{"id":437,"date":"2015-11-24T18:11:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T16:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rocketpad.co.za\/matoyana\/?p=428"},"modified":"2019-02-07T16:19:19","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T14:19:19","slug":"the-business-case-for-crowdsourcing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocketpad.co.za\/matoyana\/the-business-case-for-crowdsourcing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Business Case for Crowdsourcing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>Gone are the days of employing a large number of people; relying on one or two overpriced suppliers; consulting one person on a business problem or struggling to raise funds from a finance institution. Technology has made access to skilled individuals, finance and suppliers easier and affordable. This is great for small businesses and start-ups. If you don\u2019t know what crowdsourcing is \u2013 take a few more minutes to read more.<\/p>\n

Crowdsourcing is outsourcing work (typically online) to a group of people or suppliers. The business term \u201ccrowdsourcing\u201d has only been around for a decade. Wikipedia<\/a> (which, by the way, is a great example of a tool that uses the crowd, to source its content) provides a more formal definition, which is: \u201cThe process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Crowdsourcing allows you, the business owner (small, medium or start-up) to focus on what is core and outsource what isn\u2019t. In that way it can:<\/p>\n

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  1. Lower operational costs, most are \u201cpay as you use\u201d revenue models<\/li>\n
  2. Decreases the cost of investment into Research and Development<\/li>\n
  3. Give you access to talented people globally<\/li>\n
  4. Save you time<\/li>\n
  5. Allow you to focus on what\u2019s important \u2013 growing and establishing a sustainable business<\/li>\n
  6. Bring diverse perspectives into your business<\/li>\n
  7. Drive innovation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"The<\/a>Big corporates are also using crowdsourcing models to assist them in creating new products and services \u2013 they call it open innovation<\/em>. Multinationals such as P&G, Coca-Cola, GE and Unilever all use open innovation models. GE<\/a> explains further: \u201cBy crowdsourcing innovation\u2014both internally and externally\u2014GE is improving customer value and driving advancements across industries.”<\/p>\n

    Here’s how you can use a crowdsourcing model in your business or start-up:<\/p>\n