While the car leasing options are many, they all have one thing in common, a robust online channel enabling direct transactions, better cataloging, more digital marketing opportunities, and a seamless leasing experience. In the digitally competitive age, it is essential to have an online platform for any business. Car leasing companies are not exempt. As per Statista, 75% of total revenue will be generated through online channels in the car rental industry by 2029, making it more essential to have an online platform

However, launching a car subscription platform is not easy. You either need to develop the platform from scratch or invest in a reliable automobile leasing software. In this blog, we have considered all the critical aspects of developing a car subscribe & lease platform, including market trends, business model, key features, technology and more.

Market Trends and Opportunities

The following trends and dynamics are characterizing the car leasing sector. By analyzing them, you can figure out the type of car leasing platform you want to launch and for which audience.

• The global car leasing industry is worth $123.16 billion and is growing at a CAGR of 6.8% in the projection period 2025-2037. 
• Both used cars and newly manufactured cars are in high demand in the car leasing market
• Corporate businesses are opting for subscription-based leasing models to empower their short-term employee car ownership programs
• The hospitality sector uses leased cars to offer superior services to their guests and customers
• Consumers with relocating jobs are more likely to invest in a leased car 
• The demand for EVs is increasing on car lease platforms. As per the statistics, rental remains the primary ownership method for EVs.
• Car leasing companies are relying on IoT-enabled devices to track the performance and usage of leased vehicles and the fleet
• Car manufacturers in many countries have launched their own car subscription platforms. To compete with such players, many broker platforms have also emerged
• The North American region is expected to dominate the market by controlling almost 30% of the market share by 2037.
• The leasing model has also proven feasible for other types of automobiles, including buses, trailers, and recreational vehicles.
• The car leasing model is promoting the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) model worldwide.
• With car leasing, ownership of expensive and advanced technology vehicles becomes affordable for general consumers.

Benefits of Car Leasing

Car leasing offers numerous benefits to both individual consumers and large businesses. Due to these benefits, the car leasing model is highly relevant for the near future.

• No Loan Required: To subscribe to a rental vehicle, consumers aren’t required to take a car loan, which incurs additional interest and surges the actual cost of the car.
• Low Upfront Cost: As no loan is required, no down payment is involved. This decreases the overall upfront cost for consumers.
• Flexible Ownership: Car leasing is highly flexible for the working class with relocating offices and worksites. Thus, they can use the vehicle and return or exchange it at any time. 
• The Buyback Option: In case customers want to purchase the vehicle during or at the end of their lease, they also get a buyback option. Car manufacturers only ask for the remaining price of the car and customers get to own the vehicle. No interest rate is involved.
• Does Not Count As a Debt: While car loans count as a debt and impact the credit score, owning them with the leasing model does not count as a debt nor affect the credit score.
• No Burden of Maintenance and Servicing: The car leasing company takes care of service and maintenance. Consumers can sit back and relax. In case of any issues with the car, getting the car exchanged is also easy.
• Useful for City Driving: With the leasing company handling the servicing and maintenance, subscribed cars are highly suited for city usage and driving in high-traffic areas.
• Higher Value for Money: Even without the buyback option, car subscriptions provide high value for money. As customers only lease the car, they don’t bear any depreciation costs. They get high value for the amount they invest.
• Hassle-Free Paperwork: Buying a new car and getting a car loan, both involve heavy paperwork. Consumers also need to submit various documents for verification. In car leasing, only minimum paperwork is involved. 
• Helpful for Maintaining a Corporate Fleet: Corporate fleets are expensive to maintain and manage. The car leasing models provide corporate companies with an effective and affordable option to manage a large corporate fleet without heavy upfront investment and maintenance costs.

Top Car Leasing Platforms Around the Globe

To take inspiration and reference to build your car leasing platform, you can check out the already existing platforms available in the market. Some of these are launched by car manufacturers while others are launched and managed by non-manufacturers or intermediaries.

Launched by Manufacturers:

• Mercedes Benz
• Volkswagen 
• Renault Mobility
• Toyota
• Hyundai
• Maruti Suzuki Subscribe

Launched by Non-Manufacturers:

• FINN
• Sixt
• Bipi
• Invygo
• Revv

Business Model of a Subscription-Based Car Leasing Platform

A car leasing website is different from regular car rental platforms where customers select a used car for their one-time requirements and input rental dates through a booking calendar. Instead, the selection process on a car leasing website is more difficult. Customers need to make a selection for their long-term requirements and certain features, such as the booking calendar and rental security submission, aren’t entirely present.

Due to these differences, it is important to understand the business model workflow of a car leasing platform so that you effectively adapt that on your platform. As per your business preferences, you can also plan any necessary changes in the workflow. 

Step 1: Customers visit your car subscription platform and select a car

Step 2: They review all lease plans and select a plan for 12,24,32 and 48 months.

Step 3: To finalize the lease, customers submit minimal documentation

Step 4: Customers select an insurance plan for their leased cars

Step 5: The car leasing company drops off the car to the customer’s drop-off location

Step 6: Customers do a Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) to ensure there are no issues or flaws in the car

Step 7: Customers use the car for the specified leasing period and visit timely for servicing

Step 8: They return or buy back the car at the end of the lease

Revenue Generation Model

Online car lease platforms can have multiple revenue generation channels. These channels add stability to the business and ensure you reach a breakeven point faster. Some revenue generation channels that you can add to your car subscription platform are:

• Multiple Subscription Charges

Keep tiered subscription packages on the platform. These packages can include quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly leases. Each subscription can also have varying benefits, such as car accessories, premium on-road assistance, child seats, dashcams, and more.

• Sell Car Accessories

On your car subscription and lease platform, you can sell various types of car accessories, including the ones mentioned above and many more such as GPS trackers, tires, alloys, snow chains, neck pillows, car covers, rubbing compound, polish, car shampoo, decorative items and more. In this case, you will need to invest in a car subscription software that comes with both rental and sales functionalities. 

• Sell Insurance

It is not permitted to drive an uninsured car on roads in many countries, but this rule only requires drivers to maintain third-party insurance. You can still sell own-damage insurance with higher coverage and other benefits on the marketplace. 

• Garage Partnerships

Car leasing companies can partner with local garages and charge them for being an authorized dealer. This way, you can ensure garages with a higher flow of vehicles while earning revenue through service commission. 

Key Features Required on Your Car Subscription Platform

To ensure smooth operations on the marketplace, be it cataloging, fleet management, sales, invoicing, upselling and more, you need a certain set of features on your platform. You can either get these features custom-developed or look for them in a readymade auto leasing software.

• Custom Subscription Packages: Get the option to create custom subscription packages and display them all across all car listings.
• Rental security collection: Option to collect a rental security deposit in case your business model requires you to collect one.
• Rental Agreement Management: For levying the terms and conditions of the lease, a rental agreement management option along with eSign is important.
• Fleet management: Comprehensive fleet management system that includes vehicle details, rentee details, rentee address, and tracks overdue returns and payments.
• Maintenance buffer period: After the return of every vehicle, you need to inspect it for any damages or maintenance needs. During this period, the vehicle cannot be added back to the online fleet. Maintenance buffer period will help you sync the under maintenance fleet with the online fleet.
• Recurring payment system: The recurring payment option is required to collect monthly subscription charges.
• Document verification:  For verifying essential documents, such as driving license and customer address, you can use an in-built document verification module.
• Internal messaging system: To simplify communications, you can integrate an internal messaging system within the platform that will help you ensure privacy and security as well.
• Request for Quote: The request for quote option is required to attract big budget corporate clients who often look for a custom quotation for their requirements.
• Rental Add-ons: For upselling products, such as car insurance and child seats, you can use a rental add-ons option.
• Rent plus Sell: The rent plus sell option will help you lease vehicles and sell accessories on the same platform.

Ways to Develop a Car Rental Subscription Marketplace

As said above, there are two approaches to develop a car subscription marketplace, which are custom development and using a readymade software. Let’s discuss these approaches one by one.

1. Custom Development 

The custom development approach requires you to develop the car lease platform from scratch. You will first need to hire a business analyst who will prepare the workflows and feature list, and then a development team to prepare the source code. Additionally, you will need to choose the technology on which you want the platform to be developed. Because of all these efforts, the development timeframe under this approach is very long. Hourly development rates also mean that the project is very likely to result in overhead costs.

Pros of Custom Development

• You get the choice of tech stack
• Endless customization capabilities
• Full source code ownership

Cons of Custom Development

• Very costly because of hourly development rates
• Highly time-consuming
• The end product is not tired and tested
• Not suitable for entrepreneurs with a limited budget

2. Using a Readymade Software

There are two types of readymade car rental and leasing software, which are SaaS software and self-hosted software.

1. SaaS Software

The term SaaS refers to Software as a Service and implies that the software is provided to the business as a monthly recurring service. It is originally installed on the software provider’s servers and the car subscription marketplace can only access it over the cloud as long as it pays continuous subscription charges. This makes using SaaS software very expensive for long-term operations. Additionally, as the number of listings and transactions is limited in a SaaS software, you may need to upgrade your subscription package in order to scale and grow

Pros of Using a SaaS Car Leasing Software

• Quick to deploy
• Tried and tested software
• Requires very little upfront investment

Cons of Using a SaaS Car Leasing Software

• Very costly in the long run because of never-ending costs
• May lack advanced features
• Some SaaS software charge an additional transaction cost
• A limited number of listings, transactions, and user profiles

2. Self-Hosted Software

A self-hosted auto leasing software is hosted on the car leasing company’s own choice of servers and provides them with more control. Due to this, there are also no restrictions on the number of listings, transactions, and user profiles in self-hosted software. Furthermore, self-hosted software is available at a one-time cost and comes with a lifetime usage license. As there are no monthly subscriptions involved, you get all the essential and advanced features right from the beginning and can easily offer a best-in-class rental experience.

Pros of Using a Self-Hosted Car Leasing Software

• Available at a one-time cost 
• Highly cost-effective in the long run
• Tried and tested for market operations
• Fully customizable to meet additional requirements
• Unlimited listings and transactions
• Full source code ownership

Cons of Using a Self-Hosted Car Leasing Software

• The choice of tech stack is not available
• Includes an upfront cost 

How Yo!Rent Helps?

Yo!Rent is a self-hosted car rental and car subscription software that helps founders launch feature-loaded rental marketplaces that streamline bookings, subscriptions, and day-to-day rental operations. To simplify subscriptions, Yo!Rent comes with separate vendor and renter dashboards, which help in providing an unmatched rental experience. With its user-intuitive design and industry-specific layout, Yo!Rent helps in developing highly professional rental websites. Because of its extensive feature set and elegant front-end design and dashboard, Yo!Rent is suitable for both car manufacturers and third-party car leasing companies.

Key Reasons to Develop Your Car Subscription Platform with Yo!Rent

• Fully customizable rental software that can be used as a base for car subscription business
• An extensive feature set to enable smooth and streamlined rental operations
• Multiple payment options along with rental subscription
• Multi-lingual and multi-currency support to help you target a diverse audience and expand to new regions
• Unlimited listings, transactions, and user profiles

Conclusion

With the various benefits of car leasing and increasing preference for digital services, car leasing platforms are further expected to grow. Even renowned car manufacturers all across the globe are developing their own case leasing platforms and providing new cars on impressive lease terms. To enter the competition, you will need to launch your own car subscription platform and invest in a fleet of cars. To keep the business asset-light, you can launch a multi-vendor rental marketplace where different vendors will list their car for subscription while you generate revenue via monthly commissions. For any type of car subscription platform, you can use Yo!Rent as your base software.

The post How to Build Your Online Car Subscription Platform? appeared first on FATbit Blog.

What is a Digital Experience Platform (DXP)?

As the name suggests, DXPs primarily help businesses create, deliver, and manage digital experiences for their customers. They mostly rely on Web 3.0 technologies to offer more value to businesses and provide state-of-the-art solutions. When compared to traditional eCommerce software solutions, DXPs unlock significantly more value by letting businesses sell their products and services through multiple online channels. Be it creating an eCommerce website, business blogs, mobile apps, or managing social media sales, everything can be handled through a single platform. 

The Evolution of Digital Experience Platforms

The global eCommerce industry started gaining dominance in the early 2000s, especially when giants like Amazon and Alibaba gained prominence. Back in those days, it was difficult for SMBs to go digital, and developing powerful solutions required a costly custom development approach. The emergence of readymade software solutions, such as website builders, eCommerce software, and no-code and low-code development methods reduced the costs.

Several Content Management Systems (CMS) came into existence. These helped businesses build their eCommerce stores fast without requiring custom development. However, these systems mostly relied on a unichannel approach. The main job of such systems was streamlining content delivery to digital devices, such as desktops and smartphones. 

As consumer demands grew, CMS also evolved. Web 3.0 introduced AI capabilities in CMS. Unfortunately, they were still failing to meet the changing consumer demands. Consumers were aware that brands were collecting their personal data and wanted more personalized experiences across all online channels. That’s when DXPs first emerged. Utilizing the concepts of the digital revolution Web 3.0, DXPs provided omnichannel functionalities to businesses at a reduced cost and with easy implementation. It became much easier for businesses, especially enterprises, to reach out to a broad audience through multiple channels.

Digital Experience Platform (DXP) vs Content Management System (CMS)

Before the existence of DXPs, businesses relied on Content Management Systems to provide online experiences. From launching eCommerce stores, blog sites, and discussion forums to business websites, landing pages, and survey forums, everything was powered by CMS. However, as the world evolved, companies moved towards DXPs to fulfill their digital experience requirements. 

Check out the following table to understand the primary differences between DXP and CMS.

8 Benefits of Using a DXP for Your Business

Using a digital experience platform for conducting online business brings a myriad of benefits for startup founders and existing business owners.

1. Streamlined Customer Experience

Providing a digital experience through multiple channels is exhaustive and time-consuming for businesses. Digital Experience Platforms centralize the management of all your customer touchpoints and simplify providing a highly satisfactory online customer experience. Whether you are selling products on eCommerce websites, mobile apps, or social media marketplaces, DXPs allow you to manage all sales, customer queries, and marketing from a single platform. They are also the most versatile platforms for end-to-end enterprise digital transformation.

2. Enhanced Personalization

Leveraging Web 3.0 capabilities, personalization through DXP goes beyond any website builder or CMS that you have seen. To begin with, DXPs not only display smart product recommendations based on user behavior and purchasing patterns on eCommerce websites but also on all channels where you are interacting with clients. Additionally, they help you improve the voice search experience for every individual user. DXPs can create powerful AR/VR try-ons for your products and even send personalized notifications, pop-up messages, discount offers, and more.

3. Localized Content Production

Utilizing localized content moves your marketing approach up a notch. Consumers want native experiences that are hyper-localized for their regions. Instead of using a generalized approach for all your target audiences, DXPs allow you to localize content for different target audiences. This includes localized user notifications, messages, and product recommendations, and also helps you figure out the most profitable marketing campaigns for different regions.

4. Increased Lead Generation

Think of omnichannel ecosystems as an interconnected web, which makes it easier to track users and their customer journey throughout your marketing funnel and across all platforms. In brief, you get an opportunity to cater to every visitor’s requirements at scale. Additionally, DXPs introduce marketing automation, which helps you take care of routine tasks, such as email marketing for cart abandonment or retargeting campaigns. All these efforts help ensure a higher lead count. 

5. Revenue Boost

The omnichannel approach, with Point of Sale (PoS) systems on every channel, ensures a higher conversion rate and an increase in overall customer lifetime value. Consistent efforts on all touchpoints also fortify a company’s brand image and increase customer loyalty. Meaning, that not only does deploying a DXP ensure a short-term revenue boost but also provides sustainable results for the long term with reduced Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC). 

6. Reduced Operational Costs

Via the traditional route, businesses will have to spend a lot of money on tools to manage their social media handles, eCommerce stores, mobile apps, and email campaigns. DXP does not include any of these costs. Instead of paying recurring costs to multiple subscriptions, businesses only need to invest in a single DXP solution. Another way DXPs reduce operational costs is by bringing sales and marketing automation.

7. Advanced Analytics

DXPs provide you quick access to various reports and insights, including your top-performing products & categories,  most valuable customers, most popular payment methods, top sales channels, revenue generation, taxes, and even poor-performing items. Based on the available insights, you can make data-driven business decisions related to sales, marketing, inventory, management, and growth.

8. Safe and Secure Operations

Digital experience platforms are developed keeping in mind the highest security protocols and compliances. They are anti-SQL injection, follow GDPR and PCI-DSS compliance, and even have tokenization and Two-Factor authentication. Furthermore, by using AI models, they can conduct predictive analysis to find out any anomalies and fraudulent behavior. Thus, securing the platform for customers and preventing financial losses for the business.

Key Features and Components of a Digital Experience Platform

A full-fledged DXP should have a comprehensive set of features to help you manage product listings, inventory, eCommerce websites, and sales and quotation requests on multiple systems. However, the feature list can also vary depending on your industry and selected business model. 

