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1. THE BEGINNING
This innovation came to life when…
Jonathan Lui and I came across this innovation in 2011 when we were moving apartments and had so many tasks that needed to be done like packing and moving boxes and assembling our new flat pack furniture.
At the time, we were part of the founding team of amaysim (Australia’s first low-cost mobile service provider) and had seen massive potential in the local, mobile economy. This got us thinking that there had to be a trusted, reliable marketplace where people could connect with other local community members who could complete all of these type of tasks to earn extra money.
2. WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
Airtasker allows people and businesses to outsource micro tasks around the home or office to trusted and reliable people in their local community who can utilise their spare time and unique skills to earn extra money.
It does this by…
Allowing anyone to post a task by describing what they need done, by when and how much they are willing to pay for the service. Local Airtaskers are alerted (via SMS, email, push notification) and can “bid” to complete tasks. The TaskPoster then assigns the best Airtasker to complete the job (based on profile information) whilst Airtasker handles transaction processes.
3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
Previously, no single service was available to provide workers to assist with jobs that don’t fit into existing service verticals (e.g. IKEA furniture assembly). In addition, Airtasker introduces a “reputation engine” to real-world services by allowing users to review each other based on actual transactions, ensuring that good service providers are rewarded whilst poor providers can be quickly identified.
The benefits to the customer/end-user include…
Airtasker has so far benefited Australian workers by creating over 8,000 jobs and an opportunity to earn over $20,000 each week completing tasks. Airtasker also helps people and businesses to outsource jobs to increase workplace efficiency and improve personal lifestyle.
4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
For many tasks (e.g. moving help), many consumers would have previously asked their “brother in-law” (so to speak) to help, which would not only be quite annoying but also would not result in new job creation for Australian workers. For other tasks, consumers may have turned to the Yellow Pages; however this service is not real-time, nor based on transaction-linked feedback.
Its predecessors/competitors include…
Whilst there is no direct comparative service, competition includes the Yellow Pages for selected service verticals as well as Freelancer.com for offshore outsourcing of virtual tasks. Online classifieds such as Gumtree also provide advertising services, but do not facilitate service transactions.
5. TARGET MARKET
This innovation is made for…
From a consumer (demand-side) perspective, Airtasker is a broad service offering targeting almost any individual or business that needs tasks or business projects completed. Individual users include urban executives and household organisers (total urban population: 19.9m) whilst business customers include SMEs, marketing and research organisations (total SME market size: 1.2m).
From a supply-side perspective, the target market is anyone who earns money utilising their time and skills. This includes inter alia, students, retirees and freelance workers. According to ABS data, there are over 1.1m independent contractors in Australia and 550,000 people earning money through more than one income source.
6. DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
It is available for sale through…
Consumers can post a task online or through Airtasker iPhone and Android mobile apps. Business users can also deal directly with a specialist consultant at Airtasker HQ when working on business projects involving larger teams of Airtaskers.
Our marketing strategy is to…
Airtasker employs a “growth hacking” marketing approach, using web features to facilitate/encourage users to spread the word virally. We’ve also developed a public API that allows other websites/apps to use our network to enhance their services: e.g. student websites can display our jobs board on their site or a furniture store could automatically provide “furniture assembly” as an additional service.
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FINE PRINT
This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
