Interview with Blessing Ijoma, Founder at Freelance Network Platform: Hourspent

Hourspent is a freelance network that matches the right job to the right freelance talent. We are empowering companies in building freelance talents into teams, automate payroll and compliance through a simple chat experience.
 
 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
I was a freelancer for seven years. In 2015, I already had many freelancers I was working with across several platforms. I needed to bring all of them to one platform and group them into teams, but that was a challenge. The restrictions imposed on those freelance marketplaces made it nearly impossible to do so.

I managed to bring a few of them on slack, track their time with Hubstaff, pay them through Payoneer. The entire process led to me coming up with the idea for Hourspent in 2017; “a freelance network where companies hire, collaborate, and manage freelance talent, payroll, contracts and more — all in one place.
 

 

How has Hourspent evolved during the pandemic?

 
As many companies now work remotely, we saw a spike in new members hiring freelancers within the same country they live in to avoid compliance issues. To make hiring and working with freelance talents something that works for everyone and truly borderless, we ought not to overlook compliance. We started working with individual lawyers and legal firms to draft and update pre-packaged contracts in respect of each country’s local laws, while so much still needs to be done in this area, the whole process has been rewarding.
 

What can we hope to see from Hourspent in the future?

 
A good number of solo entrepreneurs using Hourspent do offer both cash and equity to freelance talent to hire them. It is an interesting area we’d love to be serious with in the future; offering fast and flexible financing to startups to enable them to hire freelance talents.