Freelancing for SMEs and startups
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Freelancing allows individuals to find work independently without long-term commitments to employers. Websites connect freelancers and clients, allowing freelancers to create profiles, bid on projects, and be hired and paid for completed work. For small businesses and startups, freelancing websites provide opportunities to find new projects, clients, and qualified people to hire for technical tasks. India has been very successful with freelancing due to a large skilled workforce, government support, and low costs that allow Indian freelancers to offer competitive prices globally. The growing startup ecosystem in India also increases freelancing opportunities.
Freelancing for SMEs and startups
- 1. Freelancing for SMEs and Startups Hany Saad Mostafa Senior Teaching assistant and lecturer Information Technology institute (ITI) hghiett@iti.gov.eg
- 2. What’s freelancing? And how does it work?
- 3. What’s Freelancing? • Freelancer, or freelance worker refers to a person who is self-employed and is not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. • Other related terms are “outsourcing” and “offshoring” that mean a company that delegates another company to accomplish some of its work or tasks. • There’s a lot of websites that working as a broker between freelance employees and companies or individuals who offer work for them.
- 4. How does freelancing websites work? • How does freelancing websites work? • Create a worker profile, and define your skills. • Search for posted projects that fits your skills and bid on it (time and cost quotation). • The employer (project owner), will review the freelancer applicant, review their profiles, and shortlist some of them for online interview, and provide a final offer. • If the employer accepted your offer, he’ll start the project for you on the website, and notify you to start working. • After finishing the project, the employer will close the project, and transfer the agreed cost to you. • The website will ask the employer to evaluate your commitment and professionalism, and also will ask you to evaluate the employer.
- 5. How does freelancing websites work? (cont.) • Project cost estimation: • Hourly based: estimate the work hours in the project, and define a rate for your man-hour cost. • Fixed-price: estimate and fixed price for the whole project. • Money withdrawal from your account: • Payoneer. • Skrill and PayPal. • Wire transfer.
- 6. Most requested freelancing services
- 7. Freelancing websites… • Some of most common freelancing websites: • www.upwork.com (Formerly: oDesk and Elance - Top famous freelancing site) • www.freelancer.com (One of the most famous sites) • www.rentacoder.com • www.vworker.com • www.guru.com • http://www.peopleperhour.com • www.fiverr.com (For small services) • Some of fast-growing Arabic freelancing websites: • www.khamsat.com (For small services) • www.ikhedmah.com (For small services) • www.freelanceme.net • www.mostaql.com
- 8. Freelancing for SMEs and Startups…
- 9. Freelancing for SMEs & Startups • For Individuals, freelancing can help them to find online work opportunities. • For SMEs and startups, freelancing can help in two of the biggest problems that face SMEs and Startups in Egypt (specially in upper Egypt): 1. Finding enough projects and clients. 2. Finding qualified employees for some technical tasks.
- 10. 1. Finding new projects and clients • SMEs and startups face many problems regarding finding enough projects and work. • Market opportunities are limited. • Their market share is limited compared to the medium and large companies. • They can’t afford high budget marketing cost. Freelancing can help …
- 11. 1. Finding new projects and clients (Cont.) • SMEs and startups can easily register on freelancing websites as a freelancers agency, and search for projects and clients online. • 3 millions jobs posted annually and 5M+ registered clients(Upwork statistics). • Upwork allows the companies (or groups) to create an agency account and their employees under the agency name and get the jobs as an agency. • You have so many jobs; choose jobs that fit your company profile and schedule. • You can build long-term relations with your clients, and guarantee continued jobs. • Freelancing website will guarantee that the client will pay you the agreed cost. • Upwork will charge you a percent of your income differs among 5%, 10% and 20% according to your lifetime billing per client.
- 12. 2. Finding qualified employees for some technical tasks • SMEs and startups face some difficulties about finding qualified employees for some technical tasks. • There’s a shortage in employees for some specialized technical fields. • Even if they can be found, their prices are very high! • SMEs and startups, can’t afford long-term contracts with employees, they need them for short-term jobs based on the available projects. Freelancing can help again…
- 13. 2. Finding qualified employees for some technical tasks (Cont.) • SMEs and startups can easily register on freelancing websites as a client and post the technical tasks that they haven’t employees to do it in freelancing websites, and it’s even better than searching for a full time employee. • Nearly 3,000 different skills from talented professionals around the world and 12M+ registered freelancers (Upwork statistics). • Find best qualified persons in a one place. • Check their profile, skills, portfolio and other clients feedback on them. • Choose among many options according to experience, time and cost. • Find good qualified freelancers for less price. • Will not be committed to a long-term contract with the employee. • Freelancing website will guarantee that the freelancer will finish the work and deliver it, and will pay back your money if you didn’t get the work as agreed. • Upwork will just charge you 2.75% of the total agreed payment!
