Startup story #8 - Jobelink

Thousands of people are looking for specialised service providers every day while many professionals struggle to gain visibility and reach potential customers. Jobelink developed an online platform which is also available as an app that facilitates research, comparison and communication between clients and professionals. In this interview, Brian Wullimann, CEO and co-founder, talks about their solution and differences from existing alternatives.

What does Jobelink do, and what is different about your platform?
Jobelink provides a convenient and flexible solution for individuals and businesses to offer and request a wide range of professional services, from home maintenance to IT services.  Around 40% of small and medium-sized enterprises don’t have an online presence, which makes it harder for them to find new clients. The Jobelink profile for service providers is not a simple listing but a dedicated business page at no additional cost. The registration process is very straightforward, and in a few minutes, any professional can join the platform and access a pool of potential customers for their businesses.

What has been keeping you busy over the past months?
We have been working on the usability of the platform, streamlining all the processes and making sure that also users who do not have a lot of experience with digital tools can easily sign up and manage their own profile. Over the past months, we talked with several associations for different professional categories. On the one hand, this was crucial to validate our initial hypothesis and improve the initial version of the platform, both in terms of functionality and user experience; on the other hand, we want to build strong partnerships with these organisations and have a dedicated space for them on the Jobelink platform. 

This is not your first company, what is different in this latest endeavour?
Having prior entrepreneurial experience and a personal network facilitates initial conversations with potential partners and/or clients, as you already have some track record and expertise. I started my first company when I was still at the university, and I had to learn many things along the way. It helps knowing where to start, what to do and how to prepare for the next steps, but I am still learning a lot because the sector and the product are very different from the previous one. 

3 quick questions to wrap it up:

• What skills/qualities are important for an entrepreneur? – Ambitious vision and resiliency
• What advice would you give other founders? – Listen to your potential customers and make sure to identify and solve their biggest pain points 
• How did you deal with setbacks? – By focusing on possible solutions and not on the problem itself