for larger or multi‑location hourly teams, with advanced scheduling, compliance controls, and kiosk/facial‑recognition options. Strong in multi‑location roll‑ups and compliance (site).
• When I Work: Simple, mobile‑first scheduling and time clocks with shift swapping and payroll integrations. Popular for ease of use among SMBs (features).
• ClockShark: Field/construction‑oriented time tracking with GPS, geofencing, and job costing—optimized for proof of attendance and site verification (GPS time clock).
• 7shifts: Restaurant‑specific scheduling with tip management and deep POS/payroll integrations; strong vertical fit for restaurants but less general‑purpose across other deskless industries (integrations).