Internet penetration in Africa has led to Africans interacting with the rest of the world, leading to a higher amount of job creation through outsourcing. HumanIPO caught up with Nikki Parker of Freelancer.com, one of the largest sites used by freelancers in Africa.
HumanIPO: How does Freelancer.com work?
Parker: Freelancer is a crowdsourcing and outsourcing platform that lets employers connect with talented freelancers from around the world to get work done. With more than 11 million members, it is the largest online services marketplace, making it easier to complete projects or find work.
With over 700 job categories on the site and around 4,000 jobs being posted every day, freelancers have a highly diverse range of jobs to choose from. Freelancer.com has jobs that range from data entry, web development and design, right through to editing, marketing and sales – we have even had jobs posted in astrophysics and pure mathematics! The diversity in jobs available on Freelancer.com means that there is a job available for every freelancer, no matter what their skills are.
Only roughly one-third of the world’s population is currently online, however, the remaining global population are gaining access rapidly – which presents unbelievable opportunities for these people. Freelancer’s long term mission is to beneficially change one billion people’s lives on this planet by providing them with a job sourced through our platform. We want to inspire and assist entrepreneurs and small businesses to succeed.
While the online services industry is still in its infancy, we are continuously striving as a company to broaden our offering to increasingly enable anyone to work at any time, in any field, at their own rates, from anywhere in the world.
It is free to post or bid on a project on Freelancer.com to get work done. Freelancer as a platform is the easiest place to earn a living or build up your business by connecting with other skilled professionals.
There are additional features and opportunities that small business owners can take up for a small fee on the site, however, Freelancer.com is specifically designed to be a cost-effective platform for business owners to get work done.
It is as simple as signing up, posting a project, choosing a freelancer/employer and getting the job done.
How successful has it been?
Freelancer has continued to go from strength to strength since the company started in 2009. Freelancer started in a time when the online freelance marketplace was primarily only connecting North America with India. Freelancer.com recognised that there was literally a world of opportunities out there and focused on bringing the opportunity of outsourcing and crowdsourcing to other countries around the world. As a result, Freelancer.com grew rapidly to take the spot of the world’s largest freelance marketplace based on number of users and projects posted.
When did you become available in Kenya, and how large is the market?
Being an online company means that work can be done from anywhere, by anyone, on almost any project you can think of! We have had entrepreneurs and freelancers working across Africa and in Kenya for years.
Kenya is a rapidly growing market and its user base has grown by 57.8 per cent in the last 12 months.
How is the African market in general when it comes to entrepreneurship?
Freelancer has nearly 370,000 members from across Africa and that number is growing fast. Broadband technologies continue to improve in most African countries and as a result, small business owners and entrepreneurs are recognising the world of benefits that is now at their fingertips. African business owners can access a global labour pool through using Freelancer.com and similarly, African freelancers now have access to clientele scattered around the world.
What is the most unique thing about Freelancer.com as compared to your competitors?
Four things stand out:
1. Liquidity. When you are talking about online marketplaces, it is definitely a winner takes all scenario, and we are the largest freelance marketplace based on number of users and projects carried out. What this means is that when you post a project, you will typically have people bidding to work for you within minutes. It has never been faster or easier to get work done.
2. We are a truly global marketplace. When we first saw services marketplaces spring up, typically they were focused on connecting American employers with freelancers in India. We thought this was quite a narrow focus and our competitive advantage is that we have always had a truly global focus. We operate in over 247 countries, territories and regions, are translated in more than 30 languages and transact in more than 12 currencies. No matter what work needs to get done, where you are in the world or what language you speak, we can connect you with the right people.
3. Clear, simple and engaging interface! We have a large team who work tirelessly to make sure you have the best experience possible.
4. Finally, we have 24/7×365 day support which is available in a number of different languages. We understand that businesses and freelancers rely on us for their businesses or source of income which means that we need to provide the best support possible.
How do you monetise?
Freelancer aims to make it cost-effective but also financially rewarding for both employers and freelancers who are working on the site. As a result, Freelancer aims to keep all fees minimal. There are also membership options, which enhance the opportunities for freelancers and employers on the site.
Was it hard getting started in terms of capital?
Freelancer was bootstrapped and has always reinvested its earnings back into the growth of the company.
Do you have any plans to expand?
