Adapting to the Freelance Revolution: A Founder's Perspective

The lead image for this article was generated by HackerNoon's AI Image Generator via the prompt "remote freelance workers"

In today's fast-changing business world, where individual-based realities are becoming the norm, Victor Fatanmi, popularly known as Fa, recognized the need to support the growing freelance economy. This need arises from the profound impact freelancing has on both the workforce and businesses.

Freelancers bring diversity and specialized skills to the market, allowing businesses to access a global talent pool for their projects. They offer flexibility and cost-effectiveness to companies, particularly during uncertain economic times. Moreover, the freelance economy plays a crucial role in stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship, as individuals can pursue their passions and create the businesses of their choice while working flexibly and independently.

FullGap, an all-in-one project management solution, aims to address this demand and cater to the growing trend of independent businesses and freelancers. In this exclusive interview, Fa sheds light on the significance of FullGap, the timing of its emergence, and the team's passion for solving the challenges faced by freelancers.

What is your company? In two to five words.

Fa: Project management for the freelance economy.

FullGap is a web application that serves as a comprehensive project management solution specifically designed for freelancers and independent businesses. It functions as software that freelancers can access online through their web browsers. It's like having a digital assistant that automates various freelance-related tasks.

The primary goal of the platform is to aid freelancers in efficiently managing their workflows and businesses. The platform offers a range of automated features that facilitate contract and agreement management, invoicing, payments, and other essential tasks, ultimately empowering them to deliver exceptional value to their clients.

Why is now the time for your company to exist?

Fa: The future is moving towards an individual-based reality, where one-person businesses are becoming increasingly prevalent. The catalyst for this shift began with the COVID-19 lockdown, which prompted a surge in remote work adoption. Moreover, with artificial intelligence (AI) becoming mainstream, individuals now have access to various forms of AI assistance, from secretarial tasks to writing and even coding support. This empowerment allows people to accomplish more on their own, leading to a rise in independent service providers otherwise known as freelancers.

As a result of these trends, we are witnessing a rise in solo entrepreneurs serving clients directly, aided by the accessibility of social media for marketing and sales. The barriers to entry have significantly lowered, as individuals can use AI for certain tasks and attract opportunities on their own. With these changes, more freelancers are taking on major projects and seizing opportunities without the need for traditional agencies.

Despite this increasing trend, there is currently no comprehensive tool to assist freelancers in managing their workflow and businesses effectively. While platforms like Fiverr and Upwork help find clients, they do not address the organizational challenges freelancers working on multiple projects independently face. FullGap steps in to provide the much-needed solution, offering a single platform to handle invoicing, legal contracts, time management, and more.

The freelance trend is further fueled by mass layoffs in the tech industry, driving even more people to seek additional gigs alongside their regular jobs or focus solely on freelancing. This transition is accelerating in various fields such as design, engineering, writing, and photography. As the freelance trend continues to grow, FullGap's all-in-one project management solution becomes increasingly crucial.

What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to solve this problem?

Fa: Our team's unique advantage lies in our direct experience and domain expertise. Three of the four co-founders, including myself, were part of the establishment of FourthCanvas, a prominent design and branding agency in Nigeria which we started in 2015. Over the following decade, we managed, coached, trained, and mentored countless freelancers while delivering work for diverse clients. This hands-on experience allowed us to witness the challenges faced by freelancers firsthand, both within our agency and in their businesses.

Through our involvement in freelancing, we gained an in-depth understanding of the problems freelancers encounter, making us the perfect candidates to address these issues. Our close relationship with the freelance community helped us develop a strong rapport and trust among freelancers. We actively invested in their growth and development, providing training, resources, and support to nurture their talents.

As we announced FullGap and its mission to empower freelancers with the slogan "Power to the creative ones," the freelancing community readily embraced the platform, knowing our commitment to their success was genuine and long-standing. Our reputation as impact-driven professionals within the freelance space facilitated the organic growth of FullGap, gaining traction among freelancers seeking a reliable and comprehensive project management tool.

With a wealth of firsthand experience and a passion for uplifting freelancers, our team is fully dedicated to making FullGap the go-to solution for all freelancers aiming to succeed in the dynamic and fast-growing freelance economy.

If you were not building FullGap, what would you be doing?

Fa: If I were not building FullGap, my focus would have been entirely on running FourthCanvas, which is still going strong. And if we're to be building something else, it would be a product to automate the management of brand assets, aiming to democratize and simplify the process. On a personal level, if I wasn't engaged in either FullGap or FourthCanvas, I'd probably be involved in sports, perhaps as a football coach or pursuing other sports-related interests.

At the moment, how do you measure your success? What are your metrics?

Fa: Currently, our primary metric for measuring success is the number of projects managed through FullGap. We are fast approaching the milestone of 500 projects, and we are excited about the increasing interest in our platform for both paid and unpaid projects. Many users start with unpaid projects, and as they become familiar with FullGap's capabilities, they will eventually transition to using it for paid freelance projects. We even have users leveraging FullGap to organize non-commercial initiatives, such as managing school final-year projects or developing personal portfolios.

