{"id":4321,"date":"2023-07-08T17:18:12","date_gmt":"2023-07-08T17:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/how-to-take-advantage-of-tough-times\/"},"modified":"2023-07-08T17:18:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-08T17:18:14","slug":"how-to-take-advantage-of-tough-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=4321","title":{"rendered":"How To Take Advantage Of Tough Times"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

There\u2019s no denying it’s a tough market for freelance platforms and for a great many individual freelancers. Whether in tech, creative services, or working as an independent management consultant, it\u2019s been a hard slog after a successful 2022. Clients are more hesitant. Sales cycles are longer. Budgets are smaller. Projects are delayed. Nervous investors are pushing their portfolio companies to cut cost where possible in order to survive.<\/p>\n

Is there an upside to this down market? You bet. With funding frozen for the time being \u2013 but not forever – bootstrapping is a discipline many founders are now learning. They join the ranks of those successful entrepreneurs who look back on hard times with relief, but also pride.<\/p>\n

This might be cold comfort for entrepreneurs who expected a faster payday, a quicker sale, or continued venture funding. That boat has sailed for perhaps another 6-12 months. But combine a fresh idea with a good team and a plan that\u2019s geared to the realities of the moment, and the chances are pretty good that your business will survive and possibly thrive. But only if the team accepts the challenge, steps up, and squeeze the lemon for every ounce of lemonade.<\/p>\n

What does that look like? Here is a basketful of initiatives by smart freelance marketplaces that have made the most of challenging times:<\/p>\n

The future is not canceled<\/strong>. At a dark time in the 2008 recession, Statoil CEO Helge Lund brought his top 200 executives together: \u201cI\u2019m here to tell you,\u201d His speech began, \u201cthe future is not canceled.\u201d Many freelance platforms are following suit and reminding their freelancers and clients that they are committed to the future and see the long term as exciting. Indielist.ie, an Irish creatives marketplace, organizes regular events to reinforce optimism and bring freelancers together to trade ideas. German platforms Freelance.de and Uplink reach out to clients and freelancers through campaigns and educational programs. So does UK Hoxby, Israeli Honeybook and Norwegian tech platform Folq.com. Torc, a top tech talent shop, is expanding its strategic partnerships with platforms on strong confidence that the longer term future for Torc is bright.<\/p>\n

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Leadership. <\/strong>Accenture\u2019s research recommends that in fearful times, people must trust leadership: Its advice: Be transparent and consistent in communication. Don\u2019t shy away from hard realities and have a solid information plan. For example, Andela recently found itself integrating two new acquisitions, the responsible Andela executive took a small but crucial step: sharing regular, frequent, updates with the organization as well as with colleagues on the executive team. Keeping staff \u201cin the \u201cknow\u201d helped integration work to stay on track and respond to glitches and employee concerns in real time.<\/p>\n

Trust in data. <\/strong>Savvy marketplace teams are looking for insights through data. It takes a wide variety of forms. Catalant, for example, shares a regular trend update with freelance consultants. Knowing what segments are slowing or heating up has been crucial to individual marketing efforts. Wethos offers another take on valuable data: providing freelancers with sales and pricing information for over 100 freelance categories; in 2022 it put millions of additional dollars in freelancer\u2019s pockets. Uncompany and Gigged.ai use data to drive an ever-better client experience by focusing on AI to improve platform intelligence, speed, and simplicity.<\/p>\n

Talk to customers<\/strong>. Brian Cheskey spent 6 months visiting Airbnb locations around the world. It led Cheskey to make strategic changes to Airbnb. and the impact of new products and services is a reinvigoration of growth. Slow times are an unwelcome but immensely valuable gift to client relationship management. You and they share, a common enemy \u2013 slow times \u2013 but keep talking and inevitably the conversation turns to future opportunities together. Even if it doesn\u2019t, you\u2019ll have excellent information on what customers are thinking. When the present is momentarily bleak, future demand generation is obvious but not always practiced: \u201cclients, what do you anticipate needing the next several months?\u201d<\/p>\n

Try another door<\/strong>: Any good salesperson knows: if one door closes, find another. When consulting slows, fractional and interim professional and managerial opportunities are often growing. Independent management consulting marketplaces like UK\u2019s Talmix, Germany\u2019s Expertpowerhouse, Austria\u2019s Klaiton, and Netherlands Sweav have all seen significant but specialized demand for digital transformation and change management. Tech fractional interest is growing for interim CTOs and project managers at marketplaces like Redegate in Poland, and Fring.work. More companies are interested in platforms like Australia\u2019s Mash or US based Contra to provide interim or fractional marketing project leaders. Denmark\u2019s Worksome found success pivoting from talent sourcing to freelance management and compliance. UK\u2019s YunoJuno found new growth by building stronger relationships with Procurement and HR.<\/p>\n

