Creating a business plan usually indicates a commitment to more serious business development or intent to secure extra cash to expand.
London UK, April 21 2008 --The latest poll on http://www.PeoplePerHour.com, the leading online skills marketplace, shows that just over half of the freelancers polled (51.8%) have a business plan Just under a third didn’t have a business plan (32.1%).
The 16.1% who ticked the ‘What’s a Business Plan?’ option can probably be added to the ones that don’t plan, making the business plan haves (51.8%) and the have nots (48.2%) almost equal.
Xenios Thrasyvoulou, CEO of PeoplePerHour.com says: “Conventional wisdom in business says you must plan for success: that failure to plan is planning to fail. But these findings back up earlier polls that indicate that, for around half our freelancers, achieving a work-life balance is an equally important measure of success in life.
“Creating a business plan usually indicates a commitment to more serious business development or intent to secure extra cash to expand.
“Our last poll showed that most freelancers are not in it for the money. Just 22.9% earned more than they did before and 59.3% claimed they went freelance to achieve a better work-life balance. “But that’s the good thing about setting up in business: you have the freedom to make the life you choose. And small businesses can tap into the skilled people we offer, which includes skilled people who are passionate about doing a good job and who are not just in it for the money. “There’s also more advanced businesses that use PeoplePerHour to boost their immediate cashflow, thanks to our systems which mean providers get paid days after the job is done, rather than weeks or even months through conventional invoicing.
“There’s a wealth of reasons why skilled people are available on PeoplePerHour.com and eBay-style feedback ratings from other users will help you chose the right people to make your business grow.” PeoplePerHour.com are already the UK leaders for the online skills market with over 6,000 registered users. To date nearly 2000 projects posted by businesses on PeoplePerHour.com have been successfully completed by registered providers from the UK (49%), and (in decreasing order) from US, India, Argentina and Spain, demonstrating that small businesses are increasingly able to tap into a global labour market.
Buyers choose from an average of nine bids per project posted and in many cases can access CV, photo, description, sample work and referee contact details.
PeoplePerHour.com ensures service providers get paid fast on completion through a combination of their unique escrow facility plus PayPal.
The busiest work categories are (in descending order): web development & programming, design, admin support, writing (including translations and transcriptions), marketing & PR, and research.
London-based PeoplePerHour.coms innovative system matches buyers of services to providers directly, through an online bidding system designed to encourage providers to pitch their most effective solutions at their keenest prices. eBay-style user ratings and feedback provide quality control, and PeoplePerHours unique escrow system provides credit protection to both sides. ENDS (background information follows)
For further comment, interviews, articles or photos please contact Penny Haywood at PHPR on 0131 669 5190 (day or evening - voicemail is monitored if Im not at my desk) or email penny@phpr.co.uk.
PeoplePerHour.com Background Information * Founded in 2007 by two Cambridge graduates: Xenios Thrasyvoulou and Simos Kitiris, PeoplePerHour.com are targeting an estimated £5 billion opportunity. Thats based on the Federation of Small Business (FSB) figures for 2006 showing the total annual spend on part-time, agency workers and casual labour in the UK across all businesses was £70 billion a year. 4.4 million small businesses in the UK are currently growing by 10% annually and account for 35% of the UK workforce, but only 44% of the small business workforce is in full-time employment.
* The company has already attracted £350,000 of seed investment from prominent angel investors and is in discussions with a number of VCs.
* PeoplePerHour.com practises what it preaches. Their team consists of developers in India, designers in the US, a virtual assistant, PR agent and bookkeeper - all from the site.
* The typical buyer runs a small business (usually less than 20 people). No sectoral bias: companies seem to vary from boutique financial firms, Internet companies, property and PR agencies. See PeoplePerHour.com in action on http://www.peopleperhour.com Press Release Distribution By PressReleasePoint
Contact: Megan R Stevenson PeoplePerHour.com London, UK 0131 669 5190 pr@peopleperhour.com http://www.peopleperhour.com
