Crowdsourcing Cuts Costs For SMEs

BANGALORE, INDIA: Crowdsourcing is a popular movement that harnesses the power of the community to collaborate on projects. Commercial crowdsourcing ventures can prove mutually beneficial for both clients and providers. We talk to Sitash Srivastava, co-founder of Jade Magnet, to find out more...

Bangalore,India: Crowdsourcing is being used for everything from social experiments to complicated scientific discovery. There is an unprecedented amount of collaboration in today's world, with the internet a powerful tool at the individual's disposal.

To find out more about the benefits of Crowdsourcing for SMEs and the adoption of crowdsourcing services in India, we talked to Jade Magnet's co-founder, Srivastava. Here is the Q&A session we had with him:

Q: How do SMEs benefit from using crowdsourcing services?

Srivastava: Many SMEs don't have the budget to go to large ad agencies and pay for designs such as logos,user interfaces or websites. There is also the issue of whether a client will like the end product given by the agency, given that opinions are subjective.

 

If they have a low budget, they have the challenge of finding a freelancer who will do the job for them. Identifying a good individual for such a task is not easy. Moreover, many individuals working in non-major cities will also have difficulties using their talents in a recognizable way. Crowdsourcing enables these individuals to utilize their talents well, as well as reducing the overhead for companies who wish to get their tasks completed fast and easy.

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Q. How can projects with complex requirements completed using crowdsourcing?

Srivastava: Many companies have the misconception that this is not possible, but it is actually possible and way more cost-effective! To move such projects towards completion, a company like ours acts as the controllers between the various stages of the process. Starting from the first phase of the project, we ensure that each phase gets completed successfully before moving it onto the next phase.

For example, an animation may have several stages for completion, from inception to design to implementation. The individuals working at different stages do not even need to meet each other, as we ensure that each stage receives the right prerequisite materials to complete their task. Our clients save about 40% of costs by using our crowdsourcing services, as compared to what they would pay at a traditional ad agency to fulfill their needs.

 

Q. If it reduces costs by 40%, why are companies unwilling to buy into crowdsourcing?

Srivastava: Crowdsourcing models have to adapt to Indian culture, just like how e-commerce has adapted. A lot of businesses still have the traditional mindset of face-to-face meetings with design providers, even when a small amount of Rs. 10,000 is concerned. They are uncertain about whether they will get quality results with crowdsourcing, especially as it is dependent on a group of anonymous providers.

It is a problem of trust, as e-business is still not a norm in India at the moment. However, that trend is quickly changing, as businesses grow more trustful of online services. E-commerce took a while to get accepted into the mainstream of India, and similarly crowdsourcing will take its natural course and become recognized for the value it creates.

Source: www.pcquest.www.ciol.com