Essential features required in a digital experience platform:

Apart from these features, you will need to add special features to accommodate different types of businesses. These include:

Ways to Build a Digital Experience Platform (DXP)

Each day offline is a sales missed. With this mentality, several businesses are making the digital transition. They have also found different ways to do so, but to cover all digital channels the fastest and most cost-effective way is to use a DXP. For large companies and enterprises, DXPs also remain the only feasible option considering the surge in online competition. For the development of DXPs, there are two possible approaches:

1. The Custom Development Approach

The traditional approach of hiring a team of developers and building everything from scratch is always feasible. It will provide you with the maximum flexibility and choice of tech stack. The custom development approach also works on the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) process, which includes proper planning, analysis, designing, development, testing, and maintenance. 

Depending on your project size, the custom development approach can be divided into two methods:

• Waterfall Development Method: Under this approach, a linear development method is followed where everything from design to features of your DXP will be finalized once and developed in one go. The waterfall method is highly useful for small-scale projects where all requirements are clearly defined from the beginning and market validation is not required. Once the development process starts, no new features can be introduced mid-process. To do that, your team will need to start the entire process again. 

• Agile Development Method: The agile development approach will break the entire DXP development project into multiple sprints or iterations, making it easier to add new features to the development plan and continue from where the first sprint left off. After every sprint, you can collect early adopter feedback and improve the software for real-time use cases. This development approach is highly recommended for big projects, as it allows you to go live quickly after the completion of the first sprint and use the software while it is still under development. 

Pros of the Custom Software Development Approach

• Provides the maximum flexibility over the project
• Gives the choice of tech stack
• You retain complete ownership of the product

Cons of the Custom Software Development Approach

• Finding the right talent for scratch development is difficult
• Too costly because of multiple sprints and hourly development costs
• Can be time-consuming, especially when you require a solution as soon as possible
• Not tried and tested, you will be doing the testing yourself
• Documentation is only prepared once. There are no improvements once the solution is deployed.

2. Customizing a Readymade Software

Digital Experience Platforms are comparatively a new platform for which not many readymade options are available that are a 100% match for your requirements. Thus, our second option remains opting for a fully customizable readymade software that matches 70% – 80% of your requirements. By working on an already existing software, you don’t need to start from scratch and can immensely reduce the development time frame. 

Many fully customizable CMS and eCommerce solutions come with an extensive set of features to help you streamline daily business use cases. By leveraging them, you can prepare a comprehensive DXP to control your online operations over diverse channels.  These features include inventory management, catalog management, order management, shipping, returns, social media sharing, and more. Thus, having these features readily available in the solution simplifies the entire DXP development process. Furthermore, based on your preference, you can use agile and waterfall methodologies to customize an existing solution as well. 

How Much Does Developing a DXP Cost?

Many factors contribute to the cost of developing a digital experience platform. These include your development approach, country of development, additional services, customization, and tech support. While it may not be possible to provide a generalized estimation for the DXP requirements of every business, we can try to get a basic idea. 

1. Development Costs with Custom Development

Depending on your requirements, including the features required and the number of landing pages, your overall solution can cost anywhere between $100,000 – $500,000. This estimation is based on the hourly costs of wireframing, designing and overall development and includes 20-40 backend pages, 20-40 front-end pages & screens and 5-10 vendor pages on multi-vendor platforms. 

2. Development Costs with a Readymade Software

If you are customizing a readymade solution, then you are not required to start from scratch and will only need limited customization. To get a cost estimation via this approach, add the cost of the solution with additional customization. These can mean that the overall cost can range anywhere between $30,000 – $150,000. This estimation includes $2,500 – $10,000 for the software and the remaining for customization work. 

3. Additional API Costs

Apart from these costs, API integrations of popular tools, such as MailChimp, QuickBooks, etc., can cost you anywhere between $500-$2000, depending on the complexity of the integration.

How Can FATbit Technologies Help?

FATbit Technologies has been empowering online businesses for the past two decades. We have worked on small to large projects in numerous industries and have gained immense expertise in development and deployment to help you with your digital experience platform requirements. We can help you develop your DXP in the following ways:

• Ensure faster time-to-market by customizing our in-house eCommerce solutions
• Provide you with a fully custom-developed DXP 

1. Ensure Faster Time-to-Market by Customizing Our In-house eCommerce Solutions

Over the years, we have carefully listened and catered to the requirements of various entrepreneurs serving eCommerce, retail, manufacturing & logistics, education, healthcare, finance, construction, food & beverage, and other industries. Based on their key requirements and thousands of hours in R&D, we have developed our in-house range of turnkey solutions.

Our solutions can help entrepreneurs and existing businesses launch robust websites, marketplaces, and mobile apps for various business models, including B2C, B2B & P2P eCommerce, quick commerce (hyperlocal delivery), cab booking, online tutoring, eLearning, rental, classifieds, and for selling digital products. 

By using these solutions as a base for your DXP, we can not only reduce the overall development time but also ensure you get the maximum value for your investment. As our solutions are fully customizable, in terms of both features and design, you get everything that the custom development approach can provide. 

2. Provide You with a Fully Custom DXP

In case you require a DXP solution that is 100% developed from scratch just for your requirements, we also provide custom development services that follow the agile development approach with a milestone payment option. Under this option, we will provide you with free access to our in-house project management software from where you can track the progress of the entire development process and pay for the accomplishments of different milestones. 

Apart from the milestones option, we also have multiple engagement models to choose from for custom development:

• Dedicated Team Model: Get a dedicated team, inclusive of web and mobile developers, UI/UX designers, business analysts and project managers working on your project on an agile development basis. In this model, you also get flexible team composition and can add any number of developers and designers to your project.

• Fixed Price Model: Instead of the hourly payment model, pay a fixed price for the entire DXP development project with all features and requirements clearly defined with our business analyst at once.

• Hourly Development: Get design, development, or QA resources on a need basis at hourly development rates. This model also adds maximum transparency to your project as everything can be monitored and tracked.

Conclusion

Digital transformation is at the forefront of growth and global reach today. While you may think only medium to large-sized companies can benefit from digital operations, these are equally important for startups and SMBs as well. With dedicated online channels, any business can scale easily by getting higher reach and introducing innovative and helpful products in the market. Early adoption of digital also brings added benefits of brand building and gaining customer loyalty. However, if you want to start small, then opting for a content management system or eCommerce software is okay, but if you are a mid to large-sized company wanting to scale quickly and compete with enterprises, then building your DXP is a very solid option.

FAQs

Q 1. How does DXP work?

Ans. DXP refers to the Digital Experience Platform, which helps you manage online operations on multiple channels. Along with this, DXP uses Web 3.0 technologies to provide smart product recommendations and give a hyper-personalized experience to all users. In simpler terms, think of DXP like a centralized dashboard that is connected to your eCommerce store, mobile apps, social media channels, kiosks, and all other places where sales are enabled. You can simply manage all these channels with a single dashboard and don’t have to switch between different software.

Q 2. What is the difference between a DXP, CMS and eCommerce Software?

Ans. While a DXP offers a more comprehensive solution to manage sales & marketing across different online channels, an eCommerce software is mostly limited to web apps and mobile apps. On the other hand, CMS refers to Content Management System, which may or may not have a POS or cart checkout functionality. It is mostly used to manage online content, such as blogs and landing pages. Additionally, both DXP and eCommerce software solutions already include a CMS, so you don’t need to invest in one separately.

Q 3. Is WordPress a DXP?

Ans. No, WordPress is not a DXP. It is a CMS that helps you manage your website, including its landing pages and blogs. With some plugins, you can add a sales functionality on WordPress, but it would still be incomplete to be called a DXP or a proper eCommerce solution.

Q 4. Do I need a DXP for my startup?

Ans. Whether you need a DXP or not depends on your business goals. If you want to start small and only sell through your eCommerce store, opting for an eCommerce solution is a better option. You can view our range of readymade eCommerce solutions to launch a B2C, B2B, and P2P store along with implementing the food delivery, cab booking, online tutoring, and rental business model. 

However, if you are an already existing business that has reached a growth plateau, using a DXP to offer an omnichannel online experience can help. You can transform your entire business into an online brand and start competing with other online brands quickly.

Q 5. How can I reduce DXP development cost?

Ans. There are two ways to reduce your DXP development costs:

1. Customize an already existing eCommerce solution. With this approach, you don’t have to start the entire development process from scratch. You basically get 70%-80% of all required features right out of the box and only have to pay to develop the remaining 20%-30% of your DXP.

2. Opt for custom software development teams in countries like India, Philippines, Vietnam, Mexico, Spain, Brazil and Poland. These countries offer high-quality software development at highly competitive rates. 

Q 6. What is omnichannel marketing?

Ans. Omni-channel marketing refers to utilizing multiple channels to grow your business. For example, earlier businesses used to think that having a business website for digital marketing is enough. But now, digital marketing has expanded to other platforms as well, which include social media platforms, search engine ads, mobile apps and even offline kiosks, YouTube videos and WhatsApp chatbots. For omnichannel marketing, DXPs remain a very practical option. Not only do they streamline omnichannel management, but also help you track and understand the customer journey better.

The post What is a Digital Experience Platform (DXP) & How to Build One? appeared first on FATbit Blog.

Considering the new opportunities and business potential, the Uber for X framework is particularly beneficial for the gig economy, where over 1 billion freelancers and service providers are available on an on-demand basis for small gigs and contractual jobs. As per statistics, the total number of freelancers in the world is approximately 1.57 billion with 76.4 million freelancers available in the US alone. Some other countries with a high freelancer population include the UK, Canada, UAE, France, Philippines, Germany, Spain, and India. 

The global freelance platform market is valued at $6.56 billion. By applying the Uber for X framework in the freelance market, founders can help a large community of service providers thrive. Let us take a deeper look at the niches where you can launch the Uber for X platform along with the development approach. 

What is Uber for X?

An Uber for X platform is a marketplace where individual service providers can sign up to offer their services. Customers can upload service requests and jobs or browse service provider profiles to hire a professional in real-time. The on-demand hiring on Uber for X marketplaces provides the utmost convenience to consumers and makes professionals easily accessible. An Uber for X marketplace can be developed for numerous niches and services, such as handyman services, home cleaning, mechanics, plumbing, electrical, beauty, babysitting, pest control, and more.

Business Model and Workflow of Uber for X Marketplaces

Being an aggregator marketplace that registers multiple service providers on a single platform, Uber for X businesses follow the asset-light business model. In an asset-light business, entrepreneurs are only required to make the bare minimum investment. Usually, there are none to minimal inventory costs involved, and the business utilizes third-party assets or resources to progress. While the major advantage of asset-light businesses is their low startup costs, they are also dependent on external sources, such as vendors and service providers. 

With a strategically drafted onboarding strategy and timely capitalization, founders can efficiently onboard service providers on their Uber for X marketplace.

Step-by-Step Workflow of Uber for X Marketplace

For your reference, here’s an exemplary workflow for Uber for X Marketplace in the on-demand services industry. Based on your business requirements, you can review alternative workflows and make amendments to this workflow. 

• Job Posting

Step 1: Service providers register on the marketplace and create detailed profiles

Step 2: Customers visit the marketplace and upload detailed jobs with images and job descriptions

Step 3: Service providers apply for the jobs

Step 4: Customers review service provider profiles and select the service provider based on their requirements

Step 5: Service providers coordinate with customers for job delivery and complete the job

Alternative Workflows

• Bidding

Under this workflow, instead of directly applying for the jobs, service providers place bids and send detailed work proposals. Customers review the bids and hire a professional.

• Direct Hiring

Customers aren’t required to upload any jobs. They can view the availability of service providers through a booking calendar and hire them directly.

• Service Packages

Service providers can create tiered service packages on the marketplace with each package having different costs and offerings. Instead of booking through a calendar, customers purchase packages and coordinate with service providers for job completion. 

• Hybrid

The hybrid workflow is the most extensive workflow as it is a combination of all the above-mentioned models. Developing an Uber for X marketplace with hybrid workflows can also be expensive and time-consuming unless you find a readymade software with support for all the above business models. 

Managing Payments

Payments on an Uber for X marketplace can either be managed via an eWallet system or a split payment method. 

• In the eWallet system, service providers’ earnings are saved in their respective eWallets. On reaching the minimum withdrawal amount and interval period set by the admin, they can withdraw their earnings to their bank accounts. The primary benefit of eWallets is that they can act as an escrow account and help maintain cash flow, and effectively manage commissions and refunds.

• In the split payment method, the payment is directly split between the service provider and the marketplace admin (commission charges). Split payments ensure quick payments and may help with onboarding service providers.

Revenue Model of Uber for X Marketplaces

Digital businesses earn through diversified revenue streams. The same is the case with Uber for X marketplaces. With diversification in revenue generation streams, founders are able to ensure quick returns, stable income, and reach the breakeven point faster. Here are some revenue generation streams that are feasible for an Uber for X business:

• Service Commission: Founders or marketplace owners levy a service commission across the platform.
• Featured Listings: Marketplace owners charge service professionals for displaying their profiles in the most highlighted sections.
• Featured Job Postings: Charge clients for displaying their high-priority jobs in the most highlighted sections.
• Display Ads: Charge third-party companies for displaying their ads on the marketplace. 
• Service Packages: The marketplace owner can create and sell different packages to both service professionals and customers.
• Company Listings: Offer exclusive benefits and pricing for company profiles.

Top Niches and Industries for Launching an Uber for X Business

As said above, the Uber for X architecture can be applied to a number of niches in the service industry. Below are the most lucrative ones:

1. Uber for Handyman Services

The handyman services industry is growing at a CAGR of 16.5% in the projected period 2024-2033. Characterized by independent service professionals, who are willing to do all sorts of jobs for homeowners, the handyman industry is always in high demand. Furthermore, the convenience that handyman professionals add to people’s daily lives ensures long-lasting business prospects for the future. By launching an Uber for handyman services marketplace, you can enter the same market as platforms like AirTasker and Angi and benefit from organizing the unorganized sector.

2. Uber for Beauty Services

Due to the increase in women’s employment rates and daily occupied schedules, consumers are finding it difficult to make time to visit beauty services. Instead, they now prefer getting on-demand home salons and beauty treatments. As per statistics, the beauty service market was valued at $228.59 billion in 2024 and is expected to witness immense growth. Additional factors that are responsible for the beauty service industry’s growth are an increase in disposable income, celebrity endorsements, and social media influencers. 

3. Uber for House Cleaning

The cleaning services industry is huge. Its estimated market size in 2024 was $415.93 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% in 2025-2030. The house cleaning market is one of the thriving sectors of the cleaning services industry. On-demand cleaning professionals are able to provide reliable, cost-effective, and efficient cleaning services for all occasions, be it the festive season, house gatherings, birthdays, weddings, or simple house renovations. The on-demand nature of these services also makes house cleaning highly convenient, especially for senior citizens and busy homeowners.

4. Uber for Laundry

With the adoption of digital practices, traditional laundromats have evolved. Today, many laundromats provide online services, allowing customers to book on-demand laundry services. Once booked, laundry companies visit the customer’s house to collect laundry and deliver the cleaned laundry. Some other services that you can offer on your Uber for laundry marketplace with the help of laundry companies are dry cleaning, commercial cleaning, carpet cleaning, repair services, dyeing services, and more. Regarding market projections, the overall laundry market size in 2025 is $110 billion and is expected to add another $14 billion in the next three years.

5. Uber for Mechanics

The Uber for Mechanics platform follows a different business model from the traditional mechanics business. The online platform will allow car owners to find reliable car mechanics nearby in case of vehicle breakdowns. Additionally, they can look for mechanics for at-home inspection, repair, and other services. Car owners can upload quotation requests for services like denting, painting, and part replacement. Statistically, the CAGR of the automobile and mechanics industry is also impressive, standing at 10.2% in the projection period 2024-2032. 

6. Uber for Electricians

The electrical services market is valued at $138.5 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $295 billion by the end of 2037. Fueled by construction projects, infrastructure development projects, renovation projects, and urbanization, the electrical services market is an evergreen sector for investment. Launching an asset-light marketplace for connecting electricians can help you effectively capitalize in the industry. For quick onboarding, you can find local electricians easily.   

7. Uber for Plumbers

Plumbers are in frequent demand for home repair services, including drainage pipe installation, sewer line installation,  bathroom fixtures, and blockage removal services. The plumbing industry benefits from the same factors as electricians. Moreover, to diversify your services and boost revenue, you can launch a combined marketplace for electricians and plumbers. This will help you expand your marketplace operations without reinvesting in technological infrastructure. The overall market size for the plumbing industry in 2025 is $134.96 billion.

8. Uber for Maids

Uber for Maids marketplace helps house cleaners find more jobs for daily door-to-door cleaning. These jobs usually come with monthly or weekly payouts and have demands all around the globe. On your Uber for maids platform, you may require a manual onboarding option to help service providers create their profiles. Some popular references that you can refer to for your Uber for maids business are Homejoy, The Maids, Maid Brigade, and Broomees.

9. Uber for Landscaping

The global landscaping market is huge, approximately $330.58 billion, and is growing at a CAGR of 6.7% in the forecast period 2025-2030. The industry focuses on both residential and commercial sectors. For example, it is equally required for homes and commercial buildings such as malls, hotels, resorts, colleges, universities, and even public infrastructure. As the preference for green spaces grows, so will the landscaping industry, opening up the scope of business in launching an Uber for landscapers marketplace.

10. Uber for Pest Control

Increasing awareness of the health risks related to pest infestation is contributing to the growth of the pest control industry, primarily in warm and humid climate regions. However, colder regions also face the issue of infestations in houses and commercial establishments but not as severe. Regardless of the severity of infestations, the diseases carried by these infestations can be a major health hazard for all people in the nearby region. Thus, by building an Uber for pest control platform, you can provide quick access to local pest control service providers and prevent the spread of diseases.

