Some of our customers do not want any support from us as they treat SkilledUp Life as a Product. Others are requesting significant support including hand-holding as we are a Human Platform and not just a Product. When designing the support we provide, we need to consider its scalability.

1. Types of Support

Types of Support provided at present include:

• Product Support: Use of the Product – the software of the two-sided marketplace.
• Volunteer Support: Sourcing and working with Volunteers, and getting value from them.
• Know-how Support: Know-how shared in growing tech companies, i.e. how to build a tech company, requested mainly by first time founders.

1.1 Product Support for Companies

Support for use of the Product is provided via:

• Online Tawk Chat.
• Knowledge Base.
• Slack Group – direct line to our Founder and CEO, aka me!
• Events.
• Ticketing system – not yet effectively introduced.

1.2 Volunteer Support for Companies

Support for sourcing Volunteers and working with them is provided via:

• Knowledge base: Sourcing process and tool kit.
• Same Slack Group with direct line to me.
• Events.
• Training.

In addition to the above, we suggest onboarding an HR Volunteer first with us providing introductory training to the Volunteer on how to leverage SkilledUp Life.

The most problems encountered by our customers are due to:

• Unprofessionalism of Volunteers.
• Early abandonment of Volunteers.

I’ve discussed these two problems in detail recently through our blog post, SkilledUp Life Is A Human Platform.

1.2.1 Volunteer Training

We could explore providing training for Volunteers on soft skills using freely available training material in the future to improve their professionalism and reduce early abandonment.

1.2.2 Company Training

Some of the companies do not have the know-how, systems, processes and tools in place to leverage Volunteers as well as build their teams. We would need to explore how to help these companies going forward.

1.2.3 Blind-spot

At present, unless you inform us periodically, we have no knowledge of the Volunteers you have selected, their status with you and the level of contribution they are making to the growth of your tech startup. This reduces our ability to proactively help where possible.

1.3 Tech Company-Build Know-how Support for Companies

Whilst some aspects of know-how is shared, it is hard to provide this service at no additional cost. Going forward, know-how could be provided via:

• Limited know-how through knowledge base.
• Slack.
• Events.

We may consider providing help in building tech companies in exchange for 1% of equity in the future, in addition to the annual subscription charged.

2. Conclusion

Going forward, the best support we could provide is by training your HR Volunteers, and supporting them as much as possible, so that your HR Volunteer(s) can manage your account and source all the Volunteers you need. Pre-Screening volunteers by us is not something we can manage right now. It could however be provided by a Partner in the future.