SetYourRate.com….Why did we create it?

The many benefits of the internet for both individuals and businesses are well-documented. I’m sure we will continue to see fantastic new online innovations in the coming weeks and months.

The pace of change is truly breakneck and I believe this is leading to a fundamental shift in the traditional relationship between the employee and employer. Firstly, for the employer the combination of advancing technologies and globalisation have led to a flood of new companies competing for the same customers in the UK. The web now offers consumers more information and a greater choice of companies than ever before. This has resulted in businesses growing and declining at unprecedented rates (just look at the contrasting fortunes of Google and EMI over the last few years). On the flipside, employees have found that their employers can no longer offer job security as they once did. However, I believe the internet can be used by individuals to provide both additional financial security and new career opportunities. That is why we created SetYourRate.com.

Speaking to our families and friends really vindicated the thinking behind SetYourRate.com. As you would expect, most of them had full-time jobs but perhaps surprisingly, it became apparent that many of them would offer their services and skills in their ‘free’ time for the right price. In addition of course, there were students and retired relatives who, as we expected, were enthusiastic about the chance of earning income on their terms. We’ve listed some examples below which should make things more tangible:

Who: Father

Experience: Retired accountant

Service: Advises small businesses and start ups.

Who: Sister

Experience: Maths degree

Service: G.C.S.E. maths tutor

Who: Friend

Experience: Computing

Service: Home PC support

This basic research confirmed the validity of our idea. In August 2007, we went about creating what is known today as SetYourRate.com.

The site has been built to provide web space for individuals and small businesses to post their profiles and service offerings directly to the public. Crucially, SetYourRate.com allows and encourages not only your typical freelancer but also the millions of people in the UK that can provide services but have never done so.

After encouraging signals that people would use SetYourRate.com to post their services the second equally important question was whether there was actually a market of buyers prepared use these ‘new’ service providers.  So once more we asked friends and family but this time we asked businesses as well. It quickly became clear that there was a huge demand for services. Some peoples’ service needs were relatively straightforward. Others were more passive desires, frustrations and problems which could be easily solved by the right person.

Furthermore, since SetYourRate.com’s target demographic is so broad and untapped, it would quickly be able to offer buyers looking for a service a centralised selection of unique providers with useful, user-generated content about each to compare.

Some examples of services searched:

·         Configuring a wireless network for a flat.

·         Training in being a manager.

·         Learning how to make an authentic curry.

·         Learning Spanish in the evenings.

·         Personal trainer in Islington.

·         New website for a jewellery maker.

·         Dog walker during the weekdays.

·         Google AdWords expert needed for a small business.

The requests for services just kept pouring in. Indeed, when we started SetYourRate.com we ourselves needed a variety of different service providers – a web designer, accountant and copywriter to name a few examples. We didn’t want use big companies for these needs, we wanted more personal dealings with people that cared and were flexible in their approach. We struggled to find people.

By this point we were pretty exited – and intuition had been backed up by our research as well as our own experiences. We were now convinced that we had stumbled upon a great idea.

Luke Aviet

Managing Director

E: Luke.Aviet@SetYourRate.com

T: 0207-491-9875