Small and medium enterprises can now attract the best Australian specialists for outsourced expertise, thanks to a new online marketplace that connects businesses (buyers) to expert service providers (suppliers) within minutes.

The CircleSource digital platform focuses on Australian specialists nationwide, to support Australian experts and Australian businesses; allowing both parties to communicate directly online and in-person offline.

The platform’s interactive map even lets you search by location, streamlining your search to your local area – particularly useful for organisations looking to build their community.

CircleSource is co-founded by Andrew Jarvis and Andrew Jackson, who built their decades-long careers in corporate HR, across numerous industry sectors; experiencing first-hand the need to engage external specialists at different stages throughout their journeys.

Winner of the 2017 Westpac Business of Tomorrow award, CircleSource won investment funding at the height of the COVID lockdown and launched in October 2020.

As the number of independent contractors in the gig economy continues to grow rapidly, Jarvis says now is the time for SMEs to harness the full benefits of sourcing external specialists via a robust system.

“We know that external specialists inject much-needed fresh thinking and expert skills into organisations. It can save costs and increase productivity.

“But for too long, SMEs have been disadvantaged by the lack of resources and governance protocols to source the best people, relying heavily on personal networks and referrals or online search,” he said.

CircleSource removes this disadvantage, giving SMEs easy access to competing on a level playing field as big business; by providing a sophisticated enterprise business management tool that cuts inefficiencies.

“Everything from the job brief, listing and bidding to communication, proposal review and data reporting, can be managed on the one dashboard.”

“Depending on how the individual business operates, there can be between 40%-70% cost savings in time and effort,” said Jarvis, who highlighted the fact that there is absolutely no cost to the buyer to use the platform. Suppliers only pay a one-off fee (which is capped) if they win a job.
 
Buyers and suppliers want transparency

Research, both academic and through CircleSource’s own market surveys, reveals that independent specialists want platforms that are truly transparent – no hidden costs such as fees for membership and lead generation; no barriers to buyer/supplier communication; and openness around how jobs get awarded.

As Dr. Amy Wrzesniewski, Professor at Yale School of Management explains in an interview published in Deloitte Insights, it matters a lot that people feel they understand how it all works, especially in the business side of things – where the money goes, how jobs get assigned – and that they feel fairly treated. 

“At least right now, on a lot of these platforms, there is a sense of a lack of transparency or at worst, a sense of potentially being manipulated by the platform where gig workers feel the design is pushing them, but it’s for the benefit of the organisation, not the individual,” she said.

Jarvis: “Exactly why we built CircleSource on our core values of transparency and trust. To move beyond a financial transaction marketplace, into an ecosystem where real connections, relationships and collaborations grow. To deliver great outcomes for all parties in terms of quality, time and cost.”

Businesses (buyers) and expert service providers (suppliers) can find out more here.

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