A New Way to Find and Sell Services: Crowdsourcing

By Sean McVey

The term crowdsourcing is defined as outsourcing a service to a crowd of providers. For example, in the graphic design industry a new crop of web-based services allow small business owners to submit a project to a group of designers. The idea is that a crowd of workers will produce to a wider range of options at a lower cost. (Of course, what you gain in short-term value you may very well lose in relevance and sophistication. How does a faceless crowd of designers understand the nuances of your business, for instance?)

Now the crowdsourcing concept is being applied to the consulting industry. Whinot.com offers up a gallery of consultants to collaborate with businesses. Here's how their process works:

1. Start a project – For no cost, define your needs and the scope of your project.
2. Brainstorm – Dozens or hundreds of management consultants submit their ideas and solutions. The community then votes on the best solution.
3. Identify and Select - Whinot presents you with a group of consultants that have risen to the top of the pile. You can look through the best solutions and select a team of consultants.
4. Deliver – A workroom is set up and the team of consultants collaborates to carry out the project.

 
Whinot is a young company, but one that understands the power of the crowd — in some situations a community of users may be more powerful than an individual. 

Note: Hinge hasn't used and does not endorse whinot.com. But as the Internet continues to change the professional services marketplace, traditional firms need begin thinking how they will compete against new business models like this.

What do you think of the crowdsourcing phenomenon? Does it complement or threaten traditional professional services?