11. Uber for Doctors

An Uber for Doctors platform can be of various types, including home visitation, online consultation, chat consultation, and QA forums. Building an Uber for Doctors serves the greater purpose of making medical assistance easily accessible to all people even in remote areas. The working population and elderly can book online consultations at the convenience of their four walls and get treated by their preferred doctors. Furthermore, a review and ratings system can help people make informed decisions. Additionally, you can provide the option to schedule visitations for in-person appointments on the marketplace.

12. Uber for Babysitters and Nannies

Due to their busy work schedules, parents need to hire babysitters and nannies to look after their children. This is especially true in the case of nuclear families and metro cities. However, finding a reliable babysitter who can properly look after children is difficult. To help parents, you can develop an Uber for Babysitters. On this platform, parents can find verified babysitters and sort them based on various skills, experience, ratings, reviews, and languages spoken.

13. Uber for Car Wash

Mobile car wash services have started to gain popularity in multiple regions. Their estimated market size was $6.96 billion in 2024 and has an estimated CAGR of 11.2% in the forecast period 2025-2030. On-demand mobile car wash services provide customers with the opportunity to get their cars cleaned on the go. For example, car owners can book mobile cleaning services while eating at a diner and continue the rest of their trip in a squeaky-clean car. Additionally, denting, painting, quick repairs, inspection, and quotation services can be provided on an Uber for car wash platform.

14. Uber for Pet Care

As per statistics, there are more than a billion pets in the entire world. In the US alone 66% of homes have pets. This number is again high in developed countries with developing countries catching up soon. To provide proper care to their pets, owners often have to resort to professional pet care services which include but are not limited to pet grooming, pet walking, veterinary, training, dentistry, and more. All these services can be offered on an Uber for Pet Care platform. 

Advantages of Launching an Uber for X Platform

We learned above that entrepreneurs can build an Uber for X platform for multiple niches. While the growth projections for niches are different, they all will benefit from certain common benefits. Some of them are mentioned below.

1. Provide Real-time Solutions

Uber for X platforms are high in demand as they offer real-time solutions to a variety of problems. Be it an electrician, plumber, babysitter, cleaner, or laundry professionals, Uber for X platforms helps users find reliable service providers and book their services in real-time. After booking, users can directly coordinate with service providers to get the work done.

2. Asset-Light and Cost Effective

All Uber for X platforms follow an asset-light business model. To launch such a platform, entrepreneurs are not required to invest in any inventory or warehouse. This results in lower utility bills and salary expenditures. Instead, an Uber for X business can be launched from a small space with technological interface and marketing campaigns. This makes the business highly cost-effective.

3. Highly-Scalable

There are no boundaries on an Uber for X platform. Service providers from any region can sign up and list their services. To expand your service marketplace to new regions, entrepreneurs only need to cover more regions in their marketing campaigns. With the right technological architecture, they can scale their business as much as they want.

4. Supports Gig Economy

There are an estimated 435 million gig workers in the world and the number of private company-owned solopreneurs is also increasing. Due to more work autonomy and freedom in the gig economy, many more people are expected to enter the industry. To help them all find reliable jobs, platforms like Uber for X are needed. 

6. Highly-Resilient Business

Product-based businesses often witness a slump during unprecedented times. However, the gig economy is not that volatile. Even if some sectors of the industry suffer, the gig economy will recover faster and continue to provide services. Certain service profiles that are highly required in construction, repair, and maintenance jobs will remain evergreen. Moreover, on an Uber for X platform, you can switch niches or allow professionals from different backgrounds to offer services at any time. This further increases the resilience of an Uber for X platform. 

Key Features Required to Build Uber for X

To enable smooth service marketplace operations and ensure a satisfying user experience, certain features are required. These features will help manage marketplace operations, overcome challenges, and deal with daily business use cases. Below is the list of some essential features for an Uber for X marketplace.

1. Detailed Profile Creation: For transparent operations and helping users find the most reliable freelancers for their jobs, let freelancers create detailed profiles. These can include numerous details such as skills, experience, portfolio, and more.

2. Job Posting: Likewise, let customers upload detailed jobs, including job descriptions, required skills, due date, location, images and more. These jobs can be set as public and private jobs.

3. Direct Invitation: For private jobs, let customers browse service provider profiles and send direct invitations to their preferred service providers.

4. Job Bidding: Let service providers upload their bids and proposals on jobs. Customers can review these proposals and select a winning bid depending on their requirements.

5. Booking Calendar: In an alternate business model, you can allow service providers to upload their work schedules on the Uber for X platform. Customers can view these schedules through a booking calendar and book accordingly. 

6. Service Packages: To provide services at a discounted rate, you can let service providers create and sell different service packages.

7. Dual Search: Users should have the option to search both jobs and service provider profiles right on the homepage of the marketplace. A similar option can also be offered at a global level on the top navigation bar.

8. Custom Task Categories: Being the marketplace admin, you should have the option to create multiple task categories for job posting. This will help you attract the required service providers on the marketplace. 

9. Custom Search Filters: Related to the custom task categories features, you should have the option to create and define multiple search filters for the marketplace. These can include profession, skills, experience, ratings, and more.

10. Job Cancellation Management: To prevent users from signing off-marketplace deals or help service providers recover from lost opportunities, you need a late cancellations management system. Through this system, you can set a custom job cancellation window and charges. 

11. User Management: As the marketplace admin, you need complete features to manage all registered users on the platform. These can include viewing their orders and payment information, setting up maximum registration attempts, and verifying user documents.

12. Soft Skills Support: Let users, especially freelancers, list their soft skills on the platform. This feature is particularly required for Uber for X marketplaces for babysitters and elderly care. 

13. Manually Add Service Providers: To provide onboarding assistance, you should have the option to manually add service providers and help them create profiles. This will reduce their onboarding time, ensure a more satisfying customer experience, and is highly required when targeting underdeveloped geographical regions.

14. Commission Settings: Get the option to set and define a percentage commission on every transaction that takes place on the marketplace.

15. eWallet: An eWallet system on the marketplace will be used to store the earnings of all service providers. You can set minimum withdrawal settings, such as the minimum withdrawal threshold amount and interval period to maintain cashflow on the marketplace

16. Split Payment: As an alternative to the eWallet system, you can offer a split payment method. Under this payment method, a payment processor is used to split payment as service charges and commission rate and is directly credited to the accounts of service providers and admin. Usually, the payment processor requires a few days to process payments, thus any refunds need to be requested within this period.

17. Conflict Resolution: On a service marketplace, users may enter into a conflict because of reasons like poor quality of work, payment issues, and unprofessional behavior. To resolve any such conflicts, users should have an option to raise an issue request and the admin can act as an intermediary to resolve the issue.

18. Offline Mode: On certain Uber for X marketplaces, where the marketplace owner decides to earn primarily through registration and listing costs, offering an offline payment mode is more feasible. When the offline mode is turned on, all payment gateways on the marketplace are disabled and service providers and customers directly interact with each other to manage payments.

19. Multilingual and Multi-currency Support: For expanding your Uber for X marketplace to multiple regions, having multilingual and multi-currency support on the marketplace is a must. In the case of multi-currency support, you should also look for payment gateways that can process payments in respective currencies.

20. Analytics and Reports: In-depth reports on the marketplace, related to service provider performance, user performance, job category performance, bookings, traffic, and completed orders will help you make important data-driven decisions. 

Approaches to Build an Uber for X Marketplace Platform

There are three primary approaches to develop your Uber for X marketplace. We have compared them all on the basis of their feasibility, scalability, and long-term cost-effectiveness.

Custom Development

The custom development approach requires you to develop the entire Uber for X marketplace from scratch. The process includes selecting the development tech stack, business analysts, and a team of developers. Business analysts will help you find out the key problems, concerns, and use cases that you will be dealing with in your marketplace operations and may also suggest tech stack and prepare a features list called Software Requirement Specification (SRS) sheet.  

Based on their recommendations, the team of developers will put your project on the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) process to develop the source. Afterward, you can test the marketplace in real-time situations and follow iterative development for improvements.

Pros of Custom Development

• Fully customizable and scalable to support any business requirements and growing number of users
• Provides you with the option to select your own tech stack
• Provides the freedom to select a faster or more secure server

Cons of Custom Development

• Too costly. Includes hourly development rates and the overall development may; range between $50,000-%200,000
• Too much time consuming. It may take up to years to develop your Uber for X platform with custom development
• Your business analysts and developers may fail to cover some important features and use cases
• The final build may not be tried and tested tor the market

Using SaaS Software

The term SaaS stands for Software as a Service. Under this development approach, you are using a readymade software that is already developed and hosted by a software development company on their own servers. The software developer then offers the software as a monthly recurring service charged monthly or annually. You can use the SaaS solution’s in-built capabilities to develop a homepage and start your Uber for X marketplace operations.

However, there’s a catch in SaaS solutions. As they are divided into small monthly payments, they usually lack essential functionalities. While the number of SaaS software for selling goods and products is high, there are very few options left when it comes to developing a service-based marketplace. In the end, you may feel the need to migrate to a different solution because of a lack of features and scalability problems.

Pros of Using SaaS Software

• Readymade solution with all basic features
• Pre-hosted on the software provider’s own servers

Cons of Using SaaS Software

• May lack important features
• Very costly in the long run with never-ending subscription charges
• Limited in terms of transactions, users and job postings
• Limited access to features in the base packages
• Require upgrading your package timely in order to scale

Using a Self-Hosted Software

Self-hosted solutions are readymade solutions that are available at a one-time cost. As they are genuinely priced for their offerings, they include all essential features and functionalities for your desired business proposition. Additionally, there are no subscription charges involved. To launch your Uber for X platform with self-hosted software, you need to invest in reliable software and select a hosting server. The software will already have a highly professional interface required for the business and you will need to do minor configurations, such as setting up your business trademarks, social media handles, terms and conditions, etc.

Pros of Using a Self-Hosted Software

• Reduces the overall Time to Market
• Highly cost-effective with a one-time cost
• Fully scalable with no restrictions on the number of listings, transactions, and features
• You get the option to select a fast or secure server
• Tried and tested for real-time service marketplace operations

Cons of Using a Self-Hosted Software

• No over-the-counter (OTC) updates are available
• Some entrepreneurs may not prefer the one-time upfront cost

Best Readymade Service Solution to Build an Uber For X 

Out of all the aforementioned development approaches, using a self-hosted solution seems to be the most practical approach. It reduces the overall time-to-market, is cost-effective in the long run, and is also fully customizable. Additionally, we required a software solution with multi-nationalization functionalities and dedicated features to bring ease of operations. Yo!Gigs service marketplace solution best matches our criteria. 

Yo!Gigs

To build an Uber for X platform, Yo!Gigs provides readymade support for both handyman and freelance service marketplaces. It comes with all essential and advanced features right out of the box. Made after thousands of hours into research and development, Yo!Gigs helps entrepreneurs deal with daily marketplace use cases, including preventing users from signing off-marketplace deals, managing service categories and registrations, and providing timely assistance for conflict resolution.

In terms of design, Yo!Gigs has a thoughtfully designed user interface that emphasizes minimalistic elements and provides equal emphasis to all listed service categories. With shorter workflows and intuitive navigation tools, Yo!Gigs ensure quick interactions that help users get the job done efficiently. Its color palette, homepage banner, content blocks, and other design elements are fully customizable. As the marketplace owner, you can also save and update themes.

For reference, you can check out Yo!Gigs’ highly professional interface below:

• Freelancer Marketplace Homepage
• Handyman Marketplace Homepage
• Service Provider Profile
• Customer Dashboard
• Admin Dashboard
• Service Provider Dashboard

Why Choose Yo!Gigs?

Here’s why Yo!Gigs offers the most value for developing an Uber for X platform:

1. Self-Hosted Solution Available at a One-Time Cost

Yo!Gigs is a self-hosted solution, meaning you get to host it on your choice of server, which can be an in-house server set up within your office premises or a reliable third-party hosting service such as Amazon AWS. A key difference that hosting makes is that you get complete control over your marketplace platform in a self-hosted solution in comparison to a SaaS solution.

For example, in a SaaS solution, the software provider gets the control over the server. They can easily limit your access to features and the number of job postings and transactions. In order to grow, you will need to upgrade to premium subscriptions. Not to mention, any price revisions will also be applied to you. 

Yo!Gigs avoids all these problems. As you select your own server, Yo!Gigs does not retain any control over the hosting. You can use the solution as much as you want without monthly software subscriptions.

2. Fully Customizable and Scalable

Yo!Gigs is fully customizable to meet any additional business requirements. We have our in-house team of developers that work on customizations. This is the same team that originally developed the solution and understands the code better. Thus, we can carry out any required customizations in Yo!Gigs for your Uber for X platform in comparatively less time and assure bug-free operations. 

We also understand that with time, consumer behavior and industry expectations change. To keep up with the changing world, you can reach out to us again and carry out the necessary customizations. 

3. Grow your Business Endlessly with Multinationalization 

For business growth and expansion purposes, Yo!Gigs is studded with tonnes of features. These range from promotional and discount features to multinationalization and analytics. With Yo!Gigs multi-lingual and multi-currency support, you can easily expand your business to new regions. You can offer service marketplace operations in the native language of your target audience. Additionally, you can display pricing in different currencies and accept payment as well. 

To attract more users, you can use Yo!Gigs in-built marketing and promotions features such as homepage banner, discount coupons, meta tags optimization and service packages.

4. Packed with Unmatch Feature-Set

There are a few other service marketplace solutions in the market but none of them match the attention to detail and use cases that Yo!Gigs provide. Be it manually onboarding blue-collar professionals, managing bidding, resolving customer conflicts, enabling smooth interactions, or preventing off-marketplace deals, Yo!Gigs covers them all with its advanced set of features. 

Some features that you can find in Yo!Gigs are:

5. 12-Months Free Technical Support

Yo!Gigs has been perfected with rigorous rounds of QA testing. However, we understand that as an entrepreneur, it is essential for you to ensure the overall quality and integrity of your software. Thus, to provide you with complete peace of mind and interruption-free marketplace operations, we provide 12 months of free technical support. In case you encounter any technical issues with source code during this period, we would be more than happy to fix the issue free of charge. Lastly, for onboarding assistance, you will get complete documentation and free training hours as well.

Summing Up

Starting any business takes time, patience, and effort. It is also important to capitalize on the arising opportunities in time to gain a competitive edge. As said above, there are multiple Uber for X niches that you can invest in. With thorough research, you can find the best niche in your target region and expand later when MVP is proven. Yo!Gigs will help establish the MVP platform and provide all necessary features. Post-launch, you will require an in-depth Go-to-Market strategy to effectively market your solution and onboard service providers and customers without the chicken and egg problem. To find out more about the service provider onboarding strategy, check out this blog.

The post What is Uber for X Marketplace? How to Launch One – The Most Detailed Guide appeared first on FATbit Blog.

However, to support the growing needs of the industry, contractors require more reliable sources for procuring heavy equipment. Their demands can be easily matched by launching a new online equipment rental website that can be accessed throughout the country, or by taking the digital leap for your existing offline equipment rental business. You can establish a network of contractors by launching your online equipment store and helping them complete diverse projects to boost the country’s growth.  

In this article, we have thoroughly covered how you can launch an equipment rental store in Canada. Let’s take a closer look at the growth factors and business model before moving towards the development approach. 

Key Growth Factors of Heavy Equipment Rental Industry in Canada

The heavy equipment rental industry in Canada has stayed relatively stable and resilient because of certain factors. Some of those that validate the industry’s potential and growth prospects are:

1. High Rate of Interest on Financing Options

The exorbitant costs of purchasing heavy equipment have always been the primary deterrent behind heavy equipment sales. Even if a contractor or construction company considers financing the heavy equipment, the interest rate of the finance is way too high. These interest rates have only amplified in recent years. Thus, renting out heavy equipment seems to be a more capital-friendly option than both direct purchasing and sourcing.

2. Adaptation of Sustainable Practices

To control carbon emissions, the entire heavy equipment industry is drifting towards sustainable practices. One of which is rental as it relies on the sharing economy that does not produce any additional carbon emissions. Moreover, the rental model aligns with Canada’s carbon-neutral goal which the government aims to achieve by 2050. The entrance of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles in the heavy equipment rental industry further aids this goal. 

3. Government Lead Infrastructure Development Plans

The Canadian government is working to improve the public infrastructure including roads, bridges, railways, airways, and more to provide the public with superior facilities. It has also launched several plans such as the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) which pledges $33 billion for infrastructure development and the Ontario 30-year Transit Plan which pledges $65.7 billion toward transport network development. All such plans are positively impacting Canada’s heavy equipment rental industry. As the government is also allocating around 5% of its GDP every year towards infrastructure development, the equipment rental industry will benefit from a continuous demand. 

4. Commercial Development Projects

Along with public infrastructure development plans, there are several commercial project undertakings in the country that are facilitating growth in the heavy equipment rental industry. These include the development of large establishments such as shopping malls, corporate buildings, stadiums, innovation work, and more. A few projects to name are The Bow, The Edge office building, 11333 Yonge Street offices, Absolute Towers, Royal Ontario Museum, New Etobicoke Civic Centre, and the SmartMill Head Office. 