- 14. Freelancing growth and successful models across the world …
- 15. Freelancing industry growth “Freelancing is the new normal -- and we have the numbers to prove it.” By Sara Horowitz, Founder and Executive Director of Freelancers Union and Fabio Rosati, CEO Elance-oDesk.
- 16. Freelancing industry growth (Cont.)
- 17. Freelancing successful models for different countries • There are more than 53 million freelancers in the United States (in 2014). • There are more than 1.4 million freelancers in the UK (in 2014). • On the other hand, all freelancing platforms have a substantial percentage of Indian freelancers. • India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Philippines, Pakistan and Ukraine, are the countries with the most freelancers in the world.
- 18. Freelancing successful models for different countries: USA (34% of entire workforce) • A 2014 Forbes article highlighted that there were more than 53 million freelancers in the United States alone (That’s 34% of the entire workforce).
- 19. Freelancing successful models for different countries: India • India has the second highest number of freelance professionals (about 15M, and about 25% of the entire workforce), standing next only to the US. • Freelancing Industry in India contributing more than $400 billion to the national economy. • These 15M Indian freelancers take up a whopping 40% of total freelance jobs offered worldwide.
- 20. Freelancing successful models for different countries: India (Cont.) • India is competing in the freelancing world, not only as individual contractors; but as big freelancing firms (software outsourcing companies) that host a big number of freelancers with different and various skills and specialists and offer to provide any number of developers for the client with high facilities of high internet connection, voice and video calls and coordination staff to follow up with customers and guarantee the best service and satisfaction for them.
- 21. Freelancing successful models for different countries: India (Cont.) • Sample Email promotion for an Indian outsourcing company( Shows the facilities and services they offer for clients):
- 22. Freelancing successful models for different countries: India (Cont.) • Most important factors for successful Indian Model in freelancing: • The foundations of India’s IT revolution were laid long ago, when leading Indian scientists established research institutes that became center for the development of computer science and technology. • Obvious huge population with over 1.5M professionals graduating out of the schools every year: India is undoubtedly the largest producer of skilled professionals in the world and ready to fuel the burst in demand side of this exponentially increasing freelance industry. • Software industry support by the Indian government. • American firms’ eager recruitment of cheap and plentiful programming labor, and started to stablish development houses in India. • Improvement in Internet Penetration and Quality: India has the second highest number of internet users (375M) across the globe. • Women & Retired Professionals coming ahead: Skilled women and retired professionals offer a large untapped pool of potential freelance professionals. • The low cost of living in India: which makes Indian professionals offer unbeatable prices, to levels that would make it really hard for a person in Germany or Australia – for example- make ends meet with freelancing.
- 23. Freelancing successful models for different countries: India (Cont.) • Most important factors for successful Indian Model in freelancing: • Fast growing Startup Ecosystem in India: India has the fastest growing startup ecosystem and the third highest number of technology driven startups worldwide, trailing behind only the US and the UK. The Indian government recently launched several initiatives under Startup India to boost growth and simplify the requirements for doing business.
- 24. Freelancing successful models for different countries: India (Cont.) • More about Indian startups ecosystem, and its direct impact in freelancing industry growth: • Startups from India and abroad have the potential to quadruple the freelance job opportunities year over year as startups are proactively using freelancers and consultants in every possible way. • It’s not that just Indian startups are using Indian freelancers on contracts or as consultants, more than 50% of the startups in the US are availing services of Indian freelancers directly or indirectly. Startups in the US prefer to hire Indian freelancers primarily to cut costs while still maintaining the quality of work. • It’s a win-win situation for both the parties as the Indian freelancer generally gets paid more than what he could be earning while working full-time in a company in India, whereas the Startup in the US ends up paying far less than what it could have paid to a full-time employee in the US.