Ask HN: Just launched my start-up here's my plan, what should I change?
I just launched my start-up www.zaloot.com.
It's a completely free odd-job marketplace. The way it works is users post jobs and take bids. Both employers and employees get rated and reviewed after each job. Higher ratings and better reviews should mean more money for employees and less cost for employers.
Our plan is to essentially begin by leaving it open to all users, but focusing our energy on our area (NY/NJ). We hired an SEO company that will begin work in September to do a local campaign for that area. We'll be walking around introducing ourselves to local businesses and communities.
Any suggestions? My research on here showed that there's been a few posts on building a two-sided marketplace, but none really answered these questions, if I missed them, my apologies, please link them.
Thanks
What comes to mind immediately is that might consider to not open the site to all users for a simple reason: quality content. If you cannot provide sufficient people who offer jobs or hire, people might quickly get frustrated with your service. As you already planned: start with one area you can learn in and master that, Maybe you manage to create buzz in the region. You probably know Taskrabbit already. They do it right: one region after the other: http://www.taskrabbit.com.
Modify a bit your site to put some links on the main page letting users (and google) find some common jobs faster. You can identify other services doing something similar and get some ideas from them (i.e fixr.com or myhammer.co.uk)
Posting jobs easier. One screen with the job and the sign up form would be easier for the 'employer' would get you more sign ups and more jobs, something critical for your business. Some websites generates the password automatically, some doesn't ask for the name ... anyway this is up to you.