GOWork.ng Freelance Services Platform

GOWork.ng is an online Freelance Platform for digital & professional services. We're building a digital experience in Nigeria and Africa at large by providing the digital Tools, Skills, Training, Advisory Services and Technology Solutions for the youth population which is the largest population in Africa to work remotely in an online work-space designed to support the freedom and security of working from anywhere.

The creativity and innovation of Africa's youthful population can play a key role in the continent's digital economic transformation. 

But this will not be a walk in the park, concrete actions are required, given that the frustration and hopelessness of an unemployed young population can in its extreme have severe consequences, something not only witnesses in Africa but across the world.

The potential of a young population can only be harnessed if we create, and scale an innovative digital marketplace (GOWork.ng) for the youths to take action. 

UNEMPLOYMENT: On average, 11 million young people join the African labour market each year, yet the continent generates only 3.7 million jobs annually and concrete actions are required, given that millions of young Africans are facing unemployment.
The World Bank estimates that 40% of people who join rebel movements are motivated by a lack of economic opportunity and same applies to Cybercrimes.

There is an urgent need for the continent to prepare young professionals for tomorrow's jobs, Today as development leaders and change agents. 

Moving Work online enables the youth and under privileged individuals in society to leverage the power of the internet to engage with a thriving freelance industry which for the most part remains unregulated and under connected in Africa. Enabling individuals to start and build a career where they can potentially connect with businesses across Africa to deliver services and grow a portfolio of jobs remotely.

GOWork.ng is designed to empower and engage the youths with digital skills and entrepreneurship, as well as improve the overall unemployment rate.

Guide: https://bit.ly/StartGOWork

GOWork.ng works by letting Buyers/Employers pay in advance for Miro-Jobs (MJobs) which are any type of freelance service, ranging from logo design, web design/development, to social media marketing, to copywriting.

To protect both the Buyer and Seller, all payments are held in escrow account until the job is delivered satisfactorily and Buyer officially close the project  before payments are released to the seller.

The Sellers/Freelancers (GOWorkers) can decide what they want to charge or offer packages of services. Orders are typically completed within a day or two, but the delivery time is set by the seller and can take longer if the seller has a queue of orders.  When the order is successfully completed, a New Seller will receive 80% of the total order value. For example, a ₦5,000 order means a New Seller will receive ₦4,000 for a completed order while GOWork.ng platform retains ₦1,000 (20%) of sale as commission. 

Below is the main interaction between the users when they visit GOWork.ng. For example, just say that there are two users: A is a buyer looking for a seller and B is a seller posting a MJob Services in GOWork.ng

Africa Professionals and amateurs in different fields are relying on freelancing as their sole or supplementary livelihood. Partly because of the Youth unemployment rates across the continent, and which is compounded by the fact that many domestic companies increasingly prefer hiring freelance labor as opposed to permanent employees. 

The number of freelance jobs that are created in Africa for Africans is negligible. Freelancers in Africa are left with no choice but to look for jobs on foreign freelancing platforms. It is not uncommon to find on these sites, jobs that Africans are not allowed to apply for, despite possessing the skills to deliver. Some platforms limit Africans from joining altogether, only allowing freelancers from other continents. Such decisions are informed by negative perceptions of Africa, particularly Nigeria. 

It is assumed that Africans do not possess the skills to execute the projects that are posted on the platforms. This is despite the fact that Africa comprises one of the largest talent pool of the labour force in the world. Consequently, there is need for Africa to come up with its own freelancing platforms with local content and local currency payment system; a freelancing platform that is designed with Africa First in Mind -GOWork.ng which can be scaled to be equivalent to giants like Upwork, Fiverr and the liked.

Over the last two years and half, myself and my team have worked hard to build GOWork.ng platform from ground up and we've only just launched in Beta stage and currently working to acquire the market share and validate the product within the Nigerian marketplace and Africa at large.

Because GOWork.ng is a Digital Marketplace that leverages digital workforce opportunities, the barrier for entry into other African markets is much lower than businesses whose focus is on physical commodity.

If funded, GOWork.ng will be able to scale and replicate its model for success from Nigeria into other Key African markets including: Ghana, Angola, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa with the aim of growing organically from these countries to other neighboring markets.