5. Growth in the Mining Sector

The mining sector of Canada contributes about 6% to its entire economy. Canada is also the leading provider of potash and supplies other minerals such as gold, diamonds, aluminum, titanium, platinum, palladium, and uranium. The extraction of these minerals on a large scale requires diverse types of equipment including drills, excavators, graders, loaders, and trucks. Due to the huge demand in the mining sector, the equipment rental industry is also witnessing growth. 

Business Model of Online Heavy Equipment Rental Businesses

As said earlier, to capitalize on the opportunity, you can launch an online equipment rental store. Here’s an exemplary workflow for your online store:

Workflow of Equipment Rental Website

Step 1: The business owner adds equipment listings on the website

Step 2: The customer browses the website and selects equipment

Step 3: To place an order online, the customer selects the rental dates and makes payment along with the security deposit

Step 4: The business owner fulfills the order via the selected fulfillment method (delivery or self-pickup)

Step 5: On return, the business owner inspects the equipment for any damages and reimburses the same from the customer’s rental security. The remaining security amount is returned.

Key Features Required on an Online Heavy Equipment Rental Store

For smooth business operations, a heavy equipment rental store requires several rent-centric features. These features assist the admin in automating day-to-day operations and bringing efficiency to the entire business. When selecting a heavy equipment rental solution to build your online store, you can look out for these features.

• Tiered Rental Pricing: The tiered pricing module will allow you to define varying rental charges for daily, weekly, and monthly rentals and meet varying consumer demand. 
• Advanced Booking Calendar: The rental booking calendar is essential to take rental date inputs from customers and prevent double booking. Additionally, it also shows accurate product availability to customers.
• Rental Invoicing and Checkout: Via the traditional business method or on websites with no direct checkout option, new businesses often face the problem of payment delays. This is because new businesses often fulfill orders based on business trust and credit. This problem can be easily avoided by placing a rental invoicing and direct checkout option on the online rental store website. 
• Request for Quote Module: Like direct checkout, the Request for Quote (RFQ) module is important as it helps businesses in processing large and complex rental orders. For large orders, contractors often prefer getting a custom price quote and to target such an audience, both RFQ module and direct checkout options are important.
• Agreement Management & eSign: Every equipment business owner has their own rental terms and conditions to ensure safe and secure rentals. These can be stored and sanctioned with the help of an agreement management & eSign option. 
• Rental Security Management: Another option to encourage the safe usage of rental equipment is to collect a rental security amount at the checkout. This rental security will be later used to reimburse any damages or charge penalties in case of violation of any rental terms.
• Unavailability Management: Many times, business owners rent out equipment via offline means. This results in inaccuracies in online inventory and can lead to overbooking. To avoid this problem, you can rely on an unavailability management module that helps you mark a certain amount of inventory as unavailable for a specified period. 
• Maintenance Buffer Period: After the equipment is returned, it is put under an inspection period to run any maintenance and servicing tasks. During this period, the equipment cannot be synced with the online inventory. Thus, the maintenance buffer period allows you to set the maintenance duration in the system and sync all under-maintenance inventory with the online inventory. 
• Rental Add-ons: When renting out equipment, you can offer complimentary add-ons and services along with the equipment. These can include operator services, machine attachments, on-site cleaning, and more.
• Late Returns Management: The rental website should have a feature to let you track and send reminders for any pending returns. Likewise, it should allow you to create varying late return periods and charge a late return fee accordingly. 

The Best Approach to Develop Your Heavy Equipment Rental Store

Developing a business solution used to be a highly cost-inclusive task because of hourly development rates and long project delivery timeframe. However, readymade software solutions have solved this problem. Readymade solutions are tried and tested software that come with all necessary features out of the box. In most cases, you are only required to deploy them and configure your store. As these solutions are readily available and exclude long delivery time frames and hourly payments, they are highly cost-effective for all entrepreneurs. To support any additional requirements, some readymade solutions are also fully customizable.

Benefits of Using Readymade Equipment Rental Software:

• Already tried-and-tested for heavy equipment rental business models
• Come with all essential features to manage rental operations
• Reduce the overall development time
• Are more cost-effective than bespoke development
• Help and support are also readily available
• Can be used by businesses of all sizes.

The Most Advanced Features Packed Heavy Equipment Rental Software

Although there are several rental solutions available in the market, Yo!Rent emerges to be unrivaled with state-of-the-art and user-friendliness. It comes with all essential and advanced features to keep your business running 24/7 and streamline even the most complex operations including managing inventory, returns, taxes, rental agreements and more. Unlike other solutions, Yo!Rent is also a self-hosted solution that provides you the flexibility to select your own hosting server, making your rental website more secure and easily scalable. Going a step further, Yo!Rent provides you with complete pricing control, helps in damage recovery, automates paperwork, streamlines inventory and also assists in marketing and preparing business reports. 

Key Reasons to Select Yo!Rent are:

• It is a self-hosted solution available at a one-time cost. This makes Yo!Rent highly cost-effective in the long run.
• It has in-built capabilities to streamline B2B operations, such as bulk duration discount, rental duration discount, RFQ module, rental agreement management and more. 
• To help you meet the rental requirements of different customer cohorts, Yo!Rent supports hourly, daily, weekly and monthly rental bookings.
• Yo!Rent is a multi-currency and multilingual software. It can help you target different regions with a single rental website.
• Yo!Rent supports unlimited listings, transactions and user profiles. This makes it a highly scalable solution. Right from startup level to enterprise level, Yo!Rent accommodates all stages of business growth.
• To support your brand vision and help you align your rental store website with the market standards, Yo!Rent has a fully personalizable homepage. All of its content blocks, homepage sliders, and more can be personalized from the admin dashboard.
• To support any additional functionalities and requirements, Yo!Rent is also fully customizable. 
• Yo!Rent supports both single-vendor and multi-vendor business operations, making it easier to expand your business and diversify revenue generation streams.
• For streamlining payments, Yo!Rent comes pre-integrated with 20+ payment gateways. You can select the ones as per your target regions and transaction charges.
• Yo!Rent also comes with 12 months of free technical support so that your business operations run smoothly.  

Conclusion

Setting up a heavy equipment rental store allows you to establish a network of reliable equipment dealers and capitalize on their rental inventories. In Canada, as the growth projections for the industry are high and also backed by numerous government and private development programs, launching an equipment rental business can reap impressive returns. However, for a successful launch, you will need to keep in mind a few important things that include the business model, development approach, launch time and your Go-to-Market strategy. To keep a clarity in all these, you can devise a business plan which will assist you in execution and cost savings.

The post Guide to Build a Rental Website for Canada-Based Equipment Rental Business appeared first on FATbit Blog.

This is particularly true in the case of large-scale projects that require highly skilled professionals. Due to the high charges of these professionals, smaller companies can’t hire them on a permanent basis and thus, prefer to hire them on a per-job basis. Fulfilling this demand for skilled creative professionals, Behance and Dribbble emerged as dedicated marketplaces to help graphic designers and digital artists showcase their portfolios and get hired. 

Both Behance and Dribbble work similarly and have common offerings for customers, which are highly talented designers backed by their creative portfolios already published on the platform. This creates a sense of reliability and trust amongst the customers who can verify the previous works of designers. However, despite the huge demand for freelance creative professionals, the number of dedicated platforms for them is quite limited. This opens an opportunity to gain a competitive edge by launching a marketplace like Behance and Dribbble. 

To help interested entrepreneurs launch their own creative professional marketplaces, we have created this guide that includes everything from Behance and Dribbble’s USPs to the most practical development approach. 

About Behance and Dribbble

Let’s learn a little about the background of these two marketplaces. 

• Behance

Behance is one of the first marketplaces for sharing digital artwork. It was launched in the year 2005 as a social media platform where multiple talents could sign up and share their designs. In 2012, Behance raised $6.5 million in funding from notable investors including Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos. Seeing the platform’s success rate, it was later acquired by Adobe in December 2012. Today, Behance has more than 24 million members and an estimated annual revenue of $632 million. 

Launched Year: 2005

Founded by: Matias Corea and Scott Belsky

Annual Revenue Estimate: $632 million

Total Number of Users: 24 million

• Dribbble

Dribbble is another marketplace for sharing and distributing digital art. On Dribbble, corporates can easily find skilled professionals for their design work and directly hire them. The platform was launched as an MVP in 2008 by Dan Cederholm and Rich Thornett. Initially, Dribbble only worked on an invite-only model but became public in 2010. Today, Dribbble is available in 195 countries and has an average of 4 million users every month. In terms of revenue, Dribbble makes an estimated $97.5 million every year. 

Launched Year: 2008

Founded by: Dan Cederholm and Rich Thornett

Annual Revenue Estimate: $97.5 million

Total Number of Users: 16 million

Unique Selling Points of Platforms like Behance and Dribbble

Although both Behance and Dribbble were one of a kind when they were first launched, they still had to innovate and improvise their unique selling points (USPs) in order to compete with existing recruitment platforms and freelance marketplaces like ODesk (now UpWork), Guru and Freelance.com. Thus, to give a reference overview of their USPs, both Behance, and Dribbble primarily focused on the following USPs.

1. Dedicatedly Developed for Designers

In the past, several freelancing marketplaces and recruiting platforms also existed where designers could sign up and showcase their work. However, none of those platforms were as dedicatedly developed for designers as Behance and Dribbble. Due to this, the entire interface of these platforms looked highly focused and concentrated towards digital artists. These two platforms became more relatable for designers as they got a clear idea of what the platforms were and how they could help them advance their careers. 

2. Trust Factor

On Behance and Dribbble, digital artists and clients benefitted from a trust factor. Both these platforms allowed designers and digital artists to upload broad portfolios of their work. Due to this, the designers were able to showcase their skills and expand their online presence. The leads attracted through Behance and Dribbble were also high-quality and more likely to convert. Additionally, the widespread presence of Dribbble and Behance professionals on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram further created credibility for these platforms and their users.

3. Buy and Sell Artwork

Through Behance and Dribbble, not only could designers showcase their portfolios but also sell their creative artwork in different digital formats, such as images, illustrations, videos, animations, PDFs, and more. Being a global platform, Behance and Dribbble could help designers attract big-ticket clients from all across the world and do off-shore operations. To promote safe and secure transactions, Behance also partnered with Stripe which provides online payment processing in over 135 currencies. 

4. Connect and Hire

Behance and Dribbble acted as a proper social media network for designers. Meaning, users could follow their favorite artists and view updates on their new work. Likewise, corporations got a search portal where they could search for designers and explore thousands of profiles for hiring purposes. In fact, after a while, both Behance and Dribbble included a dedicated hiring module on their marketplaces.

5. Inspiration

As Behance and Dribbble gained global recognition, they started to become an inspiration for existing and aspiring artists. The diverse artwork available on these platforms received social acknowledgement and talented artists started getting the praise they deserved. This encouraged fellow artists, including students, young professionals, and working mothers to share their artwork as well. This is also one of the primary reasons behind the huge popularity of these platforms.

6. Live Workshops, Design Courses and Competitions

Along with acting as a platform to share artwork and hire digital artists, Behance and Dribbble started providing their design courses and live workshops. Because of these platforms’ global recognition, their design courses gained immense success. These courses can also be directly accessed through the official websites of Behance and Dribbble. Additionally, the competitions organized on these platforms further increased the engagement rate for digital artists and winners also received a career boost.

Revenue Model of Behance and Dribbble

For revenue generation purposes, digital art marketplaces like Behance and Dribbble can rely on the following channels:

1. Advertisements: Professionals can advertise their artwork on these platforms.

2. Pro Memberships: Digital artists can sign up for special membership plans that provide them with extra benefits.

3. Job Board: Platforms like Dribbble and Behance have a job-board where different companies can pay for uploading a job. This helps them find good talent in a minimum time frame.

4. Courses and Live Workshops: Dribbble is also selling design courses and conducting live workshops on the platform. These are some potential means of revenue generation.

5. Sales Commission: Just like Behance, you can charge a small commission fee on every digital art sale that takes place on the platform.

6. Contests and Competitions: Like Dribbble, you can organize different design competitions on your digital artists marketplaces where you can charge money from both designers (registration fee) and sponsors.

7. Featured Profiles: You can charge designers to feature their profiles in the most viewed sections of the platform.

Building a Platform like Behance and Dribbble

To capitalize on the growing graphic designing and digital art industry, entrepreneurs can launch their own Behance and Dribbble like platform. This way, they can help the digital art communities of their target regions grow and establish a name in the market. However, developing such a platform may require rigorous efforts, including identifying the required features, creating user workflows, preparing the source code, configuring the platform and running marketing campaigns. 

In the following sections, we have included the technical aspects of the launch that include the key features and development approaches. For proper consultation on the launch strategy, technology and marketing, we recommend reaching out to our business experts.

1. Key Features Required

To build a Behance and Dribbble alternative platform and conduct smooth business operations, you will require the following features:

• Admin Dashboard: A centralized interface for the platform owner from where they can act as an admin and manage the entire platform. The admin can use multiple features to see all transactions, users, and posts on the platform and also manage multiple webpages. Basically, all admin features and options are provided on the admin dashboard. 
• User Dashboard: Similar to the admin dashboard, the user dashboard is made for designers and other digital artists. Through this dashboard, they can upload their artwork, check likes and comments, access the chat messenger, apply on jobs and keep a track of all completed jobs. 
• Homepage Personalization: Both Behance and Dribbble enhance their homepage from time to time. This helps them accommodate the diverse digital artwork on their website and also provide a user friendly interface to visitors. 
• Homepage Slider: The homepage slider is the most highlighted section of a website. It serves just like the front page of a newspaper. You can use the homepage slider for multiple purposes like promoting any events & campaigns, showcasing top artworks, featured profiles and also any news and updates. 
• Collections Management: The wide majority of artwork needs to be categorized and distributed into multiple collections. These collections are displayed on the homepage and other places. Your platform should allow you to create and manage these collections.
• Category Management: While collections can be displayed directly on the homepage, for simplified navigation, you can show the multiple categories on the navigation menus. 
• User Management: Being a digital artists and freelance designers’ platform, thousands of users will register on your website as you grow. To manage their profiles, you require user management options that will allow you to view user details, send important notifications and alerts, and also approve or reject user registration requests.
• Direct Hiring: To help designers get hired, both Behance and Dribbble allow companies to view registered designers. Companies can browse those profiles and send a direct inquiry to artists in order to hire them.
• Post a Job: Along with direct hiring, Behance and Dribbble have a job board as well. This is where companies can directly upload detailed jobs along with the required skill sets. Designers can browse these jobs and send a job proposal.
• Bidding Module: Going one step further, you can provide a bidding module on your platform. This will allow designers to place their bids on the job and you can give more price flexibility to the companies.
• Search Module: The search module can be used to search all types of artworks and even designer profiles and uploaded jobs as well.
• Payment Gateways: To enable transactions on your platform, you will need to integrate a few payment gateways. The selection of these payment gateways can vary on their regional recognition, transaction charges, supported payment methods and security features. 
• Buy Feature: Along with the option to hire artists, you can provide a direct buy button on the platform so that interested people can purchase digital art. As the platform owner, you can charge a small commission fee on every sales transaction that takes place on the platform. 
• Content Management: For on-page marketing purposes, you need a content management system (CMS). This will allow you to manage different published blogs on the website and also the different landing pages.
• Reports and Analytics: These options will provide you with an in-depth overview of what’s going on the platform. This can include the total number of users, sales, artwork, companies, sales, most liked artwork, and more.

2. Development Approaches

Software development approaches have been improvised throughout the years. What used to be a time and cost-intensive approach has now been replaced by ready-made no code and low code software. As per a study conducted by Gartner, nearly 70% of all software applications will be developed with no code or low code software by 2025. Additionally, these readymade software also reduce the entire development time by up to 90%. 

Below are the major differences between using the bespoke development approach vs no code and low code software:

Selecting the Right Software to Develop Behance and Dribbble Alternative

To provide you with a factual and more transparent opinion, low code solutions seems to be your only reliable option. This is because at the moment, there are no no-code software available in the market that come with 100% support for developing a Behance and Dribbble alternative marketplace. 

However, there are a few low-code software available that can be used as a base for this business proposition. These low-code software meet 80%-90% requirements of a digital artist marketplace and will immensely decrease your development cost and timeframe. Out of the several low-code software available in the market, Yo!Gigs service marketplace software best matches your requirements. 

About Yo!Gigs

Developed for all service marketplace models, Yo!Gigs is a readymade solution that helps you connect thousands of freelance service providers with seekers. It has in-built support for digital artists including graphic designers, UI/UX designers, animators, voiceover artists and more. Furthermore, it has already been tried and tested to conduct freelancer service marketplace operations and can help you deal with numerous business use cases.

