After an unpleasant experience with a gig worker in 2017, Femi Taiwo founded an online freelance startup, TERAWORK -- an on-demand talent marketplace that focuses on digital services and encourages non-digital professional services to provide value for others. [team photo]

Similar to the likes of Fiverr, talents sign up and are verified on TERAWORK free of charge. After opening an account and building a profile, the team carries out a vetting process before users’ profiles are made public. After users go live, they can give or receive jobs.

Verified users being onboarded as sellers have a homepage equivalent to a personal website that includes their portfolio. Depending on how soon the minimum requirements are met, the onboarding process can take as little as a day or more than a week.

After a client reaches an agreement with a seller, the payment is placed in escrow in TERAWORK’s account until the client gives a job completion confirmation. Following the deduction of its commission, TERAWORK sends the funds to the freelancer’s wallet.

Despite the similarities with other platforms, Taiwo believes one part of the business model is unique.

Depending on the type and volume of work done, TERAWORK charges talents between 7% and 13% commission. The founder believes it is reasonable compared to the average of 15% common in the freelance marketplace.

It is common to find online freelance platforms that focus on digital products, but TERAWORK also encourages professionals in fashion, fitness, events, confectionery, design, and artwork, among others.

Users can register under one or more of 56 services in 9 categories.

While this seems like a lot for a three-year-old startup, Taiwo says this is deliberate because it wants to pride itself as a one-stop platform for professional services.

[url=techpoint.africa]Techpoint Africa[/url] took a tour of the platform and talked to the founder to better understand how it works. Read the full interview and analysis here: https://techpoint.africa/2021/01/18/nigerian-freelance-startup-terawork/

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