A traditional Malaysia-based brick and mortar company, Fire Fighter Industry Sdn. Bhd. has been in business for 46 years. 95% of their customers are other businesses, with the remainder being consumers.

Their business model has always been direct- they would wait for an offer or approach clients via phone call which will follow with a quotation. Realizing the need to adapt to the ever-changing technological landscape, they set up an innovations team led by Chief Innovations Officer, Brian Soo.

Brian believed that his conservative, conventional company could grow, despite being labelled as a ‘boring’ industry. The main purpose of his team was to find new methods to solve problems, outside of the company. 

The first project they embarked on was a one-off project. The goal was to create an online platform for people to schedule appointments to service their fire safety products. It started with Brian attending an event about hiring on-demand talent led by Alejandro Kikuchi, the Head of International Growth at Workana. That’s where Brian met Josh, a sales rep from Workana. However, he was unsure about using a freelancer for the project.

Workana assured them that they could find a perfect candidate for the job. Reassured, Brian decided to hire a freelancer. Hiring a freelancer gave the company a good alternative to get tasks done, which may have not been achievable within the company.  

Happy with the results, they moved on to digital marketing for another project. For this, they hired a Google Analytics professional who would create online advertisements and copywrite for the company. They were sceptical at first, mainly because the digital space was an uncharted territory, more so for a conventional company selling fire safety equipment and services.

Thankfully, it bore fruit. The freelancer hired from Workana had experience working in a traditional company and could relate to their issues and reservations. She was very experienced, knowledgeable and her work exceeded the company’s expectations. It didn’t stop there. Following that, the company continued working with the freelancer to help the company grow.

Apart from that, freelancers are specialists in their own specific fields with their own varied background experience and training. This is why it is cost-effective to hire a freelancer, as training does not have to be provided.

Fire Fighter Industry Sdn. Bhd. managed to save time and spend a third on freelancers, as compared to a full-time employee. It also helps to be as specific as you can with regards to a job, and choosing a freelancer who can execute them well. This is because freelancers have a specific skill set.

How have other companies benefited from hiring Workana’s freelancers?

Let’s have a look at OCK Group Bhd.

OCK Group Bhd. is one of Malaysia’s biggest service network provider, with over two thousand six hundred employees. Their core business is the design, construction, installation and maintenance of the huge towers and networks which provide mobile phone signals. An opportunity rose when the government open tender for the Small Towers Project- for small towers to be built within the overcrowded city to improve phone signals. This was an interesting venture but also an expensive one because it was completely different from their core business. How would they go about it in a timely manner? Freelancers! After analyzing multiple proposals, they hired a freelancer from Workana who had all the skills and expertise needed for the upcoming proposal presentation.

Start-ups are another business that has prospered with the help of freelancers. One example is NUMU.

Isn’t it exciting to be rewarded with a free cup of coffee after posting a picture at your favourite cafe? How about getting rewarded with points for your next visit after you write a review of a restaurant? This was the brilliant idea that initiated the start-up NUMU. As consumers, we’re constantly creating value for brands on the internet. With this idea in mind, NUMU created a tool to help keep a record of that value and accumulate it so that users could gain rewards in exchange. Using the same marketing principles by affiliates and influencers, NUMU presented the same opportunity for everyone to use.

After working on it for some time, the project took off- it was a huge success! Within a short period of time, they were able to access the Instagram API platform and are about to work on Facebook data.

In order to keep up with their growing company, they needed to keep improving their website. Carlos Lopez, the founder of NUMU and his team started asking around for recommendations. That’s when they heard about Workana and the quality work by their freelancers. The access to the best in the respective fields and professionalism of the freelancers made Workana stand out. This was the start of their long successful history of projects, from programming to customer service.

Let’s look at another successful partnership between Workana and Unilever.

Unilever is a successful international company with its employees spanning all around the world. It is considered one of the best places to work because of their supportive, creative, encouraging and happy work culture. 

Workana and Unilever started working together to access young talent effectively beyond geographical location. They came up with a program “Yourfreelo” to give college students access to projects and subsequently help supplement their vocational training with experience, not limited by geographical location.

A partnership like Workana and Unilever saves time and resources compared to formal recruitment processes because it enables the company to find specific talent in timely and efficient manner. This move helps the company grow and stay relevant in this digital era.