Some key features of Yo!Gigs that will be helpful in developing your Behance and Dribbble like platform are:

• Homepage Personalization
• Discussion Forums
• User Management
• Custom Task Categories
• Collection Management
• Theme Management
• Job Board
• Direct Hiring
• Bidding Module
• Job Cancellation Window
• Pre-integrated Payment Gateway
• Content Management System
• Chat Messenger

Other Reasons to Select Yo!Gigs

• Unlike SaaS software, Yo!Gigs is available at a one-time cost. This makes it highly cost-effective in the long run.
• With unlimited listings and transactions, Yo!Gigs is fully scalable. It will accommodate your business growth at all stages, right from startup level to enterprise level.
• To meet all your additional requirements, Yo!Gigs is also fully customizable.
• Yo!Gigs is a self-hosted software. Meaning, you can install it on any server of your choice. This also means that as the solution provider, we cannot impose any usage restriction or features or limit any transactions.
• It is very easy to migrate from other solutions to Yo!Gigs with its in-built import/export options.
• Lastly, to ensure uninterrupted business operations, Yo!Gigs comes with one-year of free technical support.

Conclusion

The graphic designing industry has an invulnerable nature that makes it resilient against all types of economic downfalls and turbulence. Due to this, this is an evergreen industry. However, it is the corporate designers who face job uncertainties during any economic crises and thus have to resort to freelancing. By launching a marketplace like Behance and Dribbble, you can not only help such individuals but also assist the entire digital artists community grow. You can help budding designers to showcase their talents and existing professionals create captivating portfolios and find high paying jobs.

The post How to Launch a Website like Behance and Dribbble? appeared first on FATbit Blog.

One sector of the EV industry that is capable of bringing a paradigm shift in how the entire EV infrastructure operates is the battery-swapping model. The model holds immense business potential for entrepreneurs and is backed by impressive growth statistics, a CAGR of 46.9% in the projection period 2022-2027, with the industry capturing almost $11.8 billion in the next three years. Thus, for entrepreneurs strategizing to enter the EV industry, launching a battery-swapping business holds immense potential. 

Through this article, you will understand the scope of the battery-swapping business and its entire business model in great detail. Additionally, we have also created a roadmap to help you build your own online EV battery-swapping business.

Key Growth Factors Behind the EV Battery Swapping Sector

In the EV industry, the battery-swapping model brings insurmountable benefits to both B2B and B2C customers. In the B2C sector, battery swapping applies to eBikes and cars, and in the B2B sector, commercial fleet and public transport vehicles, such as delivery vehicles, buses, tuk-tuks, and more benefit from the battery swapping model. 

The diverse applications of EV battery swapping provide the industry with multiple growth factors:

1. Highly Cost-Effective in Comparison to Purchasing New Battery

In comparison to ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) vehicles, EVs are very costly. The added cost of the battery is one of the primary reasons behind the price surge as the battery unit in itself amounts to 50% of the overall vehicle cost. Thus, repurchasing the battery puts a financial strain on the EV owner. In contrast, the battery swapping option where the owner can easily swap drained batteries with fully recharged batteries is more cost-effective. The owner can also access a never-ending supply of charged batteries. 

2. Reduce Downtime for Both Consumers and Commercial Fleet

The EV charging infrastructure is quite slow. Even with fast DC chargers, it can take up to 60 to 80 minutes to achieve a full charge. This downtime leads to several disadvantages for EV owners. On the other hand, battery swapping is quick and efficient, providing owners with immediate charge to go the extra mile. For commercial fleets, this reduced downtime also helps in providing a satisfying customer experience and prevents loss. 

3. Reduce Delivery Costs for Commercial Fleet

Another way battery swapping is cost-effective for commercial fleets is because swapping batteries at external stations is more affordable than investing in electric infrastructure and charging vehicles. Nevertheless, commercial fleets can also sign exclusive contracts with battery swapping companies to provide them with replaceable batteries at special pricing or monthly contracts. 

4. Eliminate Range Anxiety

In the EV industry, range anxiety refers to the conscious anxiety of EV owners about their EV batteries depleting without reaching the designated destination. Due to this range anxiety, EV owners feel less confident while taking their EVs on long routes. The challenges in setting up new charging stations further exacerbate this problem. However, battery-swapping stations do not require any reinvestments in the electrical infrastructure and thus can be set up easily. These stations help expand the EV network across wide geographical areas and reduce range anxiety.

5. Direct Relation with EV Sales

The demand for battery swapping business and EV sales are correlated with each other. By expanding the EV network, battery-swapping stations have a profound impact on the demand for electric vehicles, primarily in the B2C sector. As the EV demand increases, more people realize the benefits of EV battery-swapping stations and prefer them over the existing time-consuming EV charging stations.

6. Recyclable Batteries

Investing in EV batteries is profitable for entrepreneurs in many ways. First, they can invest in EV batteries in bulk to maximize the utilization of their capital. This way, they can keep higher profit margins and reach a breakeven point faster. However, EV batteries are also recyclable. Meaning, that once their charging lifespan is over, they can resold to manufacturers for recycling purposes, providing an additional benefit to battery-swapping business owners.

7. No Additional Load on Power Grids

One of the key challenges in expanding the EV network by installing charging stations was the added load on the electric or power grids. Due to limited power supplies and distribution policies, it was a huge challenge for companies to set up their EV charging stations both inside and outside cities. In most cases, companies were required to invest in microgrids as well. In contrast, the battery swapping stations do not put additional load on power grids. The batteries can be charged at a primary warehouse, connected to a single or dedicated power grid and fully charged batteries can be transported to scattered swapping outlets. 

How Does the Battery Swapping Business Model Work – Complete Operational Workflow 

The battery-swapping business model primarily involves 3 to 4 entities or user types depending on your target audience. Additionally, to streamline operations, you need a battery swap operations management software. This software will be used to maintain the inventory log, manage swapping stations, generate invoices, and oversee all operations. 

For a complete overview, we have explained the operational workflow inclusive of both B2B and B2C customers.

User Types in The Battery Swapping Business Model

1. The Battery Swapping Service Provider or the Admin: This is the primary user type and refers to the business owner and administrative representatives. The admin is completely responsible for overseeing the entire operations through a centralized platform.

2. The Swapping Station: These can be independent companies and contractors providing battery swapping services under your business name, just like the different franchises of a business. Or, you can also hire your own staff to maintain the swapping stations. The key responsibilities of these stations are to exchange batteries and keep a log of inventory and customers. Maintaining this log is important to keep proper track of swapped batteries and generate consolidated invoices.

3. Corporate Businesses with Commercial Fleets (B2B Customers): These are the corporates that purchase eBikes and batteries from you in bulk. For example, restaurants, MNCs, hotels, courier companies, laundry companies, logistic companies, and other companies that have their own commercial fleet for delivery operations.  

4. B2C Customers: These are individual customers who purchase electric vehicles with batteries compatible with your swapping service operations. 

Workflow of a Battery-Swapping Business

The following is the exemplary workflow of a battery-swapping business. You can also make changes to it depending on your business requirements or technical limitations.

• Step 1: The battery swapping business owner or the admin transports fully charged batteries from the warehouse to different swapping stations.
• Step 2: The delivery agents of corporate brands (B2B customers) and B2C customers visit the swapping station.
• Step 3: The swapping station swaps the batteries and scans the QR code on both the batteries and the electric vehicle to maintain a log in the battery swapping software system. 
• Step 4: The system generates an invoice depending on the percentage charge of the returned batteries, eg. 100% charge – percentage charge returned. 
• Step 5: In the case of B2B customers, the invoice amount is saved in the account receivables log in the system. The entire due amount is paid by the corporate by the end of the month.
• Step 6: In the case of B2C customers, the EV owner pays the invoice amount right after battery swapping.
• Step 7: The admin collects the drained batteries on a routine basis and takes them to the warehouse for charging.

Revenue Generation Model 

The battery swapping business model includes some recurring revenue streams, which makes it easier to make money. Basically, after selling an electric vehicle or partnering with an EV manufacturer, you can create your monopoly for battery swapping in the market. Meaning, the customer will need to revisit your swapping stations, resulting in recurring revenue. 

However, the diversification of revenue generation streams is also important. It will help your business bring in stable and sustainable returns. To maximize revenue generation, the following revenue generation operations are feasible in a battery swapping business. 

• Battery Swapping Charges (Recurring Revenue): These are calculated based on the battery percentage purchased by the customer and invoiced to B2B clients every month. 
• Monthly Subscription (Recurring Revenue): Additionally, a monthly subscription with a limited number of swappable batteries can be offered to B2C customers.
• Renting Electric Vehicles (Recurring Revenue): As shared in our previous insights, 78% of consumers prefer rental as their primary mode of EV adoption. Thus, battery swapping businesses can also benefit from renting electric vehicles. 
• Sale of Recyclable Batteries: Batteries that reach their end of life can be resold to manufacturers for recycling purposes. 
• Add-on Services and Products: In battery swapping stations, you can provide other value-added services, such as cleaning services, repair services, software upgrades,  nitrogen for tires, and even put vending machines for soft drinks and eatables.

Battery Swapping Businesses to Take Inspiration From

The battery swapping business model has already been adopted by several entrepreneurs. Their businesses have been successful in bringing an EV revolution in their respective markets and invoking a positive response from customers. A few such major players are:

• Gogoro
• NIO
• Aulton
• Sun Mobility
• Oyika

Things to Consider while Starting Your Battery Swapping Business

Preparing your battery swapping business will require your interest in four directions, which are partnering with an EV manufacturer, finding a warehouse for charging batteries, setting up swapping stations and investing in a battery swapping software solution for managing business operations. Let’s discuss these four in more details:

1. Partner with an EV Manufacturer

Before building a battery swapping station, you need to invest in the EVs whose batteries you would be replacing. There are two ways to do that:

• Manufacture your own EVs
• Partner with existing EV manufacturers 

While the first option is highly capital intensive and is a separate business on its own, the second option is more feasible. Your selected EVs can be eBikes, cars, trucks, tuktuks (public transport vehicles), etc. After finding a manufacturer for these EVs, you can send them a proposal to be their battery swapping partner and help them in expanding their entire EV network. If your proposal is accepted, you can procure batteries and even EVs from the manufacturers in bulk.

2. Set Up a Warehouse or Charging Station

To increase returns and become profitable, the battery swapping business includes transporting batteries from a warehouse to swapping stations. This also eliminates the need to set up micro power grids and reduces the financial burden on infrastructure and legal work. Thus, you can rent or purchase a warehouse in a well-connected region with abundant power supply, or simply set up a single micro grid for your warehouse. In the warehouse, you can charge all batteries and transport them to the different swapping stations. 

3. Set Up Swapping Stations

Swapping stations will be the customer-facing touchpoints for your business. Either you can rent out space and designate your own employees to run these swapping stations or rely on a franchise type structure as well where different contractors will partner with you to enable battery swapping stations. Along with swapping batteries, you can provide additional services on these stations as well. For example, EV repair and maintenance services or just keep a food vending machine. These will help you in maximizing your revenue generation. At the end of the day, you can collect all the drained batteries from these swapping stations and take them back to your warehouse for charging. 

4. Set Up an Online Battery Swapping Management System

To manage all operations, you need to invest in a battery swapping software solution. The solution can have the following interfaces:

• Admin Interface: The admin interface will be the primary interface to manage operations. From the admin dashboard, you can view all orders, users, track inventory, access revenue generation reports, manage the front-end interface, set up payment gateways, generate monthly invoices for corporates, and do more.

• Front-end Interface: The front-end interface will act as the official website for your business and help you establish a brand. Users or even corporates can visit the front-end interface to collect more information about your business and reach out to you. Additionally, you can upload entire eBike catalogs so that customers can find out about products and purchase them directly from your online store. For the latter part, you may need to provide a checkout functionality on the front-end and set up payment gateways. 

• Swapping Station Interface: This interface will only be for the swapping personnels so that they can mark real-time updates on the exchanged batteries. The swapping station interface will include a QR code scanner so that the personnels can scan both drained and fully charged batteries and save records, such as battery number, exchange date and amount due on the online system. 

• Corporate Interface: The access to the corporate interface is given to the different brands who become your customers. Via this interface, they can link different delivery agents with electric vehicles and view their swapping history. At any time, they can also check consolidated invoices and the amount due by every month. Either they can make payment directly through the corporate interface or do bank transfers as well.

• Sub User Interface: The sub user interface is used by the delivery agents. The sub user account is created by corporates and shared with the EV riders. Through this interface, the delivery agents can view their swapping history and cross check details such as battery percentage returned and any amount paid to the charging station. 

How to Develop your Online Battery Swapping Management System?

There are two approaches to develop a battery swapping management system:

1. Custom Development

The first approach includes custom development from scratch. For this approach, you will need to hire a software development firm, discuss your business model with them, prepare a Software Requirement Specification (SRS) document, select the technology stack and begin the development. However, there are a few downsides to this approach:

• The entire development process is too costly, involving hourly development costs and business analysis costs
• The development process can take up to 2 years. In this time, any other entrepreneur or competitor can capitalize on your business and take the first-mover advantage
• The end-product will still not be tried and tested for the market

2. Using a Low Code Software as Base

The low-code software refers to the readymade solutions that come with all essential features to help you launch your platform. Many low code solutions are customizable and will require some customizations to support the battery swapping model. This approach is better than the custom development approach because of the following reasons:

• Low code software are highly cost effective in comparison to the custom development approach
• The overall time-to-market is faster, so that you don’t lose any competitive edge
• You get an MVP solution that comes with all essential features and interfaces

Note: As of now, the availability of 100% readymade software for managing battery swapping operations is sparse. Due to the low availability, selecting a low-code solution as a base remains the only option to develop a reliable battery swapping management system.

How Yo!Rent (FATbit) Helped a Major Player in the South African Market Transform its Battery Swapping Business

In the past few months, Yo!Rent, a rental software solution by FATbit, collaborated with a major battery swapping player of the South African market and provided them with a robust battery swapping management system. Yo!Rent already had several essential features that aligned with the battery swapping business model. To perfect the final build, our team of business experts analyzed the model in detail and added more features to Yo!Rent. As a result, the provided solution effectively encompassed the client’s battery swapping business model and delivered high performance.

Key Features Deployed by Yo!Rent to Launch a Battery Swapping Management System

Before using Yo!Rent, the client was manually managing battery swapping operations, which was not only a time consuming and cost-intensive process, but also risked the efficiency and productivity of the business. Yo!Rent streamlined the client’s business with a wide range of features. While some of the features were already present in Yo!Rent, we added some additional features to provide the client with complete support for his desired business model. 

Some of the Existing Features of YoRent (Base Product) that Helped The Client

• Rent plus Sell: Along with battery swapping operations, the client also sold and rented electric bikes. Yo!Rent had the rent plus sell functionality in the base product and did not require any additional customization. 
• Booking Calendar: To ensure accurate rental bookings, Yo!Rent has an advanced booking calendar. This calendar accepts rental date inputs from corporates or individual customers and prevents double booking.
• Request for Quote (RFQ) Module: B2B operations can be very complex. To help the client manage such orders, Yo!Rent comes with an RFQ module. This module helps the client receive price quotation requests and negotiate the same along with business terms. All the negotiation details are saved on the system itself.
• Rental Security Management: For ensuring electric bikes’ safety, Yo!Rent has a rental security management option. During checkout, the business owner can collect a rental security amount and use it to reimburse any unexpected damages. 
• Agreement Management: To further encourage the safe use of electric bikes and batteries, Yo!Rent comes with an agreement management module. Through this module, the client is able to upload their terms and conditions and sanction them with an eSign option. 
• Bulk Duration Discount: For corporate clients who are renting out electric bikes in bulk, the client can create bulk duration discounts. These will be automatically applied at checkout.
• Rental Duration Discount: Similar to bulk duration discounts, the client can create several discount options for corporates renting out bikes for long-term operations.

New Features that We Added to Support Battery Swapping Operations

• Battery IDs: While exchanging batteries, the vendor can search and save important exchange information, such as exchange date, time, battery percentage, vehicle number, user and more in dedicated Battery IDs.
• QR Code Scanner: To increase speed and efficiency of swapping, vendors can simply scan the QR Code and automatically load the Battery ID. This saves time on manual inputs and eliminates the scope for human error. 
• Charge Based Invoicing: To provide accurate invoicing, we deployed a charge based invoicing algorithm. Under this type of invoicing, customers only need to pay for the additional charge they get in the swapped batteries. Thus, they are charged on the basis of 100% battery – battery percentage returned.
• Custom Product Catalogue Fields: To help the client prepare accurate listings for the electric bikes and batteries, we also created custom product catalogue fields.
• Corporate Registration Forms: To onboard corporate customers with large fleets, we integrated a custom registration form with all required fields. These fields help the client procure essential information to conduct safe and legally compliant business operations.
• Corporate Profiles: For providing corporates with complete control over their battery swapping operations, we integrated corporate account profiles into the system. After creating a corporate profile, companies can access the corporate interface and view delivery agents, swapping history, invoices, messages, notifications and more. 
• Corporate Sub User Accounts: For managing delivery agents and other employees, we integrated the corporate sub user profiles into the system. The corporate can create unlimited sub user accounts and also link every delivery agent with an eBike. Both delivery agents and the employer (corporate) can access and view the agent’s complete swapping history. 
• Inventory Tracking: With the help of Battery IDs, the client can keep complete track of the inventory. He can find which battery has been fitted in which eBike and also the user linked to the bike. Additionally, the client can check a battery’s usage history, swapping history, its swapping station location and more. 
• Centralized User Data: To ensure seamless battery swapping operations across  locations, we provide centralized data access in Yo!Rent. Meaning, a delivery agent can swap a battery at any swapping station managed by the client. 
• Monthly Consolidated Invoicing: For large corporates, we integrated a special consolidated invoicing module that consolidates all invoices and calculates the total amount due every month for the batteries swapped by delivery agents.
• M-Pesa Integration: For quick and hassle-free payments, we integrated the target region’s one of the most reliable payment gateways M-Pesa into the client’s Battery Swapping Management System. 
• Pay Later: The system supports multiple payment methods for a better user experience. One of them is the pay later option.

