Value Proposition
Merework.com is an exclusive referral marketplace specializing in connecting top-tier, values-driven freelance professionals.
Our invitation-only community connects clients with freelancers who offer services grounded in the image of Our Maker, disciplined in craft, service, and creativity.
We help freelancers focus on their expertise by matching them with high quality projects. Clients gain access to a trusted network of professionals vetted for their skills, values, and reputation.
Our goal is to foster work relationships centered on mutual service and our union in Christ.
Good work is good.
Discovery
Target Market
The target market consists of two segments:
Established freelance professionals in coaching, consulting, and specialized services looking to gain referrals, leads, and support in establishing and scaling their business. Small and medium enterprises and solopreneurs seeking trustworthy freelance and fractional partners. Persona of Freelancer
A 45-year-old small business owner looking to grow his coaching practice
Has over 15 years of experience in his field but struggles with the business side of acquiring new clients.
He wants to focus on service delivery rather than sales and marketing.
He seeks an efficient way to gain referrals from like-minded professionals.
He’s not willing to compromise on his values and appreciates working with like-minded mission-driven, principled clients.
He enjoys partnership opportunities and collaborations with complementary service providers.
He’s frustrated by having to learn new technologies and adapt to new platforms and tools.
Problem Statement
Talented freelance professionals struggle to efficiently gain clients because they lack focused marketing and sales capabilities. This prevents them from fully leveraging their expertise in service to others.
Breakdown of Problem
Former employees turned freelancers end up spending too much time on business operations instead of service delivery. LinkedIn and other platforms have a low signal-to-noise ratio, making it hard to identify the right partners. Transactional marketplaces like Fiverr commoditize services, undervaluing specialty skills. Freelancers focus on chasing individual prospects instead of designing compelling lead generation funnels. Validate with Data
Conduct research and identify KPIs to qualify and articulate the pain Survey data on pain points of independent consultants and solopreneurs Market size and growth trends in the freelance/gig economy globally for premium and executive-level services Customer acquisition costs and conversion rates for freelancer marketing channels Sales cycle length and referral rates for small coaching/consulting businesses Impact of shared values and referral-based marketing on conversion rates Hypothesis
Providing a selective, community-driven marketplace for freelance professionals, with built-in lead generation, will increase client acquisition efficiency.
Conduct Stakeholder Interviews
Freelancers and clients value a trust-based marketplace: Shared values and mission-orientation are important selection criteria for both freelancers and clients when choosing partners. Relevance of social proof: Clients highly value referrals and social proof when evaluating and selecting freelancers to work with. Quality trumps quantity: The assumption is that both freelancers and clients would prefer a fewer number of high-quality leads/referrals to a large number of less-qualified ones. Significance of operational overheads: This assumes that freelancers struggle mainly with operational tasks like sales and marketing rather than service delivery. Willingness to pay for leads: Clients are willing to pay a monthly subscription fee for access to vetted freelancer profiles and to post projects. Network effect of referrals: Freelancers are eager to refer one another given the shared values and community ethos of the platform. Clients desire long-term relationships: Clients are not just looking for one-off projects but are interested in forming longer-term relationships with freelancers. Community engagement drives loyalty: Validate whether a "Missions Page" actually contributes to user engagement and retention. Importance of skill diversification: Clients are interested in a range of services (e.g., coaching, consulting, specialized services) from freelancers. Engagement through user-created content: Lead generation services such as optimized content and digital promotion will effectively convert users into subscribed members. Sample Questions
What are your top priorities when it comes to the health and prospects of your business? How important is finding qualified leads for your business today and as you look to the future? What challenges have you faced in trying to gain new clients? Can you recall the last time you felt you were not doing enough or could not find the right resources to support your effort? Have you invested in any particular tools or strategies? How do you measure whether one is helping your business or not? What frustrations or difficulties have you experienced with existing services and strategies? How important are shared values and principles in working with clients? How often are you in need of finding qualified expertise outside of your business’s existing capacity? What methods have you used in identifying and bringing in expertise? Which have been the most effective in terms of time to hire and quality of talent? What factors most influence your decision to work with a particular freelancer? What difficulties have you faced in finding and evaluating qualified freelance consultants? Describe a recent instance where you felt the system or methods at your disposal were inadequate for bringing in the right level of outside expertise. Would you prefer to work with freelancers who share your values? Why? Product Solution
Product Vision & Mission
Good work is good.
