CreatOrSpace — Match, swipe, collaborate!

Or tl:dr: How I developed CreatOrSpace, the end-to-end platform for creatives, in a Design Sprint

1. Problem and solution

CreatOrSpace — The best platform for the creative collaboration industry

To solve the problems of the creative industry, I developed CreatOrSpace, the end-to-end platform in a Design Sprint for digital innovation.

Painpoints

• Collaboration and communication
• Income uncertainty
• Search costs

Benefits

• Productivity gains
• Reduced transaction costs
• More and stable income

2. Business Model Canvas

To solve the problems of creatives, I developed CreatOrSpace, the end-to-end platform to match, collaborate and learn.

3. Customers

CreatOrSpace helps the freelancer Elisabeth to find corporate clients, network with other graphic designers and streamline invoicing.

Elisabeth is a 28-year-old freelance graphic designer in London. She’s been freelancing for 5 years and has created branding and content for a broad range of corporations. Since the pandemic tightened corporate budgets, however, brand work has been harder to come by.

She is highly tech-savvy, and familiar with marketplace apps such as taskrabbit.

My platform also enables the art director Ephrain to quickly hire and contract freelancers.

Ephrain is a 36-year-old art director in Brighton. He has a small in-house team, but frequently needs to hire contractors for short-term projects. Given the unpredictable nature of his work, he often needs to find qualified professionals at short notice.

He is moderately tech-savvy, but more comfortable accessing sites via desktop rather than mobile.

4. Market sizing

I am planning to serve a market of 157,000 self-employed creative professionals in the UK.

5. Competitor Analysis

Freelance platforms provide general matching services, but my CreatOrSpace offers a specific platform for creatives.

Graphics design services offer specific design platforms, but Creator-Space provides the advantage of a holistic end-to-end platform.

Differentiation and Blue Ocean Strategy

• Generalists like Upwork and Freelancer.com but also specialists like 99Designs as strongest competitors
• CreatOrSpace’s differentiation goes beyond its competitors’ offerings of job matching for creatives
• Combines specific, high quality end-to-end platform for artists and creatives with low costs (blue ocean strategy)
• Offers platform to jointly create new arts, free-up back-office time for projects and upskill with additional creative skills

6. Value proposition

CreatOrSpace enables artists and enterprises to more easily match for creative projects, free-up time to collaborate and learn new skills.

For artists and creatives, CreatOrSpace offers to easily find a job that matches, collaborate with other artists and streamline the customer’s back-office seamlessly.

Unlike Upwork, Freelancer.com and 99Designs, CreatOrSpace differentiates itself by not only offering job match for artists and creatives to earn money, but also to jointly create new arts, free-up back-office time and upskill with additional skills.

7. MVP

My MVP offers functions to seamlessly onboard and match, jointly collaborate with other artists and streamlined invoicing.

8. Product in action

CreatOrSpace provides creatives with add-ons like contracting, learning and project management end-to-end along their creative journey.

9. Business Model

With a 40% gross margin, I will be operating profitably; mainly by generating revenues from project fees to pay my costs in taxes.

Freemium Model

• Gold-Silver-Bronze-Basic Packages for Artists
• Gold-Silver-Bronze-Basic Packages for Clients
• Gold: All premium features, tools and customer support
• Silver: Limited premium features, tools and customer support
• Bronze: Minimum premium features, tools and customer support
• Basic (Free): No premium features, tools and customer support

10. Go-To-Market

I will use my key partnerships and marketing to deliver a unique and holistic value to artists and enterprises.

1. Plan

Target market

• Artists, creatives and project clients

Customer

• Independent artists, companies, governments, organizations

Value proposition

• Best platform to grow the collaborative creative industry and simplify work

Pricing

• Commissions (5%) and subscriptions (freemium)

Marketing and promotion

• Community driven network effect and influencers

2. Marketing

• Specific artist communities (actors and collaborative artists)
• Social media and community Influencers
• Creative forums, conventions and Events
• B2B channels and conventions
• Paid media and SEM

3. Key partnerships and value creation

3rd party apps, plug-ins and software

• Collaboration tools, tax and finance management (e.g.: QuickBooks), co-development and outsourcing, cloud storage and computing, ERP, HR, admin and operations management

Governments

• Employment creation schemes, grants and sponsorships, projects for users

Artist guilds and organisations

• Supply of talent, product insights, voice of customer in design and service, credibility

11. Growth plan

I plan to expand through selected artists, added features and pricing, product and geographic growth to the market leader position.

12. Projections

Based on my strong growth potential, I am projecting to become profitable in year 3 and ask for a £2M in outside financing. To sum up, I would need £ 2M (Convertible Notes, 30% discount) to make phase 1 happen.

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