Steps to Build a Battery Swapping Platform with Yo!Rent

Yo!Rent has shown proven capabilities to develop a viable battery swapping management platform. Not only the solution can support battery swapping operations but comes with rent-centric and sales features right out of the box. This makes Yo!Rent a highly reliable base to develop your battery swapping platform. To get started, you are required to follow these steps.

Step 1: Obtain a Yo!Rent License

Get Yo!Rent’s lifetime license by getting in touch with our team. The license is available at a one-time cost and will state all necessary customizations that you want in the platform.

Step 2: Development and Installation

Our team will carry out all the customizations to meet your business requirements. Once developed, the solution will be tested and installed on your server.

Step 3: Configure the Platform

Configure the primary settings of your battery swapping platform, such as the payment gateways, bank details, admin accounts, swapping station accounts, and more. Also start adding battery IDs to track inventory and add other inventory such as ebikes and accessories.

Step 4: Promote and Manage your Business

Market your battery swapping business to attract clients. Once onboarded, you can use Yo!Rent’s in-built options to manage your battery swapping business. 

Conclusion

With the battery swapping industry aimed at redefining the entire EV infrastructure, investing in a battery swapping business is a profitable business proposition. It primarily targets the B2B clients, such as corporates with personnel delivery fleets and helps them reduce operational costs and decrease the overall downtime. Because of these advantages, several corporates throughout the globe have already invested in an EV fleet. By capitalizing in the industry, you can tie up with EV manufacturers and provide corporates with your own EV fleets. With the electric vehicles powered by swappable batteries, you can create monopolies in several cities that still remain untouched by EV businesses.

The post Start your EV Battery Swapping Business: Complete Business Model appeared first on FATbit Blog.

A micro job marketplace is a platform where service seekers can find thousands of freelancers for doing small gigs or micro-jobs such as graphic designing, programming, marketing, or even home services like plumbing, electrician, cleaning, roofing, and HVAC. Once the micro job ends, the freelancer can select another micro-job and adjust it in their work schedule. The micro-job industry is also expected to flourish in the upcoming years. 

If we consider the freelance market, its estimated market size is expected to grow from $4.9 billion to $11.7 billion in the projected period 2022-2028. On the other hand, the handyman services market is also doing well with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.5% in the forecast period 2023-2028. Considering the ease of finding jobs that micro-job marketplaces bring, it is safe to say that the industry holds lucrative opportunities for entrepreneurship.

This article will guide you through how you build your micro-job marketplace and enter the industry most efficiently.

Market Overview

The growth statistics of the micro-job industry are quite astonishing and highlight the profitability of launching a micro-job marketplace very affirmingly. There are also a few incumbents in the industry to take inspiration from. These incumbents are mentioned in the following table.

Moreover, as per the Freelancing in America Report, 70% of freelancers claim to find jobs through online marketplace. We have also provided a detailed breakdown of the most demanded freelance services on micro-job marketplaces like Fiverr and UpWork.

For exploring the freelance market of different geographic regions or planning a cross-border operations marketplace, you should have a look at the following growth rates:

Business Models of Micro-Job Marketplaces

To build a micro-job marketplace, it is essential to select a feasible business model that you can easily promote and follow for years. Additionally, the model should be easy to incorporate into your website. At the same time, you need to ensure that the business model is market-fit, which can also be a hybrid model – one of the three feasible models mentioned below.

1. Direct Hiring Model

In the direct hiring model, service seekers visit your micro-job website and browse freelancer profiles. When selecting a freelancer, seekers can directly invite them for a job.

Workflow Reference for the Direct Hiring Model

• Step 1: Multiple freelancers sign up on the marketplace and create detailed freelancer profiles. 
• Step 2: Customers browse freelancer profiles and select a freelancer.
• Step 3: To book a freelancer, they pay their hourly charges on the marketplace.
• Step 4: The freelancer delivers the job.

2. Job Posting and Bidding Model

In the second model, service seekers upload jobs, gigs, or tasks on the platform and freelancers place their bids after reviewing those jobs. If a bid gets selected, that freelancer gets hired for the job. 

Workflow Reference for the Job Posting and Bidding Model

• Step 1: Customers upload detailed job listings on the marketplace.
• Step 2: Service seekers browse those listings and send a proposal inclusive of the bid.
• Step 3: After reviewing different proposals, customers select a freelancer and pay the fees on the platform.
• Step 4: The freelancer delivers the job.

3. The Hybrid Model

Due to consumer preferences and market trends, it has become essential to provide both direct hiring and job posting models on a single platform. Not only doing so will help you meet user expectations, but will also provide you with a competitive edge.

Workflow Reference for the Hybrid Model

• Step 1: Customers upload detailed job listings on the marketplace.
• Step 2: They wait to receive proposals on those jobs and in the meanwhile, can also browse freelancer profiles for direct hiring.
• Step 3: In case of direct hiring, they invite the freelancer to the uploaded job, who then sends their own proposal.
• Step 4: The service seeker can compare this proposal with other proposals or directly hire the freelancer

Revenue Model of Micro-Job Marketplace

As the entire micro-job marketplace model works online, it is easily accessible by a lot of consumers, service providers, and other entrepreneurs. This accessibility offers more revenue-generation models than traditional businesses where the physical boundaries remain a primary limitation. Some of the viable revenue generation strategies that you can implement on your micro job marketplace are:

• Booking Commission: You can charge a booking commission for every booking that takes place on your marketplace

• Featured Listings: Featured listings are paid listings that appear at the very top of the search results or at highlighted spaces on your website. You can charge top-rated service providers for displaying their featured listings

• Display Ads: These refer to the common ad spaces on your marketplace website, including the homepage banner and other inner collections. You can charge both third-party local businesses and service providers to display their ads

• Subscription Packages: You can create monthly recurring service packages for both service providers and seekers, offering them extra benefits on your marketplace

Core Features Required on Your Marketplace

To develop a micro-job marketplace, it is essential to understand the features and functionalities that you require in your solution. Not only will these help you develop a market-fit solution but also provide a general cost estimate of the software. A readymade solution with all these features will further simplify and shorten the entire development process.

• Detailed Profile Creation: Your micro-job marketplace software should allow users to create detailed freelancer profiles inclusive of their skills, spoken languages, experience, portfolio, and more. 

• Multiple Job Types: Customers on a micro-job marketplace tend to upload jobs in various types and categories, some of them are:

• Public Jobs: These are visible to everyone
• Private Jobs: Only visible to a few selected or shortlisted freelancers
• Fixed Price Jobs: The service charges are fixed in this type of job (mostly used for getting the market price-match)
• Biddable Jobs: Where multiple freelancers place their bids on a single job

Thus, to cater to all such requirements, your micro-job software should support all these job types.

• Direct Hiring: In the direct hiring module, customers are able to hire freelancers directly after viewing their profiles. This saves the trouble of waiting for bids and reviewing them.

• Service Packages: To simplify direct hiring operations without exploiting freelancers’ privacy by integrating a time tracker, the marketplace software should allow freelancers to create different service packages. These packages will include several options such as the service delivered, tasks covered, number of revisions, pricing, and more. Based on their requirements, clients can select the package most suitable for them. 

• Bidding Module: In contrast to direct hiring, the bidding module is immensely helpful in starting a screening process for a job. The freelancer that best matches the customer’s requirements and provides the best value for money gets selected for the job.

• Custom Task Categories: The micro-job marketplace software should allow you to create multiple task categories that freelancers can use to register. Although the software will have many pre-built categories, this option gives the marketplace owner the flexibility to accommodate the marketplace with any future trends and in-demand skills.

• Dynamic Registration Forms: For successful registration, the registration form should collect different information from varying professions. E.g., portfolios from graphic designers, writing samples for writers, traffic generation reports from digital marketers, and equipment details from photographers. This can be easily implemented with the help of dynamic registration forms that allow the marketplace owner to personalize the form for different trade professions. 

• Job Cancellation Window: If a customer cancels a job after the freelancer has started working on the project, this may lead to several losses for the freelancer. To prevent any such instances, the marketplace software requires a job cancellation window. This window will be defined by the admin and once the window is over, the customer cannot cancel the job. Another benefit of having the cancellation window option is that it will prevent all external communications and dealings between the client and the freelancer.

• Order Management: The order management option will help the marketplace owner receive real-time updates on all orders. The owner can also see the total invoice, selected freelancer, customer, and job details. Additionally, the owner will have access to all completed, in-progress and pending orders.

• Company Listing: To diversify your freelance marketplace operations, you can also let private companies and businesses register themselves on the marketplace. Those companies can further create freelancer profiles and bid on project-level jobs.

• Commission Settings: Commission charges are the primary source of earning for micro-job marketplace owners. The marketplace software that you select should allow you to set your own commission rate.

• Payment Withdrawal Settings: To maintain a healthy cash flow on the marketplace and balance to initiate refunds, you need the necessary earnings withdrawal features like minimum withdrawal threshold and minimum withdrawal interval. 

• Multi-Lingual Support: Multilingual support will allow your freelancers to select multiple spoken languages on your platform. Doing so will help you provide a better service experience to customers and target a diverse audience.

Developing a Microjob Marketplace

After selecting your preferred business model and identifying the key features, we can move forward with the development process.

Step 1: Select a Micro-job Marketplace Software

There are multiple approaches to developing your micro job marketplace. While traditional development includes bespoke development from scratch, the modern approach involves using readymade software. Let’s discuss them both for proper evaluation:

Bespoke Development

The bespoke development approach includes searching for a software development firm, selecting your tech stack, and paying for the waterfall or agile development process on an hourly basis. As everything is required to be developed from scratch, the overall cost of the project is very high. Moreover, the development time frame is also quite long. Even after the completion of the project, there remains the risk of developing a solution that may fail to meet the purpose. 

Using Readymade Solutions

The modern approach to software development, i.e., using a readymade software has made the entire development process considerably easier and cost-efficient for all entrepreneurs. In the freelancing industry, there are a few no-code and low-code solutions available that you can use to create and deploy your marketplace. These include both SaaS solutions and Self-hosted solutions. While the former are hosted on the software provider’s very own servers, the latter provide the hosting server choice to the entrepreneur. Due to this, we often see limitations in the number of listings and transactions in SaaS solutions, whereas self-hosted solutions are fully customizable.

Bespoke Development vs Readymade Solution: Time and Cost Analysis

A micro-job marketplace is a complex software that includes various interfaces and numerous web pages. On top of it, the marketplace requires vast functions to operate. Thus, the overall timeframe to custom develop the software can take up to 1000 hours or even more. On the other hand, readymade solutions come with all essential features and webpages pre-built into the software. As the marketplace owner, you only need to configure readymade software. Because of this, readymade solutions can help you get started with your business operations within 2-4 business days.

For an accurate cost evaluation, check out the following table.

Step 2: Deploy and Configure Marketplace Software

While SaaS software is already deployed on the software provider’s server, the other two approaches require you to deploy it on your own server. This can either be an on-premise server installed in your work premises or a reliable third-party server like Amazon Web Services or Bluehost. Our best recommendation is to select a fast server with high security to ensure quick load times, 100% uptime, and invulnerability to cyber attacks.

Once deployed, you need to configure the following settings and web pages on your marketplace.

1. Configure Payment Gateways

Some payment gateways may be pre-integrated in your software solution, you can simply activate those payment gateways and add your banking details. On the other hand, some readymade software may allow you to add more payment gateways. If you feel the need for the same, then you can select a payment gateway based on the following criteria:

• Localization: Local payment gateways that are very well known in your target region hold an unmatched trust factor. It is safe to assume that your target audience will always prefer them over foreign or international payment gateways.
• Uptime: Reliable payment gateways ensure a 24/7 uptime. This immensely reduces transaction failures on any type of eCommerce platform while also ensuring a positive customer experience.

• Payment Processing Time: Payment gateways have varying payment processing times. While some can process payments within 2-4 days, others take up to a week. Some payment gateways also provide bulk payment processing at an additional cost, which processes all transactions within 12 hours. To maintain a healthy cash flow, integrating a gateway with minimum processing time is recommended.

• Security: To ensure safe and secure transactions, global organizations have released several standards, protocols, regulations, and compliances. A few such security standards that should be present in your payment gateways are PCI DSS compliance for card payments, SSL encryption, TLS encryption, 3D Secure, tokenization, and Secure Electronic Transaction (SET).

• Transaction Fee: Lastly, to process payments, each gateway charges a transaction fee. This fee can vary from gateway to gateway. This transaction fee along with the aforementioned criteria can help you find a cost-effective payment gateway for your micro-job marketplace business. 

2. Add Branding Elements

To provide your micro-job marketplace with an identity, set up all branding elements, which include logos, icons, slogans, social media handles, and other trademarks. All these elements will assist you in developing a recognizable marketplace. Additionally, you will also need to select a color scheme and a writing style that will remain consistent across all official channels including the marketplace, emails, social media platforms, and other marketing channels.

3. Set Up Website Content

Your micro-job marketplace content will help users receive a thorough understanding of your services. Additionally, it will help secure high SEO rankings on search engines. As per our evaluation, there are a few primary web pages whose content you need to set up:

• Home Page
• Micro-Jobs Listing Page
• Freelancers Profiles Page 
• Sign-up/Login Page
• Freelancer Registration Page
• Post a Job
• About Us
• Contact Us
• How It Works
• Services Offered
• Help/FAQ
• Cart/Checkout Page
• Blog
• Resources
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Testimonials
• Newsletter Signup

Step 3: Test the Marketplace

Test the marketplace to verify whether all features are functioning as intended. Your micro-job marketplace will have 4 interfaces, which are:

• User Front-End
• Admin Dashboard
• Freelancer Dashboard
• Client Dashboard

To effectively check out the various features and functionalities in these interfaces along with the user experience, create a testing account and register yourself as the admin, customer, and client. Place an order on the user front-end while analyzing various sections of the interface, such as content blocks, buttons, scrolling, payment gateways, payment methods, transactions, cart, notifications, and more. 

After placing an order from the user front end, log in to the freelancer dashboard and mark status updates. These updates should be visible in the admin dashboard. Also test other features such as chat messenger, payment withdrawal settings, and more. You can also log in to the admin dashboard to see the placement of a new order. The same should be reflected in your earnings.  

Lastly, test the interlinking on the platform including navigation, social media handles, and external links. See whether all the forms are working as intended and as the customer or freelancer, you are easily able to fill in and submit the forms. 

Note: Selecting a tried and tested solution that has already been evaluated on the diverse use cases by the software provider can vastly reduce your testing efforts. Thus, it is wiser to carefully select your micro-job marketplace solution.   

Step 6: Promote and Grow

To start business operations, you need to onboard some freelancers. This can be done by providing various incentives to the first freelancers, such as zero commission rates and featured listing spaces on the marketplace. At the same time, you need to promote the micro job marketplace to attract customers. SEO will be beneficial in fulfilling this purpose. With accurate search terms (for example: hire graphic designer online), you can compete with other players in this space. 

Additionally, launch various markdown strategies to draw customers. These can either be discounts on the first three jobs or a referral bonus strategy. After customers find out the convenience of finding freelancers on your micro-job marketplace, you can expect them to become repeat customers and increase their customer lifetime value. 

As your marketplace will be comparatively new, you will need to focus your marketing efforts on paid campaigning as well. When your organic SEO presence grows strong, you can reduce your expenditure on paid campaigns. Doing so will help you stabilize your overall customer acquisition costs and reach the breakeven point faster.

Our Recommended Solution to Build a Micro-Job Marketplace

Yo!Gigs is a future-ready solution that is made to launch robust marketplaces like Fiverr, UpWork, Toptal, and Thumbtack. Its new version was launched in the year 2024, making it the most advanced micro-job marketplace software with industry-leading features including all the ones mentioned above. As Yo!Gigs is meticulously developed to help you with numerous marketplace use cases, it can be easily used to deliver, manage, and enhance freelancer and handyman services. 

Some other reasons to select Yo!Gigs are:

• Dedicated features with industry-specific designs for freelancing and handyman marketplaces
• For long-term business operations, Yo!Gigs comes with a lifetime usage license at a one-time cost. 
• Yo!Gigs supports unlimited listings, transactions, and profile creations. 
• To ensure uninterrupted business operations, Yo!Gigs comes with 12 months of free technical support 

Conclusion

During times of adversity when unemployment increases, micro-job marketplaces emerge as the only solution to help talented professionals survive. The great economic recession of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic are evidence to that. However, once professionals get used to working on these marketplaces, they don’t want to switch back to traditional 9-5 jobs because of several benefits such as higher profit margins and work autonomy. Additionally, the change in the modern workforce mindset remains to be a strong growth factor for the marketplace industry. 

FAQs

Q 1: How Much Does It Cost to Start a Micro Job Website?

The cost of developing a micro job website depends on the selected software technology and development approach. Via the traditional development approach that is charged on a per-hour basis, the overall cost can range between $60,000-$150,000. Via the no-code or low-code development method, you can easily drop this cost to $3,000 – $40,000. 