It takes a village<\/strong>. Plenty of effort is focused on different forms of cooperation. Thusfar M&A has been light though inevitably it will grow e.g., Heidrick purchased BTG. Fiverr bought Stoke, Comatch acquired by Malt and Brazil\u2019s Ollo.is joined Bpool.co. More informal cooperations abound: Indielist and Netherland\u2019s Bubty.com on talent clouds or UK Talmix joining forces with Jordanian Khibraty in providing top talent to the Mideast market. Denmark\u2019s Proteams is among a number of select marketplaces developing a commercial talent cloud to work more cooperatively. Open-Assembly offers open-source platforms the opportunity to partner in their Gateway on behalf of enterprise clients like UST. 9am.work offers open access to their platform now expanding beyond Germany.<\/p>\n

Seeking new niches.<\/strong> Trees-engineering is a growing platform for energy professionals. So is Laceless Designs in the sneaker industry, Zoulloo in data science, Fintalent in M&A, Spacely.work in satellites and Design Hill in wine label design. There is surging interest in the Mideast led by Khibraty. We see expanding opportunity in new \u201cverticals\u201d like Supportwave\u2019s focus on remote enterprise. France\u2019s OMS is expanded to Spain, and Turing is growing in Latam. Smart platforms are working hard to identify untapped growth niches. Rich Parker, CEO OF Plannernet, welcomes every marketplace to partner with them for event planning. Hey, why not?<\/p>\n

Freelancer first<\/strong>. Freelancer first prioritizes freelancer success as a rising tide that lifts all boats. The philosophy encourages innovation in three main areas: education, health and well-being, and financial success. In education, Toptal\u2019s unique investment in freelancer development recognizes that top talent<\/em> is its superpower. In health, G2i CEO Gabe Greenberg has committed his company to healthy work practices. In financial success, more platforms are deemphasizing platform size, and focused on a more defined product and service offering. For example, Spain\u2019s Shakers and Howdy.com are small talent populations but boast high work ratios. We also see more effort deployed in generating work opportunity through advertising and active programs of sales and communication. Spain\u2019s Outvise.com and Sweden\u2019s Outsized.com are examples of increased emphasis on outbound marketing.<\/p>\n

Seeking influence<\/strong>. Freelancing is less established in many parts of the world. Most governments are, at best, marginally tolerant of freelancing. It\u2019s harder to collect taxes from freelancers. Unions see freelancers as weakening the social fabric of worker, union, and employer. Politicians fear a loss of political (and financial) support if traditional institutions are weakened. And so on. This tug of war will only be resolved satisfactorily if platforms come together. We\u2019ve started to see that in Spain, the UK, and Latam. More engagement together, and with political parties and government specialists, will pay huge dividends when business picks up.<\/p>\n

Help from your best clients<\/strong>. An online brokerage newsletter wrote this recently, \u201cWe have become a reviews-based culture, whether looking at cars, technology or services, and shopping for an financial advisor will soon follow suit.\u201d It\u2019s no different in freelancing. Are you ready? Have you asked your best customers for introductions and testimonials? Will they publish an article or a Linkedin post describing good work you\u2019ve done? Are you planning a conference on key topics they care about like AI? How are you showing that important clients trust and depend on you? Open-Assembly has instituted a Trusted Talent Partner program to address this challenge. Their online survey process collects client feedback on 13 key indices. Platforms earning their client\u2019s trust display the Trusted Talent Partner award on their website, materials, and communication. The program is growing fast.<\/p>\n

Plan B<\/strong>. Consolidation is coming. Some marketplaces will combine with others, some sold by interested buyers, and others will simply be shut down. Are you prepared? Are you taking the steps to prepare for \u2013 and perhaps lead – a future acquisition or combination? Are you building relationships with future acquirers or investors. Tough times require a clear-eyed view of your company\u2019s worth and what\u2019s needed to increase its value. What\u2019s your Plan B?<\/p>\n

Warren Buffett said it best, \u201cWhen the tide goes out, you find out who is swimming naked.\u201d The tide is, indeed, out. But not forever. Unexpected innovations like ChapGPT can change opportunity overnight. There is upside to this down market and those who make the best of it will benefit as better times return. The future is not canceled.<\/p>\n

Viva la revolution!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no denying it’s a tough market for freelance platforms and for a great many individual freelancers. Whether in tech, creative services, or working as an independent management consultant, it\u2019s been a hard slog after a successful 2022. Clients are more hesitant. Sales cycles are longer. Budgets are smaller. Projects are delayed. Nervous investors are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4321","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nHow To Take Advantage Of Tough Times | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There\u2019s no denying it's a tough market for freelance platforms and for a great many individual freelancers. 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