Last week Okappy attended the Smarter Business Tech Live Event in Manchester, where we spoke on how Market Networks like Okappy are paving the way for a new world of work. For those of you that couldn’t make it along to hear us speak – we’ve summarised our talk here.
Key Points:
1. The world of work is changing and this is going to affect a lot of industries.
2. Market networks are expected to be the next big thing in technology and it’s driving the change in how companies work.
3. Okappy is leading the wave in market networks along with Angel list in the investment space and HoneyBook in the events space.
The World of Work is Changing:
More and more we are all being freed from the physical constraints of offices. Workplaces are becoming decentralised. Like the okapi we are more likely to be roaming around in the wild and working together in groups, rather than having a job for life with a large organisation.
Business can be a force for good. They create goods and services that people need. They provide employment and give a sense of purpose to people’s lives. The economic environment is changing. In the 70s and 80s companies tended to be large. In the 70s they were often state owned giving way to the merger and acquisition frenzy of the 80s. You tended to be in one job for life ( it might not last your whole life and there was mass unemployment at the time). There was also very little support for smaller companies.
More and more people are setting up their own companies or taking up more flexible work, contracting or working in the gig economy. There is now about 2 million start ups in the UK and there’s a lot more help and support, along with more funding is available.
Technology is moving forward at a faster rate than we could have ever imagined. Earlier this year the first 3D-printed residential home was built by a mobile 3d printer. It took less than a day and cost less than $11, 000 to complete. Houses are also becoming smarter with companies beginning to install IoT systems into new builds. Some houses can even respond to the mood of it’s residents.
One of the big changes in software is expected to be Market Networks. James Currier is a silicon valley investor and technology evangelist believes that “Market networks will … impact how millions of service professionals will work and earn their living.”
What is a Market Network and What Makes It Unique?
– A market network combines the main elements of both networks and marketplaces.
– Use SaaS workflow to focus action
– Promote the service provider as a differentiated company, helping to build long-term relationships
Communication in many industries is broken, as information gets lost down the chain or takes days until it’s received. With a market network there’s no more silos – no more information is fragmented across multiple different applications. This means no more chasing each layer to find out what is happening.
Where Did Okappy Begin?
It all began when we were approached by a man called Graham. At the time we were tracking his vehicles and he asked us whether we could also track his jobs. As we started developing the software we quickly realised that the opportunity was much bigger than just job management software.
The issues we were solving went to the heart of a communications and collaboration problem, which affects millions of companies around the world and has yet to be solved by the likes of Google, WhatsApp, Slack or any of the myriad job management solutions on the market.
Before the Okappy Market Network
Before the Okappy Market Network was created, managing jobs, especially those with lots of companies involved could be difficult with lots of duplication and very little clarity over what is happening. For instance, imagine you have a flood in your apartment. You would typically:
1. First tell your insurance company
2. The insurance company would create a job on their systems and fax or email the details through to their subcontractors, in this case likely a plumber and an electrician
3. The plumber and electrical contractor will input the details on to their system (typically an Excel spreadsheet)
4. They will print out a job sheet and give it to their engineers (or in many cases another subcontractor)
5. The engineer will do the work, fill out the job sheet and then bring it back to the office so that the electrical contractor and the plumber can raise an invoice to the insurance company
Benefits of a market network
A market network enhances this process by moving the existing communications and transactions online. Like in a social network, companies can connect to each other and then share jobs. Ultimately, if enabled, an added job can be received and then allocated to a subcontractor who would then either do the job or may even subcontract it out to someone else. Unlike the existing process, with a market network, everyone can see the status of the job as it is updated in real-time.
This has a number of benefits including:
1. A reduction in paperwork and a reduction in the duplication of paperwork as information flows automatically between the different companies
2. It is much easier to see what is going on, in real-time, without having to resort to multiple phone calls between each person in the chain
3. With less administration, more time is available to improve the process, improve the relationship and take on more paid work
4. Payment can happen more quickly and with fewer mistakes. Invoices can be raised as soon as the job is complete with information pre-filled. As the payment can be processed through the network, this further reduces administration and ensures no more waiting for invoices to be paid.
5. There is less room for error. Even when issues do occur, they are easier to resolve as information is fresh and readily available without having to search through old handwritten jobs sheets or multiple different emails
Ultimately, a market network makes it much easier for companies to work together and can dramatically increase customer service.
It’s Growing…
The Okappy network is growing massively. We’ve seen over 100,000 jobs processed this year alone, over £15m of invoices have been raised and most exciting for us, over 20,000 company connections have been made on the platform. A lot of Okappy customers do work for companies like yours. You might have seen an invite, a job sheet or an invoice from our system. You might already have staff using Okappy to manage your work!
Market networks can save thousands of hours, reduce millions of pounds of cost and free up time to invest in growing your businesses… or just give you more time to play golf! The world of work is changing and it is creating massive opportunities for the most forward looking companies – but it is also easy to get left behind.
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