The latest poll on http://www.PeoplePerHour.com, the leading online skills marketplace, shows that more than half (59.3%)
The poll asked:
Q: What is the main reason you are self-employed?
The results:
22.9% - Earn more money
59.3% - Better work-life balance
9.3% - Hated my boss
Xenios Thrasyvoulou, CEO of the online skills marketplace, PeoplePerHour.com says: "Feedback from our freelancers certainly supports this result. They often mention the improvement to their work-life balance from going self-employed."
PeoplePerHour.com are already the UK leaders for the online skills market with over 6,000 registered users. To date nearly 1500 projects posted by businesses on PeoplePerHour.com have been successfully completed by a selection from around 4500 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 five 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)
London-based PeoplePerHour.com’
ENDS (background information follows)
For further comment, interviews, or photos please contact Penny Haywood at PHPR on 0131 669 5190 (day or evening – voicemail is monitored if I’m 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. That’s 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
Registered address:
3rd Floor
15 Knightsbridge Green
London
SW1X 7QL
UK