We have always seen the world as our oyster and we will continue to work tirelessly to make sure that everyone in the world has the same access and opportunity to find work online. At present, only one-third of the world’s population has access to the internet, yet the remaining masses are coming online, and they are coming on quickly! The majority of the unconnected world are from the developing world and as they come online, they will use the internet to earn an income and improve their standard of living. We feel very privileged to be at the forefront of helping up and coming entrepreneurs and business owners fulfil their dreams.
What have been some of the challenges encountered?
Hiring staff is always a challenge for businesses as they grow and we have always focused on hiring the best, the brightest and the most passionate staff members we can find. Unfortunately, it can be time consuming and difficult to find the right people for your team, however, we have never let this stop us getting the required work done! For the times we are hiring or short staffed, we have always practiced what we preached and hired skilled professionals on Freelancer.com. This has given us the flexibility to continue to execute important work and grow the business at the same time that we are growing the team. This has really allowed us to behave like a global giant, even when we had a smaller team!
When it comes to crowdsourcing, where do we go wrong? How should it be done to be effective?
A lot of people think that because they are working on an online platform, the way they normally do business face to face flies out the window but this is not the case! Communication remains at the core of doing business and doing it successfully! Follow these three tips to effectively outsource work on Freelancer.com:
1. Have a good plan and a clear project brief. Before you approach a Freelancer, it is vital that you have a clear idea about what your project is and what needs to be done. Providing this brief to your Freelancer will set up a good foundation to make sure the work is executed to your exact requirements. Your freelancer will of course have some suggestions and opinions of their own, so collaborate with them and make the most of hiring an expert!
2. Get to know the freelancers. Each Freelancer has his or her own expertise, skill sets and work habits which makes it very important to get to know your prospective freelancers before working together. Choose your freelancer based on their advertised skills, work experience, customer feedback and not just based on their hourly rate or bidding price. Freelancer.com allows employers to review each Freelancer’s qualifications and portfolios to make sure they choose the right person for the job. Even if you are on the other side of the world from the freelancers, make the most of messaging and chat services built into crowdsourcing platforms to discuss ideas and utilise your Freelancer’s expertise.
3. Be upfront with payment details. Set up a third party payment process to protect your business and provide security for the Freelancers. Freelancer.com lets businesses set up milestone payments (similar to how an escrow service works) that means money will only be released once the work has been successfully completed. As businesses begin to use this globalised workforce, using a crowdsourcing site that provides transparency and security in payment processes is paramount and will ensure that you get the most out of crowdsourcing your job online.
What are some of the considerations when looking to outsource?
Using a freelancer is great for two main reasons. Firstly, they are experts in their field so you can have them focus on specific tasks, knowing you have the best person for the job. Secondly, having a global workforce at your fingertips means that there is always someone available to work on your project and charge you only for the hours worked. Using freelancers provides your business not only with the flexibility to complete jobs and grow when your business requires it, but also to scale back if necessary.
Before you start to outsource work, it is important to assess your own business before developing a strategy on what tasks you will look to outsource.
1. Write out your own JD. Often when we start a business, we are just a jack of all trades and see running the company as our primary goal. Whilst this is technically correct, you still have strengths that make you specifically suited to certain roles and tasks within your company. Sit down and write out a detailed job description of what you think your role should focus on. This should make the areas that you need assistance with glaringly obvious.
2. Write out your immediate company goals. You want to build, grow, change and innovate but in what direction? Are you focusing on building up a sales pipeline? Brand development? Building a website? What are the things that you need to get done ASAP to really get the ball rolling in your business? Once you have written out this list, go through and allocate tasks to members of your immediate team but be realistic – are some of these jobs taking up too much time in your work day? The jobs that are left over are the perfect tasks to outsource.
3. Set out an outsourcing budget. In the same way you would strategically map out your budgets for hiring new staff or buying new equipment, it is important that you allocate a specific budget for your outsourcing needs, track its progress and measure the benefit it is having for your business.
What sort of work should be outsourced?
There are two different types of tasks that might be perfect for your business to outsource and with over 700 job categories currently operating on Freelancer, you will be sure to find a skilled professional able to do almost any task.
1. Highly repetitive tasks. If a job is time consuming and highly repetitive, it is probably taking up too much time away from the precious hours available to your staff. For instance, data entry or inventory management can easily be outsourced online.
2. Specialised knowledge. If there are jobs that require special skills such as IT knowledge, financial expertise or even engineering abilities, then it might not be such a good idea for you to take the lead. Outsource these jobs to the experts.
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