gotSkillz
edit

GotSkillz was a small jobs marketplace, with a website and mobile app, matching jobs with workers. As of February 2013, the domain name is no longer registered.

Business Summary: By matching rated workers with jobs & automating the process, gotSkillz reinvents how the small jobs are done. Those with limited budget will be able to complete their projects, and those needing work will apply themselves. It’s a win-win. GotSkillz focuses on common jobs that occur frequently and that can be completed by anyone with matching skills. Revenue will come from micro-payments and premium membership.

Customer Problem: The people that have the skills to complete small jobs don’t have a way of finding leads. Those that need work done can’t afford expensive companies, but don’t know how to find a reputable local worker.

Product/Services: Anyone can register as a worker in just a few minutes and be notified of new jobs they have the skills to complete. When they submit their offers, the job poster can review and shortlist them. Once an offer is selected and the job is complete, one can rate the worker. Jobs can be posted even faster.

Target Market: We observed interest in being a worker from students, professionals (unemployed, self-employed or additional income) and homemakers. The job posters are generally homeowners. With poor economic conditions and high unemployment rate, the opportunity to offer employment projects and more affordable services is increasingly growing (~20% 2009-2010 increase with 200M annual revenue - Service Magic, 60M annual revenue - Angie’s List).

Customers (test release): Students (graphics design, photography), homeowners (home repair, landscaping), application developers, pc maintenance, instrument & language lessons, …

Sales/Marketing Strategy: Our marketing efforts will focus on reaching everyday commuters (people who are too busy to do things themselves), the unemployed, the homeowners, and the students. We are looking to take advantage of conventional marketing (radio, newspaper, and mailed fliers) with on-line advertising through Facebook (that gotSkillz ingrates with), Twitter, and Google. The initial efforts will be geographically focused in NJ and NYC.

Business Model: A hybrid of revenue generating models: micropayment for a job postings & job offers ($0.99) and premium membership with added features. Eventually, targeted ads may become an additional revenue stream.

Competitors: Competition (large to small): ServiceMagic.com, AngiesList.com, 1800.contractor.com, BidClerk.com, Craigslist.org, Thumbtack.com, Taskrabbit.com The large ones focus strictly on home repair jobs; the smaller ones are mostly about on the go jobs (errands) and lack the structure and simplicity. All of them are relatively pricey and focus on workers instead of consumers.

Competitive Advantage: GotSkillz focuses on small jobs and unlike the competition, does the matching automatically.

Management: Both co-owners bring over 10 years of IT experience with emphasis on web technologies, social networking, and crowd sourcing. Despite being successful senior professionals at their day jobs, they really want to create their own product that would appeal to a lot of people. They implemented gotSkillz in just 3 months despite having full-time jobs and families. (“Our energy level, creativity, and mind-sets are hard to match.”)