The early stages of adoption are critical, and we aim to become the go-to tool for project management in the freelance community. The number of projects managed is our crucial indicator of adoption. It signifies that users are finding value in FullGap, providing us with valuable feedback and spreading the word to their circles. Although the value of projects managed already amounts to approximately $150,000, we consider the adoption rate as the most important metric for us at this early stage.

Where do you think your growth will be by next year?

Fa: Looking ahead, we have ambitious growth plans, and we project managing over 10,000 projects by next year. This milestone is a tipping point for us, as it signifies FullGap becoming the default choice for freelancers when managing their projects. While celebrating the current count of 500 projects, we recognize that widespread adoption and market dominance require reaching a higher threshold. By becoming the norm for freelancers, we aim to see exponential growth and widespread usage of FullGap's project management solution, bringing us closer to the ambitious goal of managing 10,000 projects within the next year.

What's your biggest threat? What's the biggest challenge you've had building your startup? And then how do you overcome these threats or challenges?

Our most significant challenge lies in the psychographic tendencies of freelancers when it comes to organizational habits. While FullGap is designed to simplify project management, not all freelancers naturally possess an inclination to be efficient and organized. I mean, several freelancers are organized and they were just looking for a tool. But then there's also a percentage of freelancers who are not. But everybody wouldn't mind being organized if it was easier.

To address this, we are adopting two strategies. Firstly, we focus on advocacy and education through our content and marketing efforts. We aim to showcase the immense value freelancers can achieve in their careers by being more organized and professional in their work. By highlighting the positive impact of efficient project management, we hope to encourage freelancers to embrace these practices.

Secondly, we recognize the importance of making organization easier for freelancers. FullGap continuously seeks to simplify its features and processes. For instance, we have plans to integrate AI, which will assist users in creating project breakdowns and suggesting pre-designed contracts. By automating some of the organizational tasks, we make it more feasible for freelancers to adopt FullGap as their go-to project management tool.

Tell us about your first paying customer. Additionally, what are your revenue projections for the next year, two years, or five years?

As of now, FullGap is in its early feedback phase, and we have not onboarded our first paying customer. However, when we officially launch in October, we plan to switch to a paid system with a monthly subscription fee of $4. We have conducted market research, and many users have expressed their willingness to pay up to $10 for FullGap's services, but we are starting conservatively with the $4 pricing model.

Looking ahead, we envision substantial growth and global impact. Our goal is to reach one million customers, establishing FullGap as a major player in the industry. We also plan to expand beyond the Nigerian market and introduce other currency options for users worldwide.

FullGap's unique value proposition sets us apart from marketplace platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, as we focus on efficient project management rather than client acquisition. By catering to freelancers managing projects from any source, we tap into a vast and underserved market, positioning FullGap for substantial growth in the years to come.

We distinguish ourselves from platforms like Fiverr and Upwork by addressing different aspects of the freelance process. While these marketplaces focus on helping freelancers find clients. FullGap is designed majorly for freelancers who also secure projects outside of these marketplaces. FullGap steps in after clients have been acquired to provide comprehensive project management solutions. It is important to note that people getting projects on Fiver or Upwork are just a small percentage of all the freelance gigs done worldwide.

Unlike the insider tools offered by marketplaces, FullGap is designed to cater to freelancers regardless of where they obtain their clients. The value of FullGap lies in efficient project management, ensuring freelancers can serve their clients effectively and retain them for future collaborations. This makes FullGap a versatile and all-encompassing project management tool, filling a significant gap in the freelance market.

What I Think of FullGap

Upon critically analyzing the interview with FullGap's founder, Victor Fatanmi (Fa), it becomes evident that while FullGap is targeting a relevant and growing market of freelancers, there are foreseeable difficulties that the platform might face in reaching its ambitious goals.

Firstly, the competition in the project management space for freelancers is already significant. While FullGap claims to differentiate itself by focusing on project management rather than client acquisition, it still competes with established platforms like Trello, Asana, and ClickUp, which are widely used and trusted by freelancers and businesses alike. Convincing users to switch from their existing tools to FullGap will require a compelling value proposition and a seamless onboarding process, as users may be reluctant to disrupt their existing workflows.

Another significant obstacle lies in the pricing strategy. While starting conservatively with a $4 monthly subscription fee may attract initial users, FullGap's goal of managing 10,000 projects within a year relies heavily on user adoption and scaling revenue. However, pricing might become a limiting factor in the platform's revenue generation. If the majority of users opt for the lower pricing tier, FullGap may struggle to sustainably fund its growth and expansion plans.

Moreover, FullGap's projection to reach one million customers and expand globally raises questions about its scalability and ability to cater to diverse markets and currencies. Expanding beyond the Nigerian market will introduce additional complexities, including legal, cultural, and competitive challenges. It will require substantial investments in marketing, customer support, and localization to effectively penetrate and establish a foothold in new markets. Overcoming these hurdles will require strategic planning and adaptability. However, It will be interesting to see how FullGap evolves in the coming years and whether it can establish itself as a major player in the industry by effectively catering to freelancers' needs beyond traditional marketplace platforms.