Freelancing in Namibia, a Billet major

WHILE many businesses were forced to shut down during the pandemic, remote working and freelancing enabled people to survive and even thrive, says Asteria Ambata (AA) co-founder of the new Namibian online hiring platform Billet.

She chats to The Namibian’s Shante Mahalie (SM) about her business.

SM: When did you start your business?

AA: Billet has been under development since 2020. In August 2021, Billet’s management opened up a waiting list for Namibians to sign up for early access once the platform launched. The platform was formally registered in Namibia this year.

SM: How long have you been offering your services for?

AA: The Beta version of Billet officially launched on 2 February, meaning users will test the functionality of the platform for a set period. During this time, people can sign up to find short-term jobs around the country or post a job to hire short-term workers. Thereafter, we will implement our results from testing, and launch an updated version of the platform.

SM: What inspired you to start this business?

AA: A report released by a financial services company, Payoneer, shows that Africa holds 10,1% of the world’s freelancers, with an expectation for growth. This insight encouraged us to look at Namibia’s contribution to the freelancing industry in Africa. We found that there was an opportunity in this space that we should capitalise on immediately.

While many businesses were forced to shut down during the pandemic, remote work or freelancing enabled people to survive and even thrive. As a result, many employers have decided to offer more flexibility when it comes to where and when their employees work.

Our knowledge of the industry comes from our own experiences as freelancers, having individually worked with clients based in Namibia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden.

We live and breathe this way of working every day.

Through this work, we have gained insight into the opportunities created by freelancing. It allows one to work from anywhere and experience freedom in what you do that’s unlike an eight-to-five job.

We want to enable Namibians to discover flexibility in their work and to pursue their passions without being bound to a single employer or office.

From a hiring perspective, we have found that recruiting and hiring a short-term employee (or freelancer) was time-consuming. For example, if one wants to hire a graphic designer or hairstylist, you have to solely rely on word of mouth or social media. This not only takes long, but you can’t accurately judge the level of expertise an applicant possesses.

With Billet, we’ve created an online marketplace where our management thoroughly vets freelancers. You get full transparency on the freelancer, including their work history, testimonials, and portfolio, so you can hire the best freelancer for your job or project. In addition, anyone who hires a freelancer from our system can leave a review to let future clients know about their experience while working with the freelancer.

SM: Which types of services do you offer?

AA: Billet acts as an intermediary between freelancers and clients, enabling freelancers to sign up to the platform to offer their skills and services and clients to hire short-term workers by posting a job or reaching out directly to a freelancer.

There are 14 categories and over 100 skills freelancers can showcase on the platform, including graphic design, business development, event planning, and hairstyling.

We offer these skill categories because through our market research we determined that certain fields of expertise are oversaturated, but not everyone can find clients.

It takes connections and visibility to make a name for yourself, and if you don’t have any connections, it’s easy to fade into the background.

We are aiming, through Billet, for that to be a thing of the past, for the skills one offers to trump the number of high-value people one has in their circle.

SM:Who are your main customers?

AA: We have a dual approach to our customers. First we cater to individuals who identify themselves as freelancers or want to become freelancers.

Our target market also includes companies and individuals seeking short-term workers.

SM: Where else in the world do you operate?

AA: We have part of our headquarters in Milan, Italy. However, our priority at the moment is to focus on the Namibian market. Once we’ve established Billet in Namibia, we’ll branch out to neighbouring countries in southern Africa and the rest of Africa. Our services will be tailored specifically to the African markets.

SM: Why did you open a branch in Namibia?

AA: Namibia has a youth unemployment rate that has been climbing at a staggering rate from 33,4% in 2018 to an estimated 50,38% in 2021.

We have a huge labour mismatch.

The trajectory of our employment market has proven not to be responsive enough to absorb all our graduates into full-time-based employment.

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