People opting to work as freelancers are on the rise.
As a freelancer, a person is working at his or her own pace and on his or her own terms, often from the comfort of home. Most people who chose freelancing prefer a work life far from the hassle, noise and stress of a traditional office.
But not all freelancers want to work totally alone. Some of them are fine sharing work time and space with someone, especially a person working in the same field. That is why a website was develop to find and match partners for those people who love co-working.
Weleet
In 2015, Weleet was launched in the U.S. by its founder and CEO, Jennifer Gore.
Weleet aims to match and connect freelancers with similar or complementary skill sets. These freelancers might wish to connect for the purpose of sharing resources and work space or may simply wish to network with others in a similar field.
Gore told the Huffington Post she was inspired by the growth of social media and the sharing economy and saw an opportunity in the shifting values of Millennials and Generation Z.
Many of these workers are leaving their traditional 9-to-5 jobs and creating their own work days. Gore created Weleet to cater to the needs of freelancers who want a shared work experience and the growth that comes from working with others but don’t have a traditional work environment.
She coined the term Weleet, the name of her new website, from “We+Elite”, a nod to the prediction that half of the U.S. workforce will be composed of independent workers by 2020.
Similar to a dating site, Weleet matches people through preferences. The Weleet model uses Totems. There are Geniuses, Champions and Chiefs. And all correspond to different personalities and work habits.
After receiving your Totem, you can join other users in various work sessions or activities. You can also invite other users you believe might be helpful in your daily work. There are also “field trips” spearheaded by featured Weleet members.
Co-working Spaces Across the U.S.
The concept of co-working is nothing new for freelancers and entrepreneurs who work remotely. There are a wide variety of these co-working spaces spread across the U.S. alone.
According to data collected by DeskMag, a publication dedicated specifically to the topic of co-working, 86 percent of remote workers head out to these spaces specifically to avoid the isolation of the co-working life.
If so, Weleet may have a large potential market indeed.
Image: Weleet/YouTube
I’ve done the freelance thing and it can be very isolating. This would be a great opportunity for many freelancers to have trusted partners and develop new business because oftentimes there are complimentary skill sets that it would help to have access to.