The Gig Economy - An Entrepreneur's Launchpad?
Over the past decade, the popularity of gig work has skyrocketed. This rise can largely be attributed to the flexibility it offers. Allowing people to earn extra income as well as granting full time gig workers greater autonomy compared to a traditional 9-5 job. This freedom and flexibility acts as a key driver for entrepreneurship in the gig economy - enabling entrepreneurs to support themselves financially while building their businesses.
A study from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2019) found that gig workers were x2 more likely than the general population to be planning to start their own businesses or to be early-stage entrepreneurs.
Y Combinator (YC), a venture capital firm and startup accelerator with a portfolio that includes; Dropbox, DoorDash, Airbnb, Stripe, and Reddit, provides essential advice to its startups and those seeking guidance. Some of the key principles YC emphasise include:
Build something people want
Do things that don’t scale
Find 10-100 customers that love your product
(Full list here)
Ben Lebus, founder of Mob, is an entrepreneur who was able to successfully apply these principles.
Founded in 2016, Lebus started Mob as a Facebook page while living in Oxford. Bootstrapping the initial launch, Ben signed up as a Deliveroo rider, using the platform to sustain himself financially whilst building the business.
Here’s a look at how applying these principles, along with his gig work, helped Ben succeed early on ↓
Build Something People Want
Mob was initially founded when Ben realised that none of his university flatmates could cook. He identified a gap in the market for students interested in cooking and engaging with food, leading to the concept of feeding people for under £10. Initially, he started with one-minute videos aimed at students. The business has since grown to include a variety of cookbooks and online content, amassing over 2.4 million followers on platforms such as Instagram. Mob has recently launched a membership program as well as a collaboration with Deliveroo.
Do Things That Don’t Scale + Find Customers That Love Your Product
After the initial launch, Mob wasn’t getting the traction that Lebus had envisioned.
“I thought, very naively and moronically, that these videos would go viral overnight, and I would build an enormous community.”
Off the back of this, Lebus also needed money to keep going and to get the word out about Mob, so he became a Deliveroo rider. Lebus would ride around Oxford doing deliveries, earning cash to supplement his income while he was building Mob, but he also would sneak in Mob flyers and chat with customers about his business to gain and find more customers.
These practices were not scalable as the business would later grow, but they were beneficial in the short run for financial stability while increasing Mob’s visibility and gaining more viewers.
“It was the perfect thing for me to do at that point in time, and it allowed me to get through those tough early start-up moments."
A Launchpad?
While the gig economy has faced its fair share of criticism, most agree that the greatest benefit is the flexibility it provides. Working your own hours through apps like Uber for ride-sharing, Uber Eats for delivering food, or TaskRabbit for handyman work, allows aspiring entrepreneurs to earn money while pursuing their ventures.
This was Ben Lebus’ situation in 2016, when the gig economy was a different landscape. That being said, it raises the question - is it still a viable option to supplement your income with gig work or has the workload become too demanding and time consuming, harming the venture building process?
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