Fiverr^® press

23 Feb 2016

Gig Economy opportunity huge, with 97% of freelancing offline

Micha Kaufman, founder of the micro-freelancing platform Fiverr, dug into the future of the gig economy, and the huge market opportunity following the 2008 recession: "right now 97% of freelancing is happening offline," and is especially popular in the millennial workforce - to be 40% freelance by 2020 from the low 30% now.

Micha Kaufman, founder of the micro-freelancing platform Fiverr, dug into the future of the gig economy, and the huge market opportunity following the 2008 recession: "right now 97% of freelancing is happening offline," and is especially popular in the millennial workforce - to be 40% freelance by 2020 from the low 30% now.

His vision: to create a platform to have people thrive doing what they do, and create the things they're passionate about. For Fiverr, the job has just begun.

Gigs mean Access: Solving Supply & Demand with Technology
The Fiverr platform is a two-sided marketplace, where buyers looking for a copywriter or new logo design are matched with independent freelance service providers meeting that demand. Early on Micha said he and his co-founder looked at Ebay and Amazon as examples of companies that built online platforms to change the way commerce is done.

The most important takeaway is nailing your niche: Ebay started out with amateur collectors and sellers, then caught on in popularity as big business and the masses are making it the go-to for building sales.

The gig economy - a phrase Micha is said to have invented - also needed a way of breaking out from the slow and messy process of hiring. Enter Fiverr, Micha's stab at at "removing the friction" - by Micha's words, everyone was getting it wrong, and "it was time for a reboot." With Fiverr, he says, "this is the way people should buy services."

Where is the Gig Economy Headed?
With years in the business, where does Micha think the industry is headed? Can freelancers truly make a full time living from working on Fiverr?

Since Fiverr's founding in 2010, freelancer income "has been growing by 4x each year using the Fiverr website," Micha says, where "80 to 85% of the people using Fiverr are SMBs or small to medium sized businesses."

Similar to the sharing economy democratizing transportation with Uber or offices with WeWork, the gig economy presents a new shift, making work fluid and with platforms like Fiverr, creating predictable revenues and reducing loneliness among freelancers. When you join Fiverr, Micha says, you now become part of the family.