The future of work is already here and GOWork.ng is designed to accommodate both seasoned professionals and beginners and provides them with the opportunity to enjoy doing what they do best and getting paid for it. The platform enables buyers to hire the best talent across Africa by making use of seller feedback and ratings to enlighten their purchase decision. The buyer can review the sellers reputation, and compare before buying the service that fits their budget.

GOWork.ng fosters trust and transparency among the buyers and sellers and ensures that both the buyer and the seller do more remotely in a secure platform. The platform ensure that the buyer gets quality service for their money and the sellers who deliver high quality work get additional perks for maintaining strong ratings.

Currently we have 9,217 users (Buyers and Sellers) and ₦75,000 in Total Sales and Over the last two years and half, myself and my team have worked hard to build the platform from ground up and We've only just launched in Beta stage and currently working to acquire market share and validate the product within the Nigerian marketplace and Africa at large.

If funded, GOWork.ng will be able to scale and replicate its model for success from Nigeria into other Key African markets including: Ghana, Angola, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa with the aim of growing organically from these countries to other neighboring markets.

I am a Nigerian Canadian  Citizen, based in Toronto, Canada and although I am not sure if I qualified since I am not Resident of the US but would love to be considered for the ServiceNow US Racial Equity Prize if I meet the eligibility requirement since I am a business owner of color.

Payments on giant freelance platforms like Upwork, Fiverr are made through PayPal and direct bank transfer, none of which was available to Nigerians.

This meant that Nigerian freelancers had to go extra lengths (probably getting a family member abroad to open a PayPal account on their behalf) just to get paid for work they had rightfully done. This alone was enough to discourage the average Nigerian from even thinking about freelancing.

GOWork.ng is a creative platform design by African and for Africans and dedicated to making it easy for African freelancers and clients to work together. 

Our understanding of the "Future of Work" is infused into every corner of the platform. Freelancers get matched with great clients and become a part of our community of talented GOWorkers—all in a safe, secure workspace and Payment are processed in Local Currencies thereby removing the challenges of simply being Nigerian, or African in international waters. In fact as Africans, our work in the giant freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr is generally received with greater skepticism than our counterparts from other part of the world because our reputation of online fraud precedes us. 

However, with consistency and premium quality delivery at all times on a local platform like GOWork.ng, business will eventually pick up and the impact of Negative Stereotypes on the Freelance Careers of Africans will eventually be reduced.

GOWork.ng is built with core PHP from ground up; a general-purpose scripting language especially suited to web development. 

PHP is a popular general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to web development. Fast, flexible and pragmatic, PHP powers everything from your blog to the most popular websites in the world. Source: https://www.php.net/manual/en/...

This technology does not introduce any risks!

We currently have a total of 9,226 Users and growing

The main objectives are for the business to be profitable in under five years, to increase volumes consistently and to expand to other locations in Africa beyond Nigeria. This is part of the long-term development strategy, to grow into international markets.

Progress is measured by users acquisition, engagement and sales and we have a deigned and developed a well structured analytical tools imbedded in the platform to measure progress.

Full Time: 2 People

Contractors: 5 People

GOWork.ng is founded by a team of seasoned entrepreneurs, software engineers, and digital marketers in Toronto - Ontario Canada,

Experienced individuals that share the same core values that aim to guarantee satisfaction for members of  GOWork.ng™ community. These individuals are specialists in their specific areas – Software product development, Digital Marketing, Escrow payment and customer support among other areas.

There is no doubt that diverse teams of varying racial and ethnic makeup produce better results. They perform better financially, gain a competitive edge when recruiting top talent, experience less employee turnover, and offer greater benefits for those they serve.

As a Canadian, I know that diversity is our strength and this is true in my businesses. 

My approach is for unbiased work environment, interviewing and selection processes, and an established strategic partnerships that connect the business with diverse talent pipelines.

I am applying for the opportunity to win at least one of the Prizes awarded in this Contest and also leverage the resources and support available in the 2021 Digital Workforce Challenge for GOWork.ng

For this solution to add value, it is necessary that GOWork.ng be able to establish

partnerships with several brands, Companies and organization allowing the platform to maintain a strategic competitive advantage to advance GOWork.ng platform.

https://tlcomcapital.com/

https://gaia-impactfund.com/en...

https://owlvc.com/

https://www.foundercollective....

https://localglobe.vc/

We need funding to advance the solution and achieve our business goals - Project's Presentation to Investors