Crowdsourcing is the concept of connecting many potential contributors with a particular project. Small businesses leverage crowdsourcing to survive and even thrive in the competitive market. So if you are a small business owner you can start using this strategy right away.
Many small business owners make the mistake of thinking they have to do everything in their business on their own. So what do small businesses do when they lack the financial capability to hire experienced professionals or engage experts? They need not panic as in the contemporary economy there are a plethora of skilled professionals around the world offering flexible and affordable services.
Pros and Cons
Advantages of crowdsourcing – Several small businesses have experienced significant success with crowdsourcing. By using this channel, they are able to obtain quality work at bargain rates. On certain times they do not have to dole out cash, rather they offer nominal prizes to the winners. Many times the crowd delivers solutions that smaller grounds would never have come up with. Freelancers are delighted to be able to connect to new clients that are otherwise out of their reach.
Drawbacks of crowdsourcing – The disadvantages of crowdsourcing are increased project management costs and issues, chances of delays, drop outs and miscommunications. Also the finished work may have troubles such as copyright and trademark issues.
Benefits
Gives small businesses a competitive edge – Many small businesses have found out that crowdsourcing is a smart channel to minimize costs and still achieve superior results. Crowdsourcing is mainly about collaboration. So the more appealing your project and the more active you are in managing, you’ll gain a higher quality of results. Leveraging a global community of experts when you require them allows small businesses to increase their talent pool thus making the enterprise much more competitive.
Crowdfunding
Fund the business by numerous small investments – Crowdfunding is a great way to source funds. Each person contributes a small amount towards the greater good of your project. Sell your products in its MVP (Minimum viable product) stage. Once it gains enough popularity, you can develop it sequentially using the sourced funds.
Implementing
Be crystal clear in your communication – Small businesses should clearly articulate what they want along with timely and honest feedback to solution providers.
Efficient and effective management – To handle the potentially huge volume of responses and communication, the management process needs to be swift and flawless.
The importance of communication and feedback – Contributors should know quickly whether they are on the right track. It is imperative that small businesses provide personalize and quick feedback. Give prospective contributors access to the comments and feedback, enabling them to tweak their offerings.
Evaluate your ideas from a huge pool of people – The remarkable thing about crowdsourcing is that it is low risk in most scenarios. It costs practically nothing to determine if your ideas are viable or need changing. Doing so early can save a lot of money in the long term.
Crowdsourcing is a skill. Mastering it requires time and effort. Persevere with it and pave the way for your small business’s success.