Merework.com celebrates the dignity of work done well and the craftsman who serves others through the application of their gifts. We foster professional relationships grounded in mutual service, integrity, and the pursuit of excellence.
We believe that work is not just a means to an end but a form of worship and service that reflects our commitment to a higher calling.
Freelancers and clients are not only encouraged to pursue professional excellence but also to embed their work with values of integrity, compassion, and discipleship—making every project an opportunity to "work as for the Lord."
Product Principles
Trust: Strict quality criteria ensure a high-caliber marketplace. Reputation: Freelancers are vetted and rated based on expertise, values, and satisfaction. Community: Shared mission and values strengthens relationships. Craft: Encouraging excellence in skills and service delivery. Accessibility: Making elite-level services attainable for clients. Key Features & Benefits
Invitation-only community: Platform is accessible only to freelancers and clients who have passed our strict vetting criteria. Benefit: Maintains a high-caliber marketplace of professionals whose skills and values align with community ethos. Dynamic service provider referral: Freelancers and clients can refer additional service providers to the marketplace, where they receive increased visibility based on the number and quality of referrals they receive. Benefit: Enables high-quality, trusted service providers to naturally rise to prominence within the community, making it easier for clients to identify and engage with top-tier professionals. This also encourages members to actively refer excellent service providers, enriching the quality of the marketplace. Value-matching algorithm: A matching algorithm that aligns freelancers and clients based on their professed values and service needs. Benefit: Ensures compatible and mutually beneficial working relationships. Secure payment gateway: A built-in payment processing system that makes transactions between freelancers and clients seamless and secure. Benefit: Adds a layer of trust and ease in financial interactions. Performance tracking: A robust analytics dashboard to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) like project completion rate, client satisfaction, and income. Benefit: Helps freelancers and clients make data-driven decisions for their business or projects. Missions page: A unique platform feature where freelancers can offer pro bono services or contribute to community-based initiatives. Benefit: Allows members to tangibly act on their values and collaborate to serve community. Resource library: Access to articles, templates, and webinars that cover best practices in freelancing, business, and values-based work. Benefit: Continuous learning and development opportunities for both freelancers and clients. Direct messaging and communication tools: A built-in chat and video conferencing system for streamlined communication between freelancers and clients. Benefit: Facilitates clearer project guidelines and expectations, leading to more successful outcomes. Customized learning paths: After an initial assessment, the platform creates a customized and adaptive learning plan for each student. Benefit: Personalizes learning to student's level and goals for better outcomes. Integrated payment processing: Parents can seamlessly pay and track expenses for tutor subscriptions, test registration, and other platform fees. Benefit: Provides transparency and simplicity for managing payments. Interactive dashboard for parents: A user-friendly interface where parents can track their children's trajectory, see upcoming tests, view earned badges, and easily manage payments. Benefit: Enables parents to engage and participate in their child's learning. Certification and training for tutors: The platform offers a certification program that tutors must complete in order to teach. Benefit: Ensures tutor quality and standards for effective instruction. Institutional oversight: For schools and English-language training centers, the platform provides management tools to monitor the performance of their teachers, control curricula, and track the progress of batches of students. Benefit: Allows institutions to take ownership of learning outcomes. User Journeys
Stage 1: Awareness & Onboarding Freelancers: Discover Merework.com through social media, industry publications, or referrals from existing members. They apply by filling out a detailed application, including proof of skills, values, and past work. Clients: Learn about the platform through referrals, web searches, or through their community (such as churches or Christian business associations). They register and complete an initial needs assessment. Merework Admins: Oversee the initial setup of the platform, approve freelancers based on vetting criteria, and monitor client onboarding. Stage 2: Exploration & Matchmaking Freelancers: Browse through a list of potential clients and projects, which are matched based on their skills and values. They can express interest or wait to be contacted by clients. Clients: After onboarding, they are provided with a curated list of freelancers that match their needs. They can view profiles, ratings, and reach out to potential freelancers. Merework Admins: Monitor the matchmaking process through an analytics dashboard to ensure quality matches and to make adjustments to the matching algorithm. Stage 3: Engagement & Service Delivery Freelancers: Engage with clients via in-built messaging and project management tools. They submit proposals, timelines, and begin work upon acceptance. Clients: Communicate with freelancers to finalize project scopes, review progress, and make payments through the platform.
