Freelancer to become one of Australia's $bn companies
Freelancer.com - one of the country’s most exciting freelance startups - listed on the Australian stock exchange on Friday and everyone has high hopes for the small technology firm. The online freelancing, outsourcing and crowdsourcing company was established just four years ago and has already gained a market-leading position. As it lists on the ASX many analysts believe it could soon be ranked as one of the country’s top 100 companies.
Tony Boyd, writing for the Australia Financial Review states “Freelancer.com has all the necessary ingredients to join the elite club of companies with a market capitalization in excess of $1 billion even though it currently earns profits of only about $500,000 a year.”
So what gives Freelancer.com its edge?
The business model works like this – users post freelance jobs and projects they need doing on the network and Freelancer.com takes commission when other users have successfully completed them.
The fact that is has earned a market leading position in this field certainly puts it in a strong position – after all the recipe for success with any technology company is to be the dominance service provider in your chosen area of expertise. You only have to consider Google’s market dominance and subsequent global advertising business to understand that. Similar examples include Twitter, Facebook and SEEK to name just a handful.
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Breaking into emerging markets
Not only has Freelancer.com successfully taken a dominant share of the market, it has also disrupted the status quo, offering freelance designers, writers and web builders a new way of doing business. Freelancer.com receives a lot of its traffic from emerging markets and thus its growth potential is huge.
According to Alexa Internet – a web information company – nearly 40 percent of Freelancer.com’s traffic comes from the US but also India and Bangladesh. Analysts also believe that the Freelancer technology is going to increase in popularity in the developing world (Africa / South America / Asia) as internet penetration continues to grow.
Massive growth potential
Growth doesn’t only come from geographical expansion at Freelancer.com – another reason it’s destined to become a big player in the Australian business landscape is down to its growth potential.
According to reports the company experienced gross payment volume growth of 43 percent in calendar 2012 and this is set to rise to 60 percent in 2013. It is also thought that users are growing at 10 to 15 percent per year.
The business is also scalable, owing to its relatively low capital expenditure requirements. The operating platform can deliver large numbers of additional freelance projects at a low incremental cost.
Finally, the company has a team of experiences and talented directors at the helm, helping to keep Freelancer.com on the right path. Leadership and a solid understanding of the technology landscape can never be underestimated.
