Omar Ruiz Geronimo recognized that there was a problem when he failed to collect payment a few times as an architectural designer.
“I feel like it’s something freelancers don’t like to talk about because it is kind of embarrassing,” said Omar.
Samuel Ruiz Geronimo, an undergraduate senior majoring in Computer Science at California State University, East Bay launched Allies Pro alongside his brother, who is not a CSUEB student, on April 15.
Allies Pro is a website that allows freelance workers to get connected with gigs and get paid on time without the chance of getting stiffed.
“Allies Pro is a gig search and payment site that helps freelancers get paid on time, and not waste time looking for gigs online. We provide all that in just one place,” said Omar, co-founder of Allies Pro in an interview.
The idea stemmed from Omar’s experience as a freelance architectural designer where he had a lot of problems with being paid by people and companies who were requesting his work.
“My brother was getting stiffed a lot, so we discussed the idea, and we saw something that we could turn into a product or service, so we came up with Allies Pro,” said Omar.
Approximately 71 percent of freelance workers struggle to collect payment for their work at least once in their career, according to the Freelancers Union website. Freelance workers are not protected by labor laws like traditional workers are.
“We just created a product that we wanted for ourselves and from there we were like ‘Hey this might be useful to other people!’” said Samuel.
Allies Pro is not an application that can be found in the App Store yet as it is currently only a website, however, it can be accessed through your mobile device and it will automatically take you to the mobile site display mode. The site is completely free and can be accessed by anyone, although there is a small fee that is charged upon completion of the payment transaction.
“There is no subscription model, freelancers can access it right away, we only charge a small fee at the end when the payment has been made,” Samuel added.
Allies Pro went live on Monday after two years in the making. The Geronimo brothers are the official founders of Allies Pro, they did get some help from the Freelance Union community members.
“We have been talking to the community of freelancers through the Freelance Union and they’re constantly giving us feedback,” added Omar.
The Geronimo brothers created Allies Pro in response to the gig economy, which is only rising. There are currently 57 million independent workers in the United States, and that number is only expected to rise with the introduction of new technologies, according to the Freelancers Union website.
“People are actually moving from the regular nine to five to a digital platform to get jobs, to become a ‘solopreneur’ is what some people call it, and that’s something that we know it’s happening, and we are betting that it’s only going to keep on growing,” Omar added.