Merework Admins: Act as intermediaries in case of disputes and also ensure smooth project execution. Monitor ongoing projects for quality assurance. Stage 4: Assessment & Feedback Freelancers: Upon project completion, they request reviews from clients and also leave reviews for the clients. Clients: Complete projects and then rate freelancers based on performance, timeliness, and other criteria. They also have the option to tip or reward freelancers for exceptional work. Merework Admins: Collect and analyze review and rating data for quality assurance and to fine-tune the platform’s vetting and matching processes. Stage 5: Continuity & Growth Freelancers: Based on performance and reviews, gain more visibility and opportunities on the platform. They can also engage in the community by participating in webinars, forums, and contributing to the Missions page. Clients: Decide to continue with the same freelancers or explore others based on performance and feedback. They can also become referrers and earn benefits. Merework Admins: Use analytics for long-term planning, including potential expansions into new service verticals or geographical markets. They also roll out feature updates based on user feedback. Business Model
The marketplace generates revenue through subscriptions from both freelancers and clients, with freelancers paying for access to leads, referrals, and coaching while clients pay to post projects and view vetted freelancer profiles.
Assumptions and Pricing
Freelancer subscription for access to leads, referrals, coaching: $300/mo Client subscription to post projects and access full freelancer profiles: $100/mo Conversion rate: 15% of leads convert to clients Average project value: $5000 Institutional license fee: TBD (For enterprises, public, and not-for-profit organizations) Revenue Projections
Freelancer Annual Revenue: 200 freelancers * $300/mo * 12 = $720,000 Client Annual Revenue: 500 clients * $100/mo * 12 = $600,000 Total Revenue Year 1: $720,000 (Freelancers) + $600,000 (Clients) = $1,320,000 Freelancers: 400 (100% YoY growth) Clients: 1000 (100% YoY growth) Freelancer Annual Revenue: 400 freelancers * $300/mo * 12 = $1,440,000 Client Annual Revenue: 1000 clients * $100/mo * 12 = $1,200,000 Total Revenue Year 2: $1,440,000 (Freelancers) + $1,200,000 (Clients) = $2,640,000 Freelancers: 800 (100% YoY growth) Clients: 2000 (100% YoY growth) Freelancer Annual Revenue: 800 freelancers * $300/mo * 12 = $2,880,000 Client Annual Revenue: 2000 clients * $100/mo * 12 = $2,400,000 Total Revenue Year 3: $2,880,000 (Freelancers) + $2,400,000 (Clients) = $5,280,000 Performance Metrics
Both freelancer and client engagement act as early indicators of long-term profitability, guiding necessary real-time adjustments. Revenue, growth, and satisfaction KPIs are balanced to inform a sustainable scale while ensuring quality. The metrics create a virtuous cycle where quality service and business success are mutually reinforcing.
Freelancer retention rate
Average time spent on the platform
Range: 1-3 hours per week Completion rate of projects
Client retention rate
Average number of projects posted
Client reviews and ratings of freelancers
Target: Average rating of 4.5+ out of 5 Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
Target: $5 million by Year 3 Customer lifetime value (LTV)
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
Target: <$200 for Freelancers New freelancers per month
New clients per month
Number of referrals
Target: 100 new referrals per month Net promoter score (NPS)
Customer support resolution time
Merework: Humble Service
