Press Release: London, 15 December 2009 • Second generation online marketplace PeoplePerHour.com • dubbed the eBay for business’ by the BBC • grows rapidly as US small businesses prefer to outsource locally instead of offshore.
Operating in a market to date dominated by US companies Elance, oDesk and Guru, UK-based PeoplePerHour.com has taken a radically different approach to matching freelancers with businesses.
The focus of three main US websites has so far been on small businesses finding cheap offshore developers. In contrast, PeoplePerHour.com focuses on the talent pool operating within any local business community. In the UK, for example, 80 percent of projects are awarded to self-employed individuals and home-businesses within the UK.
In recent months the US has been the highest growth region for PeopleperHour.com and now accounts for over 30 percent of job postings on the site. Furthermore, 20 percent of the 50,000-strong community of PeoplePerHour.com freelancers is also based in the US.
In the majority of cases, small businesses use PeoplePerHour.com to source high-quality, trusted freelancers locally. Unlike its US-based online marketplace competitors, PeoplePerHour.com postings are generally in skill categories where locality and language are key criteria, such as Sales, Marketing, PR and writing services.
PeoplePerHour.com founder and CEO Xenios Thrasyvoulou believes too much focus has been placed on small businesses using the internet to work with offshore freelancers, especially given the number of Americans now marketing freelance services online.
“Until recently, many small businesses have been engaging overly complex models to facilitate long-distance working relationships across the world,” he says. “In the meantime, we’ve seen a huge, multi-skilled, talent pool spring-up right under our nose. Small businesses are beginning to discover that you no longer have to go offshore to find affordable freelance talent • its right here in the US.”
According to Thrasyvoulou, the advantages of using local talent are clear • particularly for soft skill jobs and when an appreciation of values and culture is necessary. “Offshore outsourcing works fine when you need someone to do a mechanical job like data entry or write some code,” he says. “However, when you need someone to sell your product, or represent you to the outside world, they require a deeper understanding of your business ethics and values. These skilled people do exist • locally • and thousands of small businesses are discovering how to use the internet to outsource to them.”
By spreading from Europe to the US, PeoplePerHour.com is one of the few businesses to buck the trend for dotcoms to emerge in the US and move eastward.
“We were hesitant to take on the US initially because it’s a crowded space,” says Thrasyvoulou. “However, we’re increasingly convinced that they have just scratched the surface, and our proposition is fundamentally different. This is borne out by our early success in the US and our continuing rapid growth there.”
PeoplePerHour expects the US to overtake the UK as its biggest market within a year.
For further information, photos, interviews and case studies, please contact:
Sami McCabe
t: +44 (0) 20 3393 8277
m: +44 (0) 7789 777 440
e: sami@ubiquitycomms.com
PeoplePerHour.com Background Information
PeoplePerHour.com connects businesses with skilled individuals to get work done remotely.
The site serves the small business sector and has over 44,000 registered users growing at 15% per month, of whom 70% are micro-businesses (five or less employees) and 20% are between five and 20 employees.
The company started in 2007 and has been grown consistently, unabated by the recession. This growth has been fuelled by companies’ need to drive down costs and find more innovative, cost-effective and flexible ways of getting jobs done.
Main service categories on the site are IT& Web, Graphic Design, Telesales, Marketing and PR, Copywriting and Translation services.
$
£ GBP
€ EUR