Online marketplace connects clients to freelance jobseekers

The name was coined from a common Kenyan slang phrase “nina hustle”, used in reference to anyone pursuing any opportunity to make an extra shilling, says Kuhustle chief executive Billy Odero.

Mr Odero said the team behind Kuhustle had been working together in the technology space at Nailab for a while and every so often, random people would come to them wanting some work be done for them.

“Some would request us to develop for them websites, Android applications, or quick company logos.

“We had had conversations surrounding building such a platform and after a four-day hackathon a first rough version of the online market was done,” said Mr Odero, the holder of a Master’s degree in technology polity, which involves the top-down analysis of technology.

“The version could connect someone to a job and a client to a skill. We knew we were on to something after the first match of employer to skills that led to 10 others,” he said.

With an initial capital of Sh150,000, the team set up cloud-hosting for Kuhustle, made a few T-shirts for marketing and undertook core skill training for the developer community. In October 2014, they went live.

Kuhustle, which currently operates on the website only, so far has a total of 9,418 users made up of freelancers (who are the majority) and clients, with 3,907 bids made so far and Sh2 million payment done on the completed jobs.

Symbiotic Media Consortium CEO Mbugua Njihia, who uses Kuhustle to scout for talent, says it is a “great tool for finding professionals who can get work done despite the fact that they are unemployed.

“I am using Kuhustle to outsource my website programming, design, content writing and some of my marketing projects. It is a great tool for managing and finding freelancers in Kenya who can get work done professionally; it saves me the hustle,” said Mr Njihia.

The web-based platform is helping reduce the unemployment rate of the youth while economically empowering them to work from the comfort of their homes, says the 32-year-old Odero.

Kuhustle has two levels of processes – for the freelancer and for the client.

“If you want to access the website as a freelancer, you will first be required to sign up and create a profile on the platform, fill in your skills and key competencies and save that as your portfolio, after which you can open and review jobs on the site that you qualify for,” said Mr Odero.

After creating a portfolio a freelancer can place bids on jobs posted. If selected for a job, the freelancer is notified and if not, tips on how to refine bids are sent. Anytime a job meeting a seeker’s qualifications is uploaded an immediate alert to bid for it is sent out.

For clients seeking professional services, Mr Odero says one is required to post a job on the platform, signing in with either their Gmail, Facebook or Twitter profile accounts.

Clients are also required to add their company or individual bio to their profiles, provide details on what the job entails and pick the specified skills required of the person to deliver on the job.

They are also to indicate the budget allocation, publish the job on the Kuhustle site and then review and select from the bids received the person who meets their criteria within three days.

“This is with the help of Kuhustle clients’ relations team. The client is, however, expected to pay a non-refundable fee of Sh1,000 to post the job and once the bidding process is completed and selection done, the client makes payment of the total amount to a trust account agreed upon by the three parties (Kuhustle, client and freelancer),” he said.

Payment for freelancers is done per delivered milestone upon confirmation by the client. The client then marks the job as complete and rates and reviews the freelancer.

Mr Odero, who is in charge of product development at Nailab, says he has been in the tech space since 2001, long enough to observe innovation trends.

He says there is still potential and opportunity for growth as developers continue to sharpen their skills.

His team team at Nailab is involved in creating solutions that advise on the use of technology in the country and for companies as the world embrace the Internet of things. They also work with startups by helping them develop and build their ideas to enterprises.

“The jobs delivered to date at Kuhustle are valued at about Sh2 million. We are looking to expand to other markets mainly Nigeria, South Africa and Ethiopia, as we continue to support startups.

“We are also looking to enhance the portal by adding other skills like accounting, online personal assistants and data-entry,” he said.

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