How do I create a platform like Upwork?

According to estimates, the gig economy may reach 43% of the US workforce by 2020.  This number usually includes all categories of self-employed citizens – including web designers, software engineers, and other occupations such as Uber drivers and merchants.According to Accenture, 20% of Fortune 500 companies now use Upwork, and the number of contract hires is on the rise.  In other words, we can be say that today new freelancer markets will emerge and gain strength!  On the other hand, there is always room for new players as there is intense competition between platforms.  If you want to be one of them, it is better to prepare by reading this article to start your new project!

What is inside?

Top Tips for Building a Website like Upwork

  1. Research on current challenges in the niche  2. Identify your target audience  3. Define your own suggestion  4. Choosing the type of freelance platform  5. Choosing your business model  6. Identify the main features  7. Stand out from competitors by identifying features  8. Create specification and send for estimate  9. Create a stunning design and start coding   10.  Testing it in the nature of testing in order to improve quality

How to apply these things in your business?

Important points for building a website like UPWORKFirst, and before going into the list of useful tips on how to build a website like Upwork, we want to address the facts about why it is necessary to start a freelance platform in the first place, which is usually despite the fact that there are hundreds of marketplaces available alongside HR managers.  There are beings who are always searching, which we will mention a few facts below:According to data estimates, free business will increase in the coming years.  Therefore, in the following we will discuss some tips to do this effectively  1. Research the current challenges in the niche"The most common mistake startups make is solving problems that no one else has."  - Paul Graham If you want to start a site like Upwork, you may have already thought about the challenges and needs to handle them with your product.  This is the biggest challenge for a competitive startup.  On the other hand, in the field of freelance work, standing out among the market leaders who are always increasing their income, and more and more every year, can have a complicated process:  • Upwork: $253 million  • Total: 100 million dollars  • Fiverr: $75.5 million  • 99 designers: $60 million  • Freelancer: 52 million dollarsHowever, nobody is perfect, and existing platforms have their own problems that leave people searching for alternatives. Some of the challenges in freelancer platforms are mentioned below:  1. Late payment Along with the quick opportunity of customers, among the important motivations of every freelancer to register on a platform, we can mention being paid for work without their extra effort.  On the other hand, due to many cases, freelancers do not get money for a week or at all!Beside, according to PayPal's findings, 58% of freelancers in Southeast Asia is not paid for their work.

More than half!

On the other hand, according to the Ormsby Street survey in the UK, on average, freelancers will be able to receive payments 18.5 days after the due date, with only 19% of respondents able to pay on time.  2. Currency exchangeDue to the existence of freelancers from every part of the world, they should be able to choose payment methods in addition to PayPal and some other services in some countries.  On the other hand, many platforms will require US dollars to withdraw.  Because of this, freelancers may lose money when converting from dollars and transactions may take longer.  On the other hand, due to the cheapness of freelance jobs, every penny counts for a worker. In addition, after paying to PayPal and losing a percentage due to the conversion of dollars into the national currency, waiting to receive money can be frustrating for anyone.  3. Quality vs.  NumberThis problem can be two-sided.  • The first type are free marketplaces like Upwork.  This results in registrations with few acceptance criteria, without checking the skills and reputation of freelancers.  On the other hand, this way you will be able to create a large pool of freelancers to provide your clients with choices.Additionally, without vetting your freelancers, you usually will not be able to guarantee the quality of their services.  On the other hand, this approach usually causes a risk in the reputation of the platform at the beginning when there are no ratings or feedback from customers.  Beside, after hiring one or two freelancers who do not have good performance, it causes the client to refuse to use the platform and find another market.  • The second type of platform also filters its users and through interviewing them, it can choose the best among the best.  On the other hand, these markets spend a lot of time checking.  While their talent bank is growing slowly, which results in a lack of supply for all their customers.  As a result, Total vets freelancers through testing, screening and live interviews to be able to select top professionals.  It is also worth noting, you will need many resources to scan all the candidates and make sure they are a good fit for the job.  The challenge of a startup is actually finding the golden mean between these two extremes.  2. Identify your target audienceUsually, before starting a freelance platform, you will need to define your client.  Is it an individual, a small entrepreneur or a large company?  On the other hand, it is better to decide on your choice of freelancer - a rare highly skilled professional or a student looking for a part-time job and experience.  Therefore, after knowing your audience, you will be able to create a great value proposition.Following trends, you need to focus on your audience.On the other hand, the transition from the industrial age to the digital age causes the loss of bias towards the quality of freelancers' work.  Given the assumption of freelancers as cheap and low-skilled workers, today's markets will be interested in growing their client base and payroll by focusing on recruiting rare and highly skilled professionals. According to the Intuit report, 80% of large companies will tend to hire more freelancers in the next few years due to the cost and inefficiency of the traditional hiring process.They are also the biggest drivers of the freelance economy due to fast search, great candidate pool, simple hiring process, online management, and on-demand hiring opportunities for temporary jobs.On the other hand, focusing on companies is usually more profitable for platform owners.  Upwork, Fiver, along with other existing marketplaces, are aware of the existence of Pro versions for corporate customers. On the other hand, if you focus on this audience, you should be prepared to ask for great quality leads.  The risks are high.  3. Define your value propositionBy knowing your target audience and their challenges, you will be able to cover a value proposition from existing bugs.

There are 3 core values to deliver to freelancers and clients:

  1. Access According to the discussion we made earlier, depending on your goals, you will be able to have easy access for everyone.  You can also collect a large audience (such as Upwork or Freelancer), on the other hand, you will be able to limit access by filtering professionals based on their qualifications and experience, for this reason, it is better to attract serious customers (such as Total does give).  Through credential verification, payment verification, pooling of rare professionals, and other filtering methods, you have the ability to create a unique pool of freelancers that clients typically appreciate.  2. Price.  Analyzing the prices and services of competitors and finding a way to reduce the price of some services without reducing your margins.  For example, these services include some valuable additional services such as a project management layer between the client and the freelancer (such as Remote Panda ), some auctions among freelancers for a better price, or a money-back guarantee in case of bad service.  3. Times.  It is better to find a solution to the main challenge of the industry, which is to minimize the time to receive payment.  As a result, you will be able to attract more freelancers to your platform.  4. Choosing the type of free platform  Markets differ in types, business models, purpose and feature sets.  In order to differentiate yourself from your competitors, you will need to define your target audience or your desired project.