Q 2: What are Some Common Challenges Faced by Micro Job Website Owners?

Onboarding freelancers is the primary challenge that micro job website owners face. Secondly, they also have to ensure a smooth browsing experience and secure payments. Along with these, ensuring job satisfaction via timely delivery and quality of the work is a must. All such problems can be easily dealt with by investing in a tried and tested readymade software. To discuss the challenges that FATbit’s Yo!Gigs helps micro job website owners deal with, get in touch with our industry experts.

Q 3: Can You Develop a Micro-job Marketplace for My Requirements?

Yes, at FATbit, we have a readymade micro job marketplace solution – Yo!Gigs. Revamped in the year 2024, Yo!Gigs is the most advanced job marketplace software that helps you deal with numerous use cases. It comes with next-gen features, supports 24/7 payments, and can help you seamlessly connect freelancers with customers. For more information or to get a price quote, contact our experts.

ketplace software that helps you deal with numerous use cases. It comes with next-gen features, supports 24/7 payments and can help you seamlessly connect freelancers with customers. For more information or to get a price quote, contact our experts.

The post Best Guide to Create a Microjob Marketplace like Fiverr and Thumbtack appeared first on FATbit Blog.

People are leaving their full-time jobs to provide freelancing services to clients across the globe and increase their scope of earning, all from the comfort of their homes. Startups and big corporations benefit the most from this trend as they get to access freelancers with skills that are generally not available in their local job markets.

Due to this changing mindset of companies and the traditional workforce, freelance marketplaces are witnessing significant growth. One of the leading websites in this industry is Toptal, which currently holds around 80.56% market share of the freelance engineering industry.

Let us now discuss what Toptal is, its operational model and revenue model, what features it provides and how you can build a freelance marketplace like Toptal.

About Toptal

Toptal is a freelance marketplace website that connects highly skilled freelancing talent including software designers, developers, product managers, and financial experts with clients from all over the world. It was founded by Taso Du Val and Breanden Beneschott in November 2010. The platform was officially launched in the year 2011.

Within four years of its launch, Toptal became one of the fastest-growing freelancing companies with a 2,861% annual growth and was featured in Deloitte’s 2015 Technology Fast 500 list. In 2022, Toptal expanded its geographic footprint to 140+ countries, serving over 25,000+ clients. Currently, it is one of the top freelancer marketplaces with an estimated annual revenue of $1.3 Billion.

How Toptal Freelance Marketplace Works

Finding the right freelancer among the plethora of options is quite a cumbersome and time-consuming process. Toptal makes it easier by connecting customers with only highly skilled professionals who meet all their job requirements. Let us discuss the business model of Toptal in detail:

• The clients can post a job with all the necessary details like the type of freelancer required, specific skill etc.
• Toptal searches for the best-suited candidates that match the job requirements, and provides a list of available freelancers to the client.
• The clients can interact with these freelancers to find the most appropriate freelancer to do the job.
  
• After choosing the right freelancer, the client can pay the initial booking amount. Then the freelancer connects with the client and starts working on the job.
• The client is billed for the time the freelancer has spent on the job.

Toptal also offers a free trial period of two weeks, in which the client can assess the freelancer’s work and decide to continue with the same freelancer or find another one.

Offering the Best Freelancers – The screening process of Toptal

Toptal has a rigorous screening process that filters out most of the applications and allows only highly skilled freelancers to register on the platform. This process consists of the following steps:-

• Toptal conducts a timed evaluation that assesses the core skills of the freelancer. It is a rigorous test that only highly skilled freelancers can clear.
• The freelancers who pass the skill test are shortlisted for a personal interview where their communication and soft skills are evaluated.
• After the personal interview round, the freelancer is given a real-world project to complete within 40 working hours. Toptal requires the freelancers to share their screens during this round.
  
• The freelancers who clear the above rounds are onboarded on the platform.

Must-Have Features in a Website like Toptal

Every freelance marketplace has some distinct features depending on the niche, target audience, and budget of the marketplace. However, some crucial features are common in almost all marketplaces.

• Multiple Job Types – You can enable clients to post different types of jobs as per their requirements. These job types can include public jobs, private jobs, fixed-price jobs, and biddable jobs.
• Admin Approval – The admin approval feature enables the admin to either accept or reject a freelancer registration. This decision is generally based on the qualifications and skillset mentioned by the freelancer. Toptal uses this feature to ensure that only highly skilled professionals can join its platform.
• Social Sign-up – To simplify the sign-up process, you can provide users with the option to sign up using their existing social media accounts.
  
• Freelancer Recommendations – You can incorporate a freelancer recommendation process on your platform to provide freelancer suggestions to customers.
  
• Direct Invitation – You can allow the customers to visit freelancer profiles and send them a direct invitation for the job posting.
  
• Multiple Payment Gateways – To facilitate financial transactions through your marketplace, you need to integrate various payment gateways according to the requirements of target regions.
• Advanced Job Posting – The advanced job posting module can enable customers to provide details about the job, including images, required skill sets, and any other attachments.
• Multi-Currency Support – Providing multi-currency support is essential for expanding your business and targeting a diverse audience. Toptal has also incorporated this feature on its platform to simplify financial transactions.
  
• Featured Listings – Including a featured listing section in your platform to highlight the top-performing freelancers will help you to build customers’ trust while boosting the morale of the freelancers.
• Private Messaging – An in-built messaging facility will help the customers easily interact with freelancers and share attachments related to the job posting without leaving your platform. Toptal also enables clients to message freelancers before, during, and after the job completion.
  

• Reviews and Ratings – You can increase the credibility of your freelancers and your marketplace by adding the ratings and reviews feature. It can help clients assess the work ethics, quality of work, and the overall behavior of freelancers.
  
• Issue Resolution – An issue resolution feature is useful in cases where there is a dispute between the freelancer and the client after job completion. 

Revenue Generation Model Of A Freelance Website like Toptal

You must incorporate some revenue streams into your freelance website to diversify your income. Some of the common revenue streams of freelance marketplaces include.:- 

• Commission Charges – You can set your commission on each financial transaction that takes place through your platform. This is the exact model that Toptal uses to generate revenue.
• Membership Charges – A membership plan can be a great source of recurring income. You can offer different membership packages to customers and freelancers which can provide them with some special privileges and benefits.
• Featured Listing Spaces – Featured listings are likely to get more customer attention. Therefore, you can charge freelancers to display their profiles in the featured listing space. 
• Display Ads – The graphics advertisements in the form of banners, images, gifs, videos, etc. are known as display ads. You can generate revenue by displaying third-party ads on your freelance website and charging the advertisers for displaying these ads.  

How To Create A Freelance Marketplace Like Toptal

Building a successful freelancing marketplace like Toptal requires a lot of planning, research, and marketing. Let us have a detailed look at the process of creating a freelance website:-

1. Market Research – Before developing your freelance website, you must assess your target audience and their pain points. You should be familiar with the current trends in the industry. You should also study your competitors’ business models, revenue models, sales, and the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. These insights will help you in the next stages of the development process.

2. Developing your Freelance Platform – There are two different methods/approaches that you can use for creating your freelance marketplace- the traditional approach and the modern approach. Let us understand what these approaches are:-

a. The Traditional Approach – The traditional approach involves hiring a team of software developers to create your freelance platform. You can also outsource this task to a bespoke software development company. The benefits of using the traditional approach are:

• Complete Control Over The Source Code
• High Scalability 

Although the traditional approach is beneficial for creating scalable solutions. it comes with its own set of disadvantages, including:-

• Huge Development Cost
• More Time-Consuming 
• Not Tried And Tested

b. Using a low-code/no-code solution – A low-code/no-code software allows you to build a scalable marketplace using its intuitive user interface, eliminating the requirement of having vast coding knowledge. This software is already created as per the industry standards and can be customized according to your requirements. Some of the major advantages of a low-code/no-code software are:

• Low Development Cost
• Time-Efficient
• Tried And Tested
• Feature-Loaded Solution

While the no-code solutions are gaining huge popularity because of the benefits that they provide, there are a few downsides to using these solutions. These include:-

• Limited Control of The Source Code
• Low Scalability

3. Deploying The Software – After building your freelance platform, you can deploy it on a server based on your choice. Then you can set up and personalize the landing pages per your needs.

4. Freelancer Onboarding – In order to get customers on your freelancing website, you need to onboard some talented freelancers. To attract talented freelancers to your platform, you can offer various benefits to the first few freelancers such as lower commission rates, free featured listings, etc.

5. Marketing – The final step after launching your marketplace software is marketing and promotion. Initially, you may have to rely on paid marketing techniques to increase awareness about your marketplace. In the later stages, you can use the built-in features of your marketplace software such as discounts, offers, and SEO optimization features to promote and market your platform.

How Yogigs Can Help In Creating A Freelance Website Like Toptal?

Yo!Gigs is a fully customizable freelance marketplace software that can help you create a freelance marketplace like Toptal. It is highly scalable and can manage unlimited listings and financial transactions. It is a feature-rich solution that can be used as a base to provide essential features similar to Toptal, including:-

• Skill Assessment
• Advanced Job Posting
• Freelancer Matching
• Risk-Free Trial Period
• Multi-Currency Support
• Reviews and Ratings
• Personal Messaging
• Issue Resolution

Unlike SaaS-based software solutions asking for monthly subscription charges, Yo!Gigs can be purchased with a lifetime usage license. It comes with free technical support for up to 1 year. 

How to get started with Yo!Gigs?

Launching a freelance platform with the help of Yo!Gigs is very easy. In just four simple steps, your website will be ready to launch in the market. Let us have a look at these steps:-

1. Get A Usage License – The first step to building your freelance marketplace is to purchase a lifetime usage license of Yo!Gigs.

2. Set Up And Install – After purchasing the license, you can share details of your selected hosting server with us. We will install Yo!Gigs on your server.

3. Configure The Marketplace – After installation, you can configure your freelance website and set up the primary landing pages. You can also choose your country/region of operation, payment gateways to include, email and SMS templates, and the terms and conditions of your platform.

4. Manage Your Marketplace – Now your freelance marketplace is ready to launch. You can manage and market it using the in-built tools provided by Yo!Gigs, including task management tab, advanced analytics and reports, SEO Optimization, etc.

Conclusion

The freelance marketplace industry is booming, and Toptal’s recent success proves the tremendous growth potential for online freelance marketplaces. However, building a freelance platform from scratch requires a lot of time, effort, and resources, and is quite expensive. This is where Yo!Gigs comes into the picture. It can help you easily launch your freelance marketplace at a significantly lower cost. Yo!Gigs is a fully customizable service marketplace solution and can be used as a base to build a successful freelance website like Toptal. Get in touch with our experts for a free software consultation.

The post How To Build A Freelance Marketplace Like Toptal? appeared first on FATbit Blog.

One such P2P rental niche is car rentals. In our recent research, we found out that the overall market size of the car rental industry is an estimated $102 billion in 2024. The car rental industry is also expected to grow at an impressive CAGR of 3.1% in the next five years. Thus, for entrepreneurs aspiring to set foot in the sharing economy, launching a Peer-to-Peer marketplace like Airbnb for car rentals is a lucrative business proposition. Below are some insights you should look into for launching an AirBnb for cars.

Benefits of Renting Cars from Peers

The car rental industry is fragmented into both small-size and large-size car rental businesses. However, the experience of renting from a car rental company and a peer differs a lot. Renting from peers can provide customers with a more personalized rental experience. Some key benefits of renting cars from peers are:

• Cost Effectiveness: Individual car owners rent out their spare vehicles as a means of generating a side income and preventing their cars from deteriorating over time. Due to this, they are able to rent out their cars at much more affordable prices than private car rental companies.
• More Sustainable: While renting in itself is considered sustainable, renting out from peers is an even more eco-friendly practice. This is because car rental companies invest in a proper fleet of commercial vehicles whereas peers utilize their spare cars.
• Scope of Negotiation in Terms: In P2P car rentals, the rental terms and conditions can be negotiated with the car owners. On the other hand, there is no scope for negotiation in the rental agreements of car rental firms. 
• Feedback Acceptance: P2P rental car owners often rely on repeat customers. Due to this, they are more willing to accept and work on customer feedback.
• Unique Cars: Car rental companies often have a very similar fleet of cars selected on the basis of market demand. On the other hand, peers can provide you with unique and rare cars as well that you may not find in any rental company’s fleet.

Why Launch an Airbnb for Cars?

Car rental industry insights indicate the increasing demand for car rentals and highlight the rising business opportunities. Along with insights, there are still a few other reasons to invest in a Peer-to-Peer Airbnb-like business model for car rentals.

1. Asset-Light Business Model

Launching an Airbnb for cars is highly asset-light. The term “asset-light business model” refers to those businesses where the business owner is only required to invest in the bare minimum capital. On a P2P car rental marketplace, the marketplace owner is only required to invest in platform costs and business registrations, whereas independent car owners list their own cars. 

Workflow of Airbnb like Car Rental Marketplace 

For a better understanding, look at the following workflow of P2P car rental marketplaces.

1. Multiple car owners register and list their cars on the marketplace
2. Customers browse those cars and select the car they prefer
3. To book a car, customers enter the rental date inputs in the booking calendar and proceed to checkout
4. During checkout, customers pay the rental fee and submit a security deposit
5. The car owner handovers the car to the customer via the selected method (pickup or delivery)
6. On the return of the car, the car owner inspects the car for any damages
7. In case of any damages, reimbursements are deducted from the customer’s security deposit, and the remaining amount is returned to the customer
8. On reaching a minimum withdrawal amount, car owners can withdraw their earnings to their bank accounts.

Revenue Generation on P2P Car Rental Business

A P2P car rental marketplace owner can generate revenue via the following ways:

1. Rental Commission
2. Featured Listings
3. Display Ads
4. Subscription Packages

2. Low Competition

While a majority of websites and marketplaces exist for car rentals, such as Enterprise, Budget, Avis, Alamo and Hertz, they operate predominantly in the B2C sector. For example, nine of the top 10 car rental companies only do B2C car rental operations where independent car owners cannot list their cars. The market scenario is quite similar in almost all parts of the world. This leaves an opportunity to launch a P2P car rental marketplace like Turo and scale up to the level of top players. 

Some P2P car rental players you can take inspiration from are:

• Turo (the only P2P player in the top 10 car rental companies)
• Getaround
• Snappcar
• GoMore

3. Increase in Car Ownership Rates

Car ownership rates have also increased globally with New Zealand and the US having the maximum number of car registrations. These countries are followed by Poland, Italy, Australia, Canada, and France. In the 90s, consumers used to have one car per house but now this number has increased to multiple cars. In many developed cities, each family member has a personal car and it is also not rare to see an individual own 3-4 cars. 

In such scenarios where a family or person owns multiple cars, the chances of a car being left idle in the garage are very high. Thus, to help car owners monetize such vehicles, entrepreneurs can launch a P2P car rental marketplace. 

4. Inflation

According to the International Monetary Fund, the global inflation rate in 2024 is 5.8%. Due to high inflation rates, many consumers have resorted to doing additional jobs in order to make ends meet. This gave rise to the side hustle mentality. In the US, around 93% of the working population seems to have indulged in a side hustle. 

However, when speaking of car rental, it is not only a side hustle for many people but also a passive income stream where car owners aren’t required to actively participate in business. To cater to the requirements of such car owners, launching an Airbnb for car rentals is a highly profitable business proposition. 

5. All Seasons Business

Another reason to launch a P2P car rental marketplace is that it is a year-round business. Regardless of the season – spring, summer, fall or winters, the demand for car rentals remains consistent. Even during the holidays when other businesses witness a drop, car rental businesses witness an incline. Thus, by investing in a P2P car rental marketplace, you can ensure stable returns throughout the year and create a highly resilient business. 

How to Create Airbnb for Cars

After understanding the market statistics, user behavior and opportunities, we can proceed to the technical aspects of creating an Airbnb for car rentals. Here, it is essential to understand the technology you can use to build your marketplace and the features that are required to help you manage P2P car rental operations. 

Step 1: Shortlist the Key Features

To create a P2P rental marketplace for cars, you need to look for certain rent-centric features. These features will also encompass the various use cases of the car rental industry and help you manage an Airbnb for cars. In case of non-availability of these features, look for alternate software or opt for the ones that are fully customizable. 

