UnderPinned was built to help freelancers of all shapes and sizes build good businesses and work through the entire work cycle all in one place. Currently, no one leaves education or full time employment knowing how to build a successful freelance business leaving them chasing job after job. To make things harder, they are forced to use a multitude of tools which all make them feel like an add-on.
With 2.2m self-employed and 12.5m side hustlers in the U.K. alone, while millions more are starting to make the move, UnderPinned is there to help build a solid foundation for good freelance businesses. UnderPinned is pulling freelancing out of the gig economy and empowering the next phase of small business through freelancing.
How did the company start?
My co-founder Jack and I were both working as freelancers of a very different kind, him as a copywriter on gig platforms, and myself as a consultant for tech and media companies. Over coffee, we realised that the problems faced by freelancers were the same regardless of industry or stage; we both struggled to find consistent work, we both had issues managing the work when it actually came in, and getting paid in a timely manner while handling contracts and invoices felt impossible without willing to spend huge chunks of cash on lawyers and accountants.
We started talking to other freelancers and pretty quickly saw there was a gap in the market, and what’s more, one that we were passionate about solving because it was our problem too.
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What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?
Investment is a tool for rapid growth, not the end goal. The goal should always be to build a thoughtful, self-reliant business, not one that just attracts investors. If you build something that works, the investors will come.
What can we hope to see from UnderPinned in the future?
The continued growth of the “Find Work” section of UnderPinned’s Virtual Office and our next Educational Course starting May 4th (learn more here). But further into the future, we want to expand to America and the rest of Europe, while also building out a client-side portal so that businesses can manage their freelance teams on the platform as well.
