By some estimates, half of the American workforce will be working in the freelance gig economy by 2020. QuiGig is a new start up that’s bridging the gap more established freelance job sites have left open with a streamlined process that includes a feature to ensure non discriminatory practices.
What Makes the QuiGig Freelancer Site Different?
Small Business Trends spoke with QuiGig’s founder and CEO Dr. Emad Mousavi about his company’s aim to be the future of employment in this space in the Houston area.
A Muddled Process
Initial research told him that the path to buying products online had been clearly defined but finding online services involved a more muddled process. This was the initial spark for QuiGig.
“If I wanted to buy goods online it was easy. I could go to Amazon, Google Shopping or one of the other online stores,” he said, “but when it came to services, the process was more difficult.”
Shopping For Services
In fact, Mousavi found shopping for services involved being more creative, doing research, contacting and then sorting through all the prospects. When he looked at the existing freelance job websites he also found one of the obstacles for workers in the gig economy was high fees.
There was another core question.
“Then we started to ask: ‘How will it be 10 years from now when people want to find work or hire for services?’”
Fast and User Friendly
The answers helped him put QuiGig together, Mousavi decided the new job site would need to be fast and user friendly to fit the needs of those both buying and selling services. It was designed to help freelancers build their careers by providing simple access to a tool to help them get an overview of what’s available in their niche.
Bidding Tool
The bidding tool format looks after both customers and service providers in one location. For small business freelancers, they can offer their services and sign up to have them viewed in several different cities. Freelancers and other contractors can post relevant information like certifications on the site to put themselves ahead of the competition for specific projects.
Clients post the jobs they need on the site and the service providers bid. The fee for using the service generally works out to $1 dollar for the folks looking for work. You can start by getting free credits that allow you to access some services. These fill up at the end of the month but don’t give you full access to everything the site offers.
Non Discriminatory Practices
Beyond the low transaction fees one of the other things that separates QuiGig from other sites on the web are the features to help ensure non discriminatory practices. The site hides the race and gender of people looking for work so the focus is on their skill set and experience.
“This doesn’t just help the freelancers,” Mousavi says. “It also helps the clients, customers and small business owners who want to be sure they are hiring the best person to get the job done.”
Photo via Shutterstock
This is a crowded space. I’ll be interested to see if they ultimately succeed or get acquired as soon as they start to show promise.
Aira Bongco
I wonder how this is different from other existing freelancing sites. I see that the bidding system is quite different but I want to know how it all pans out when you sign up.
It may be new but it may be the missing element in freelancing sites. It all depends on the fact if people are willing to see its value and migrate to it.
I think this came just in time when freelancing is growing as an industry all over the world.
Harold Malcom Walters
This is absolutely the correct way to go about it. By putting skills and experience ahead of “Race & Gender,” and I’m also including this; “from other nations”, this effectively brings to a “Halt” the discrimination that I have already noticed from some of the 800 pound gorilla’s, as one individual called one particular freelancer website. I have noticed that many websites seem to tilt towards their own kind from their own country, while the others from other nations, are just keeping their hands and legs crossed in the hope that a doggy bone will be thrown their way. Well done!