SuperHEROes Do Exist – A New App Designed For The Modern Entrepreneur

It’s here to save the day, and it’s not your everyday superhero, but it can be. Hero, a new app targeted at the modern-day entrepreneur or freelancer, is scheduled to launch in January with its mission to build a marketplace for the micro-B2B ecosystem. The Chicago-based company is an app that supports the movement of freelancers, and with mobile devices as a primary source of society’s means for communication, Hero is a method for freelancers to easily conduct business on the go.The idea was conceived after the founders, who do a lot of travel for work and leisure, faced the challenge of finding the services they normally would use at home. Co-founder, Christopher Smith, explains, “If I flew from New York to Los Angeles and I needed to find where all the hot spots were in town, instead of spending a lot of time on Yelp or Google searches, I could simply connect with someone in real-time in that city who would make my experience much better.” The ability to have instant contact with resources is what ultimately drove the app idea. Smith continues, “And that is applicable to a lot of categories that will be supported on the platform. Categories include spa services, trainers, crew (entertainment), tech services, graphic designers, DJs, attorneys, photographers and more.”For proof of concept, Hero will run a beta launch at the top of 2016 with 10 categories and 300 hand-picked Heroes, or service providers. “We will let the market dictate what the categories are, and more cities will soon adapt,” states Smith. He continues, “We will also have Hero drivers – that’s definitely a category!” Smith ensures that the Hero payment model differs than that of Uber. “We want to consolidate what those different apps are doing out there. We want to be a ‘category killer’ in that scenario. There are way too many apps – we would rather have the platform for multiple categories of service.”Unlike industry competitors, such as Thumbtack, Angies list or Freelancers.com, which were initially web-based and later adapted to mobile, Hero is built from the ground first with mobile capabilities. “Our platform is built from the freelancer standpoint. We are focused on stable decision makers, and this platform allows you to make the decision on how you get paid – Hero only gets paid when you get paid.” People now have a simplified way to run their business on their phone; it’s a familiar workflow with what people use daily.What’s in the name? It’s the fact that service providers act as your “hero” in your daily needs – whether you need a chef for your next dinner party, an extra in a movie you are directing, a haircut by a barber in a new city you are visiting, or a photographer to shoot your next event. Now, finding someone for your service has never been easier!HOW IT WORKS:Upon downloading the free app, you will select a category – for example cleaning services. As a consumer you will browse through profiles of “heroes” and select which cleaning service you want. After choosing your “hero”, a ping is sent to the service provider. The provider is then able to accept or decline your request. Once accepted, you are a match! After a match is made, a chat screen becomes available to discuss the price and details of the transaction. To refine your “hero” search even further, you can add the price range you are seeking to your profile.So far, there has been positive feedback on the concept. Smith says, “People are excited about the potential efficiency of the app.” As a service provider, there is no subscription fee during the upcoming beta launch, yet there is a 10% initial transaction fee and a subsequent 5% charge with each recurring customer’s business transaction. Smith ensures that eventually the app will become subscription based, but his expectation of the app is that it will become viral. He states, “The goal is for everybody to download the app; to have the app in their pocket. We want to facilitate the growth of the freelancer community and be one of the first companies to really address this opportunity and build something that supports this community.”As the scope of our economy changes to reflect a more entrepreneurial environment, the job title of freelancer is no longer unconventional. Smith confidently confesses, “That’s the way everything is going, so if we can be on the cusp of that, that’s a good thing.”Hero will debut in January 2016 with a beta launch. Heroes (service providers) are encouraged to sign up for free at www.superhero.co