After 26-year-old fashion school graduate Chen Xiao was forced to close down her shop due to the sour economic climate, she stumbled across an innovative way to make money: She's offered up her services to users of mop.com, a popular Chinese Internet portal. Xiao doesn't do anything immoral, illegal or violent, according to CNN, but in the past month and a half she's attended the birth of a stranger's baby, bought and delivered flowers to strangers and had lunch with a homeless person.
For these random, user-suggested tasks, Chen Xiao charges about £2 and hour. Since she started her crowdsourced career, Xiao has made about £300, which the Telegraph says is a respectable sum in China.
Crowdsourced Careers
Chen Xiao Performs Random Real-Life Tasks for Chinese Internet Users
Trend Themes
1. Crowdsourced Careers - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Creating platforms that connect individuals willing to perform random tasks with users in need of those services.
2. Peer-to-peer Services - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing online platforms that facilitate transactions between individuals offering and seeking various services.
3. Micro-entrepreneurship - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Enabling individuals to monetize their skills and time by providing services on-demand through online platforms.
Industry Implications
1. Gig Economy - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Building platforms that connect individuals looking for temporary or freelance work with users in need of their services.
2. Sharing Economy - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Creating platforms that enable individuals to share and monetize their resources, skills, or spare time with others.
3. Online Marketplaces - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Developing digital platforms that connect buyers and sellers of various goods and services.