Remember the famous Martini advertising slogan? Well “any time, any place, anywhere”, now sums up rather neatly the global nature of the small business marketplace. If you have a job that needs doing, somewhere in the world will be a small business or freelancer prepared to get on with it straight away – and the web provides a way to find them.
This is the principle at the heart of online marketplaces such as Elance and Freelancer.com, which seek to match people who need work doing with those who might be prepared to do it.
It might be possible for the two parties to make a connection independently, of course, but online marketplaces offer a number of advantages. Not only do they provide a single location where different types of freelancer and small business can offer their services, it is also possible to add bells and whistles. User reviews help hirers find the best people, for example, while secure payment options offer peace of mind on both sides of the transaction.
No wonder that these sites are booming. Freelancer.com currently has more than 5 million projects up for grabs, while Elance says its small business and freelance users have so far earned $900m through work obtained on its platform.
They’re not the only option. LinkedIn is increasingly moving into this territory, for example, with user groups that effectively connect commissioners of work in particular industries with those looking for projects. It’s an obvious area for social networks to colonise, formalising a process that is already going on informally between members.
There are also new ventures that seek to build on what has gone before. Take the British company Time Etc, which thinks it can improve on the conventional marketplace business model by adding a higher level of service and quality control.
Founder Barnaby Lashbrooke, who founded his first online business from the spare bedroom in his parents’ house aged 17 – he sold out for £2m in 2006 – thinks businesses looking for contractors online will appreciate his value-added approach. “We think that the businesses this model suits best tend to be smaller – often run by entrepreneurs who aren’t yet ready to take on full-time staff but who need projects completed,” Lashbrooke says. “Those people don’t have the time to spend finding the right people for themselves on these sites, which is why we do it for them.”
Freelancer.com Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Time Etc is both match maker and project manager. Sourced with a request for a particular piece of work, it will find the right contractor from its user base, handle the negotiations over price, liase while the work is being done and, eventually, sort out the payments too. It charges £26 an hour for the service, including the freelancers’ fees.
It’s a really interesting model. Given the vast amount of business conducted globally on Freelancer.com and Elance, it is clear there is no shortage of people who don’t feel they require the extra services Lashbrooke is offering. Equally, however, there will be many who like the idea of paying someone to source their contractors, particularly when the contractors’ costs are included in the headline price.
Meanwhile, for those who want to advertise their services on these marketplaces, the increasing choice can only be a good thing – especially as there’s no cost involved in offering yourself for hire. Who needs traditional advertising?
from Forbes.com: Most popular stories http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidprosser/2013/11/01/how-to-sell-yourself-to-the-world-or-find-the-perfect-contractor/
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