• Rental Booking Calendar: An in-built calendar to display car availability to customers and accept rental date inputs. This calendar also prevents double booking and helps in invoicing. 
• Map View Filter: With the help of a map view search filter, customers can easily search for nearby vehicles. This may help you in increasing your conversion rates and providing a better service to customers.
• Agreement Management & eSign: For renting out a car, every car owner has different terms and conditions. For example, some may prefer pets in their cars while others don’t. Thus, to sanction any such terms and conditions, you require an agreement management module along with the eSign option. 
• Rental Security Management: To reimburse any damages to car owners, you can collect rental security deposits from customers. The security deposit amount can also be used to deduct any other charges and the remaining amount remains refundable.
• Tiered Pricing: To target diverse customer cohorts, it is important to have a tiered pricing module that will help car owners set and levy daily, weekly and monthly rental pricing. Furthermore, an hourly rental system on your marketplace can also be very useful.
• Request for Quote (RFQ module): Car owners who don’t want to define any fixed pricing for their vehicles can use the RFQ module. This module will help give and negotiate custom price quotes on the P2P car rental platform.
• Vehicle Comparison: Finding a rental car for trips or daily commuting is difficult. You can simplify the decision-making process for your customers by providing them with a vehicle comparison feature. This feature creates automated comparison tables for selected cars and helps customers find the right cars as per their preferences.
• Late Cancellations Management: Late cancellations often cause car owners losses in terms of order processing costs, which can include cleaning, servicing, or refueling of the vehicles. To prevent any such losses, you can define tiered cancellation periods and charges. 
• Late Returns Management: By reserving a car for longer than the booked period, late returns lead to loss in terms of lost opportunity costs for the car owners. Thus, you can also define custom late return periods and applicable charges.
• Rental Add-ons:  By providing complementary services products and services, such as child seats, WiFi, car fresheners, window shades, etc., car owners can increase their overall ticket size and conversion rates. Thus, a rental add-ons feature is also important for your AirBnb for cars.
• Maintenance Buffer Period: The selected rental software should allow you to define a maintenance buffer period. This period will start automatically after a customer returns the car and can be used to perform any necessary checks and inspections. Once the maintenance period is over, the car will be automatically synced with the online inventory.
• Inventory Management: The inventory management system on your car rental software should allow you to track all inventory in real-time. It should alert you on a low fleet count, help manage vehicle unavailability, and provide complete inventory reports.
• User Management: For managing multiple users, the software should have essential user management features that allow you to check their order history, listed cars, ratings & reviews, and other account-related details. 
• Commissions Management: For managing your earnings, the software needs a commission management module. This will allow you to set and levy your commission rates on all transactions.
• Withdrawal Settings: The software should allow you to define the withdrawal threshold amount and minimum withdrawal interval period. It is only after meeting these requirements that car owners should be able to withdraw their earnings to their bank accounts. 
• Multilingual and Multi-Currency Support: As discussed earlier, multilingual and multi-currency support help you target a diverse audience and simplify business expansion.

Step 2: Select a Software Technology

Based on the selected features, you can move forward to select the right software technology to build your Airbnb for cars. There are multiple software development methods available today. Let’s go through them one by one to understand which method is the most suitable and has all the features required.

1. Bespoke Development

The traditional approach to building any software is bespoke development. It was highly in practice in the 90’s and 2000’s but has lost its prominence today because of newer methods of development. For developing a P2P car rental marketplace, bespoke development may not be the right approach because of the following reasons:

• It involves finding a development team and paying them hourly development rates. This inflates the overall  cost of development by thousands of dollars
• As all workflows, features, modules and interfaces are developed from scratch, the overall development timeframe ranges between 2 to 5 years
• You will also need personnel to coordinate and manage the team of developers and track the progress of the entire project

2. SaaS Software

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), as the name suggests refers to readymade software that are hosted on the software providers’ own servers and provided as a monthly recurring service. 

SaaS software are also not recommended to create a full-fledged marketplace because of their limited scalability. 

• Due to their never-ending recurring costs, SaaS solutions are very costly in the long run. To get access to their complete features, you will also need to upgrade to their premium package
• SaaS software come with limited scalability options. In order to increase the number of listings, transactions and users, you are again required to pay more
• The majority of SaaS software available in the market either support rental operations or multi-vendor operations but not both

3. Self-Hosted Software

Self-hosted software are also readymade solutions with dedicated features to support rental operations. They are tried and tested for multiple business use cases and because of their vast support and long-term affordability, can be used to develop your Airbnb for car rental.

Some reasons to select self-hosted solutions are:

• Self-hosted solutions are available at one-time costs and unlike SaaS solutions, have no recurrent pricing
• There are no restrictions on the number of listings, transactions and user profiles
• You get access to all features of the software right from the beginning
• Highly cost-effective in the long term
• Provide you complete flexibility to select your own hosting server

Step 3: Deploy and Market

Self-hosted and other readymade software can be quickly deployed on your hosting server. Once deployed, do some primary configurations such as setting the marketplace logo, social media handles, contact us page, about us page, homepage banners, footer section, and more. You can also change the theme color and font and make sure that the entire marketplace is ready to onboard car owners. 

After full system-wide configuration, promote your Airbnb for cars for both car owners and customers. To onboard car owners, you can provide them with various incentives. Take a look at this blog to get some idea about the marketing strategies you can implement to attract and onboard car owners. 

For lead generation purposes, initially, you will need to simultaneously invest in paid campaigning and organic marketing. After developing a strong SEO base, you can decrease the expenditure on paid campaigns and rely on word of mouth, social proofing, and SEO rankings. Likewise, you will also need to come up with a markdown strategy to gain traction in the market.

Recommended Car Rental Software- YoRent

Yo!Rent car rental software is meticulously developed after taking into account the minute requirements of car rental businesses. Being a multi-vendor software, it is the industry’s finest marketplace solution for P2P car rental operations. In-built with all essential tools and features that can help you facilitate, manage, and grow your car rental business, Yo!Rent simplifies P2P operations like no other software. Furthermore, due to its unlimited listings, transactions, and user profiles, you can scale and grow your business as much as you want. 

Some reasons to select YoRent are:

• Comes with all the essential features for car rental operations
• Rental industry’s leading marketplace solution
• Pre-integrated with 25+ payment gateways
• Comes with a lifetime license at a one-time cost
• Fully scalable and customizable
• One year of free technical support
• Highly cost-effective in the long term

Conclusion

The primary areas of attention in launching a P2P car rental startup are selecting the right software technology and timely onboarding of users in lucrative business regions. As more people find out about the benefits of renting out cars from peers, you can expect the entire P2P car rental marketplace model to grow. Due to this and limited competition in numerous regions, it is the right time to capitalize on a P2P car rental marketplace business. Furthermore, because of their asset-light nature, running an Airbnb for car rentals is also highly cost-effective.

The post The Startup Guide to Build an Airbnb for Car Rental appeared first on FATbit Blog.

In contrast to European countries, saunas are considered a luxury amenity in North American countries. Due to this, the rental prices for saunas are very high, ranging between $100-$500 per day. Adding to the prosperity of the business idea, currently, there are no market giants present in the sauna rental market. This opens a wide opportunity for new entrants to enter the market and establish their name. 

For capitalizing on the industry, let’s take a look at types of saunas, top markets, business models, revenue models, and the software technology required to build your platform.

Table Of Contents

Types of Rental Saunas

Rental saunas can be classified on both mobility and the mechanism used for heating. Based on the market viability, you can select to invest in any of these saunas.

• Tent Saunas

Tent saunas are highly portable saunas that can be set up in both indoor and outdoor settings. They provide all the benefits of traditional saunas and mostly burn wood for heating purposes. Additionally, they are also highly cost-effective. The only downside to them is their small size and low durability. 

• Trailer Saunas

These are high-quality saunas built to last long. As the name suggests, they can be towed away to any outdoor location and are mostly used in public and private events. Due to their strong build, they can be heated up via both wood burning and electrical mechanisms. However, trailer saunas also require heavy maintenance for which the business owner may need to hire additional personnel.

• Electric Saunas

In comparison to traditional saunas that burn wood, electric saunas use electric stoves for heating purposes. They also provide precise temperature control and can be heated up very quickly without increasing the overall humidity. Just like trailer saunas, electric saunas are also strong and made to last long with high power efficiency. 

• Infrared Saunas 

These are mild heat saunas that instead of steam, use infrared lamps to provide heat to the body. Because of no hot temperatures, infrared saunas are very safe to use. They are highly preferred by audiences who cannot tolerate high temperatures but look forward to receiving the other benefits of saunas.

• Hot Tubs

Similar to saunas, the hot tub rental niche is also on the rise. Hot tubs provide a familiar experience to saunas and are used for recreational purposes. They are usually cheaper than saunas but require frequent cleaning and maintenance.

Top Countries Where Sauna Rental is a Normal

The spa and sauna industry is proliferating rapidly with a CAGR of 7.43% in the projection period 2024-2029 and is expected to reach a market share of $194.5 billion. With increasing preference for rentals, we can expect the sauna rental market to become one of the primary contributors to the industry. 

As per our reports, the following regions and their neighboring countries are the top markets to start your sauna rental business. 

• Finland
• Norway
• Sweden
• Denmark
• Iceland 
• USA
• Japan
• Canada
• Russia 
• Turkey

How the Sauna Rental Business Model Works?

There are two possible business models in the sauna rental industry. Both of them vary based on vendors and required investment.

• The P2P Sauna Rental Business Model

Under this business model, various sauna owners sign up on the P2P marketplace and list their saunas. When customers rent those saunas, the marketplace owner gets to keep a commission as their earnings. A key benefit of this business model is that it is highly asset-light, you only need to provide and manage the rental marketplace. A private fleet is not required.

Workflow of the P2P sauna rental business model:

• Sauna owners sign up on the marketplace and list their saunas
• Customers browse those saunas and enter their preferred rental dates 
• To place an order, customers submit a rental security amount along with the rental fee
• The stored rental fee and security amount are stored in the sauna owner’s eWallet
• The sauna owner fulfills the order as per the selected fulfillment method
• On return, the sauna owner inspects the sauna for any unexpected damages and reports them to the marketplace owner
• The marketplace owner reimburses the damages and returns the rental security amount to the customers.

• Single Vendor Sauna Rental Store

In contrast to the P2P model, in the single-vendor sauna rental model, there’s only one vendor, which is also the store owner. This business model is highly suitable for those entrepreneurs who want to start their own sauna services, or are already in the industry and want to make the digital leap. A key benefit is that the store owner gets to keep the entire rental fee.

Workflow of a single vendor sauna rental store:

• The store owner uploads detailed sauna listings on the platform
• Customers browse those listings and enter their preferred rental dates 
• To place an order, customers submit a rental security amount along with the rental fee
• The store owner fulfills the order via the selected order fulfillment method
• On return, the store owner inspects the sauna for any damages and reimburses the same from the rental security
• The remaining rental security is returned to the customer

How to Generate Revenue on an Online Sauna Rental Marketplace

Being online comes with the advantages of utilizing multiple revenue generation streams for your business. These streams vary as per the business model, market trends, and business preferences. On an online sauna rental marketplace, you can consider using the following revenue generation streams:

• Rental fees: When renting out your own saunas (or in a single vendor sauna rental model), you can keep the entire rental fee as your earnings.
• Rental commission: On a sauna rental marketplace model, where different vendors rent out their saunas, you can keep a portion of their earnings as your marketplace commission.
• Featured Listings: In the marketplace business model, you can also charge small fees from top-performing vendors to display their listings in the featured collections of your website.
• Subscription packages: You can provide subscription-based sauna services on your rental marketplace. These work similarly to gym subscriptions. Customers can buy a sauna subscription for a month and use saunas as per the inclusions of their subscription. Likewise, the subscription model can be used for renting out saunas to event managers and concierge managers for months.
• Rental add-ons: In countries where saunas are a cultural tradition, consumers also like to rent out add-ons such as chairs, tents, barbecues, cold tubs, etc.
• Display ads: You can charge other businesses to display their ads on your website.
• Gift cards: Saunas are very popular in various regions. In those regions, you can sell gift cards to help customers provide quality relaxation time to their loved ones.

Top Features Required on a Sauna Rental Marketplace

Considering the massive business opportunity in launching a sauna rental marketplace along with the comprehensive workflows of the multi-vendor model, it has become important to ensure that your marketplace has all the essential features. Below, we have briefed some must-have features for your sauna rental platform. For more guidance, you can consult our business analysts who recommend you readymade solutions or help you find out the complete scope of work in your sauna rental project.

• Map View Filter

In terms of providing a superior user experience, GPS-enabled search results or a map view filter do a better job. They display nearby saunas to customers, which are in their close vicinity or can be delivered or picked up in a very short time frame. The map view filter also helps build the authenticity of your platform.

• Tiered Pricing Module

Different customer segments rent out saunas for different durations. For example, where tourists and residents may rent saunas for a few days, event managers can require them for a few weeks to months. Thus, to cater to the rental requirements of all customer segments, a tiered pricing module can help you set daily, weekly, and monthly rental fees for saunas.

• Rental Booking Calendar

Rental operations are a bit complex than sales operations. This is because their workflows and algorithms are different. In rental operations, you require a rental booking calendar that can display available dates to customers and accept rental date inputs. These rental date inputs from the booking calendar are then used to do invoicing for the rental orders, which is also inclusive of any rental add-ons and security deposits.

• Rental Add-ons

Rental add-ons are the complementary products and services that are often required along with saunas. As briefly described in the revenue generation section, these can be chairs, tables, barbeques, music systems, and even bath towels and cleaning supplies. In the case of wood-burning saunas, extra wood for heating the sauna is often required. Having add-ons on your sauna rental marketplace can immensely assist you with upselling and cross-selling.

• Document Verification

As a standard practice, it is safer to verify customer documents before renting them out saunas. These documents can either be identity proofs, address proofs, business ID cards, etc. For document verification purposes, your marketplace can simply ask customers to upload their documents at checkout. While processing the order, you can verify those documents.

• Rental Agreement Management

On a sauna rental marketplace, every vendor can have different terms and conditions for renting out their saunas. For example, some of those conditions can be no jewelry, electronics, or inflammable objects inside, or they can also mention the minimum required age for renting. Thus, to sanction these terms and conditions, your sauna rental marketplace requires rental agreement management and eSign features.

• Late Cancellations Management

Late cancellations can be detrimental to your business in many ways. They lead to losses in terms of order processing costs (be it cleaning costs, labor costs, and delivery costs) and also reserve your inventory unnecessarily to impact your order fulfillment rate, which incurs additional lost opportunity costs. Thus, to encourage timely returns and evade the aforementioned problems, it is better to have a late cancellations management module.

• Order Management

Order management is one of the most essential modules in any eCommerce business. On your rental website, the order management module should keep you updated on all orders and send real-time notifications. Additionally, it should also provide you access to various order details such as customer name, payment details, etc., and with certain options including order cancellation. 

• Vendor Management

On a multi-vendor sauna rental marketplace, vendor management features are required to perform administrative actions on vendor profiles. For adequate management, your marketplace should have features to verify vendor profiles, manually approve listings, and set minimum withdrawal thresholds and withdrawal interval periods. Lastly, the marketplace should also provide you with access to vendor performance and other related details. 

• Rental Maintenance Period

After every rental order, your sauna may require inspection and maintenance. During this period, it cannot be added back to the inventory for renting. Thus, the rental maintenance period is required to sync under-maintenance saunas with the online inventory. You can pre-define the maintenance period on your system and it will sync the inventory accordingly. 

• Discounts and Promotions

To accelerate business growth, you will need to deploy various discounts and promotion campaigns as well. The discount features can include percentage and fixed-price markdowns or duration-based discounts. Similarly, promotional features such as SEO optimization and homepage banners will help you attract new customers as well. 

• Reports and Analytics

Analytical features are essential for all eCommerce platforms. They help you make data-driven decisions to turbocharge growth and overcome challenges. On your sauna rental platform, you should have proper analytical features to provide you with accurate insights on revenue generation, most rented saunas, most purchased add-ons, top paying customers, and more.

Creating your Sauna Rental Platform with Readymade Solutions

Although a sauna rental marketplace can be developed with multiple approaches, including both custom development and readymade software, using a readymade software remains the safest. This is because of three primary reasons, which are:

1. Readymade solutions are tried and tested
2. They are highly cost-effective
3. Reduce the overall Time-to-Market

Thus, instead of paying hourly development charges for a software, it is wiser to opt for the readymade solutions on which the existing rental industry relies. There are basically two types of readymade rental solutions:

• SaaS Rental Software

SaaS rental software refer to the solutions that are hosted on the software provider’s own servers and provided as a monthly service. Thus, the name Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). SaaS solutions are primarily useful for small businesses and solopreneurs who want to validate their market ideas. Key benefits of using a SaaS rental software are:

• These are tried and tested solutions
• Are very easy to set up

However, while selecting SaaS, it must be taken into account that the software provider gets complete control over the hosting server. For this reason, there can be some restrictions on the number of listings and transactions on your platform. To overcome those restrictions, you will need to frequently upgrade your package, which may result in a monthly increase in costs.

• Self-Hosted Rental Software

A solution to the SaaS recurring costs and scalability problem is self-hosted rental software. These types of rental software provide complete freedom to business owners in selecting the hosting server, which can either be a third-party hosting service provider or an on-premise server. The top benefits of using a self-hosted rental software are:

• One-time costs for a lifetime license
• As these are hosted on your choice of servers, there are no limitations on the number of  listings and transactions
• Self-hosted solutions are highly cost-effective in the long run. Any changes in the price of the software do not affect existing customers.

Moreover, as self-hosted software come with a lifetime usage license, founders can easily migrate to any other software without worrying about any reinvestment costs.

Conclusion

With rental saunas emerging as a leisure trend in the North American market and their cultural significance in various other parts of the world, investing in a sauna rental marketplace can be a profitable business decision. However, to streamline operations, you need a readymade solution with advanced features and intuitive workflows. This is where YoRent rental software helps. Being a highly reliable and fully scalable rental software with advanced rent-centric features, YoRent supports all sauna rental use cases right out of the box. For a personalized one-or-one demo or software consultation, feel free to get in touch with YoRent experts.

The post How to Build a Sauna Rental Website With Readymade Rental Software appeared first on FATbit Blog.