[This is a sponsored article with Task2Bid.]
Malaysia’s unemployment rate averages 4.5% for 2021, after much fluctuation over the pandemic. While it appears to be on a gradual mend, there’s no denying that it’s still a bleak situation for many, especially in comparison to 2019’s unemployment rate of 3.31%.
Over the pandemic, lots of support was given to the white flag movement to aid the unemployed with their basic necessities, but a few parties were also focused on recovery. The term recovery here refers to initiatives to empower the unemployed to earn income again through gig jobs.
Granted, Malaysia already has many sites that offer such services, but Mugheel and his team still saw a gap they could address.
They noted the absence of a customer-to-customer (C2C) service marketplace, whereby individuals could freely request for, and offer talents and expertise across a variety of sectors.
This coupled with the strong belief that they could make a difference culminated in the development and launch of Task2Bid in early 2020.
So, how does it work?
Because Task2Bid is targeting the low-income community to help them sustain themselves over and past the pandemic, the team has made the app relatively simple to use.
There are no training fees involved for gig workers to get verified and begin fulfilling tasks, nor are there many limitations on what kinds of tasks can be requested for (barring all types of illegal activity, of course).
So, no matter if it’s a task with a high skill requirement or a low skill one, every user has an equal opportunity to find something for them.
Examples of tasks posted on the app can range from anything like copywriting and video editing, to watering someone’s garden on a weekend or helping a family buy groceries.
Task2Bid separates its users into 2 categories: Requesters and Doers. As their names imply, Requesters are the ones who put up the tasks, and the Doers get them done.
A user can be both at the same time too, fulfilling someone else’s tasks while getting someone else to carry out one of their own requests.
Bidding for a balanced agreement
Here’s where Task2Bid gets more interesting as a gig economy site. You may have noticed that there is the word “bid” in the app’s name, and indeed, bidding is a core feature of the app.
But, why bid? To Mugheel and his team, this is a balanced way to ensure both parties are fully satisfied with their arrangement.
Requesters can propose a budget for a particular task, and interested Doers can then bid on the listing. When bidding, Doers pitch why they’re the right person for the job, and can propose their own tweaked budget, whether lower or higher than the Requester’s.
Say, if I saw a Requester who’s willing to pay RM100 for SEO content writing, I can choose to either offer to do it for RM95, or try my luck with RM110.
Of course, if I was bidding for a higher pay, I would have to ensure that I actually have the skills to back up my claims.
Then it is up to the Requester to pick me or another Doer that appeals to them the most.
“Before awarding the job, the Requester has to check the Doer’s background on their public page (like previous task completion, rating, review, vaccination verification, skills, and talents) and communicate with the Doer via the question section (an open forum for each task),” Mugheel added.
Only after picking a Doer can both parties have access to each other’s personal contact information to work out their arrangement.
Another level of security is that any payment made to a Doer does not immediately go to them. Task2Bid withholds the payment in escrow to ensure both parties are protected from fraud, and once the task has been satisfactorily fulfilled, the payment will be given to the Doer.
To add, a Requester is protected under Task2Bid’s partnership with Allianz which covers any liability for third-party property damage.
Upon task completion, the Requester can rate the Doer, helping the latter build their reputation and reliability on Task2Bid.
Both Requesters and Doers can register on Task2Bid for free, and no fees are charged to list a task. However, if a task is successfully awarded to a Doer, Task2Bid will take a certain percentage starting from 10% which automatically changes based on an algorithm that weighs the task budget and risk factors as determined by Allianz.
Crowdfunding to cater to the sea of opportunities
Following nearly 2 years of operations and 20K verified users, Task2Bid is ready to take the next step.
It has opened itself up to public share purchases via equity crowdfunding site pitchIN. The campaign has already started, and will continue until year-end.
The minimum funding target is RM300K, with a total target amount of RM1 million. These funds will go to operation costs, marketing, and server and storage costs, among other things.
According to Task2Bid, the share price per unit is RM40, and the minimum number of shares required for purchase are 50 units at a price of RM 2,000. Some other benefits it’s offering include:
- An investor rewards club membership worth RM 10,000 for all the investors who invest a minimum of RM 2,000.
- A 6% cumulative dividend provided on a yearly basis to the investment amount.
- Free shares worth up to RM 30,000 for early bird investors during the pre-live campaign phase.
- An exclusive “double the reward” campaign for its 12.12 promo, where early bird investors can enjoy free shares worth up to RM 60,000.
With the required support to build a strong foundation in Malaysia, Mugheel has no doubts about Task2Bid’s potential to capture other SEA markets in the future. He’s already eyeing the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand.
“We found that the on-demand services available in these countries are still based on a business-to-consumer (B2C) model and single-focused services like cleaning, parcel or food delivery,” Mugheel justified, highlighting the gaps Task2Bid could fill.
Coming back to the app itself, an improvement the team wants to make to it is a partial payment feature that allows Requesters to put in a deposit for a Doer’s service, with the balance paid at a later stage.
Meanwhile, they plan to offer Doers a “My Service” feature that lets them list their service packages with prices. All these will add to the flexible options already on the Task2Bid app.
Check out the editorial video below that we did on Task2Bid in June 2021, where we experienced it for ourselves:
- An interested investor can buy their shares directly from pitchIN.my here and/or reach the Task2Bid team directly via their WhatsApp number for more information on the investment scheme.
- Read more gig economy content here.
Featured Image Credit: Mugheel, co-founder of Task2Bid
