Small Business News

Fiverr’s Small Business Needs Index Highlights Trends in Pandemic-Era Project Hiring

When most people think about what it means to be a small business owner, they might assume that they like to do everything themselves. However, while this may be true of some, others prefer to hire experts to help them in areas where they struggle or could otherwise use some assistance. That’s where platforms such as UpWork and Fiverr come in, as they allow business owners to find people willing to work on their specific projects.

This week, the freelance marketplace site Fiverr released its third Small Business Needs Index. By gathering search data from the platform, the index seeks to highlight trends in what types of services small businesses and entrepreneurs are currently seeking the most. In turn, Fiverr has condensed this data into a few notable categories that seemingly share a narrative about what business owners have sought out during the pandemic.

Given the circumstances that small businesses faced in 2020, it should come as no surprise that demand for projects involving digital storefronts skyrocketed. Specifcially, the search phrase “Amazon virtual assistant” saw a 778% increase in the past six months compared to the six months prior. Searches related to the Shopify platform were also up significantly, with inquiries about Shopify store design and Shopify sales funnels up 302% and 103% respectively.

Similarly, searches for Wix website design increased 102% while the number of users looking for WordPress theme customization grew by 63%. Elsewhere, searches for food delivery app assistance rose 117%, suggesting that many restaurants were considering building their own apps to avoid paying fees to third-party services. Also in the world of the Internet, searches related to Google Analytics were up 283%.

Another trend observed by Fiverr’s index involved small business capital and money management. For example, the term “crowdfunding” saw a 115% increase. Additionally, search traffic gains for Quickbooks (83%), bookkeeping (40%), and accounting (33%) imply that some businesses were seeking assistance with their books.

For all of the challenges that small businesses faced during the height of the pandemic, Fiverr’s data may imply that entrepreneurs also used the downtime to think up ideas for their business or even pursue new methods of monetization. Interestingly, searches for business card design grew 106% while “product mockup” increased by 89% and “trademark” rose by 82%. Meanwhile, custom t-shirts seemed to be a potential creative and money-making outlet for some as Teespring promotion searches were up 111% and searches for custom t-shirt designs increased 106%.

Commenting on the findings of the latest index, Fiverr COO Hila Klein stated, “While this year has been a year of upheaval and change, we’ve also seen strength and resilience in ways we’ve never seen before.” Klein added, “Entrepreneurialism is still out there. Technologies are being used in new and innovative ways. People are getting more creative than ever. And most importantly, a recovery is in sight.”

As we’ve seen in previous surveys, a small silver lining of the pandemic has been that many small businesses have invested in new technologies that will serve their business well even after reopenings are complete. Case in point: those businesses who made efforts to build-out digital storefronts in the last year will hopefully see this new medium lead to increased sales. Of course, taking on these tasks alone can be overwhelming, which is why it’s nice that platforms such as Fiverr exist, enabling a win-win scenario for two entrepreneurial parties. Now that we’re entering a new economic phase, it will be interesting to see what business owners are searching for on these freelancing websites next.