Sootano.com an online micro-services startup solving Kenyan unemployment
Say goodbye to billboard ads or newspaper clippings, Morgan Andayi has developed a web-based platform to eradicate unemployment in Kenya. Sootano links a job seller to a job buyer. For example, if a startup is looking for some financial advice, they can hire a financial consultant selling his skills on the platform. However, every job uploaded on the website must offer a minimum fee of 500 Kenyan Shilling.
How does it work?
This process is simple enough and is beneficial to both the job seller and buyer. The job seller can freely register on sootano.com offering a particular task or skill. Once the job is uploaded on the website under a specific category, a job buyer can then contact the desired seller based on the job they want done. The person selling the job will receive an alert that their job has been bought, and Sootano then offers a link which gives the job seller and buyer an opportunity to chat and discuss details regarding the particular task.
Once the job seller finishes the required task, the buyer will receive a notification informing them that the job is done. If he is content with the job, then money will be credited to the job seller's account, the job buyer will also be asked to rate and review their experience with the job seller.
However, every job uploaded on the website must offer a minimum fee of 500 Kenyan Shilling.
During this whole process, the job seller gains experience while building their customer base, while the job buyer gets a quality service at an affordable price. In case of a dispute or an incomplete job, there will be a support system and the job buyer may receive a refund.
How it begun
Created by Morgan Andayi, a Kenyatta University student, Sootano offers the youth in Kenya an opportunity to showcase and sell their skills. Despite the fact that there are similar sites that link a job seller to job buyers, Andayi states that none of these online platforms directly cater to the youth.
“We present the whole package; we not only give our fellow youths a source of income, but they will also be creating a portfolio and gain job experience in the process,” said Andanyi. “We are also providing a great outsourcing avenue for business owners and the public at large. Using our platform you will be able to know which job seller to avoid and which job seller gives you the best quality service. We will be an online platform that offers high quality services at way cheaper price than any of our local competition.”
Andayi said that being a student and having worked freelance jobs online, he contemplated of ways that he could improve the link for the youth looking to earn an income and advance their skill.
“I had been working on online freelance jobs and most of the time I could get my work done by outsourcing them on micro-job sites after which I ended up registering on one of them. I was surprised when people actually requested my services.”
The 500 Shillings requirement is mandatory for all jobs, but to up the scales for the job seller to provide better services, Sootano has established a levels system in place that allows job sellers to add extra services which in turn lets them earn an extra commission.
Andayi wants to give students and the youth a gateway to expand their skills and profession and receive as much exposure as possible. “I want to give every youth an opportunity to earn a living through self employment. We have had experiences of graduates missing out on jobs and I want Sootano to be their savior.”