There’s no better time for the world to enjoy a sharing economy than the time we live in at the moment. With a lot of resources in circulation, it can be hard to keep track of what you own or are in use of. Many times, you go for months or years with excess assets and have no idea how to dispose of them.
The sharing economy, also known as the peer-to-peer economy comes in to play from various aspects and resource sharing methods. The spectrum is quite broad, hence the main reason for the term’s confusion. However, the benefits observed from such models are unimaginable.
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Sharing Economy, what is it?
Since ages ago, people have been borrowing and lending resources for various reasons. Sometimes the terms were friendly, and other times one had to part with a resource as well, either money or another item, in exchange for what they needed for a time.
Today, the sharing economy has grown, and the sharing models have advanced thanks to technology and logistics innovation as well. Basically, a sharing economy involves a business model where resources are reused, rotated, and shared between different businesses and individuals. This might have been the concept behind the business to business forms of marketing and services.
The concept of this type of economy cannot be broadly described, given how dynamic the economy is in terms of industry penetration. However, it aims to make resources available so it can serve as many needs as possible while profiting the primary stakeholder. Different forms of businesses already make use of this concept. The next part describes a few of such companies and their models.
Sharing Economy Business Models
Every business that utilizes the sharing economy concept has a particular model that makes it unique. It takes a bit of research and risk evaluation to determine if the idea would be profitable or if it is worth trying. The following four models are some of the collective ventures that utilize the sharing economy models.
The Car Sharing Model
Since the early 2000s, the car-sharing model has been in play very significantly. An individual can hire a car to a taxi company, or the company can have its own vehicles that it gives out to the public as taxis.
In the end, the hirer gets side income from renting out a resource while those hiring the car get to enjoy the comfort of a private vehicle for subsidized prices over a period of time.
The pricing strategy is settled upon considering the distance traveled, type of the car, drive location, the time taken before giving back the vehicle, traffic, and stopovers put into consideration and also the condition of the vehicle after use.
Bike Sharing
This is another model that is now widespread in most developed countries around the world. Biking has proved to be a quick and convenient mode of transport, especially in urban areas. This being said, there are companies that have come up with the genius idea of turning this opportunity into profit.
The biking needs vary from one individual to another, and therefore, you can find out their rental rates from the lowest amount to an approximate high price for high-end bikes.
Bike renting services range from bicycles to motorbikes these days. People who offer logistics services can use bike hire services to get a transportation medium before they save enough to buy their own. It becomes a win-win scenario for the bike owner, the one who hires it, and the clients served by the logistic services.
The pricing strategy involves the consideration of the hours of use and, it’s the condition after use.
Share Rides
To make commuting even more comfortable, thanks to uber and other innovative taxi companies, one does not have to pay for all the taxi fare if they can share it with another rider. In this module, a person hires a ride from a ride-sharing app, and then if they are able to find another rider on the same route, they share the cost. This way, both riders pay way less of the average amount while the driver saves on fuel. Other companies that use his model include Lyft and Waze Carpool.
The pricing strategy involves considering the number of passengers sharing the ride and the distance; if there were any stopovers or traffic along the way. The amount decided upon is shared amongst the given passengers.
Parking Spaces Rentals
Parking spaces are becoming rarer with more people having private vehicles and the city council parking places becoming more congested. According to an article published on fascompany.com, the area being consumed by parking spaces in the US is too much, yet people will always make a few rounds to find cheaper options.
To make parking more accessible and cheaper, private residents have given up a part of their parking spaces to serve the public. Some have partnered with parking companies to help regulate this business, which has helped many car owners find safer parking spots while the residents of the homes get extra cash.
Parking companies regulate the payments made for these services and other security checks so that the owner of the private property enjoys an asset that would have otherwise remained unused. Early bookings are encouraged for some of these services since the demand is a bit high. Generally, people prefer these private parking spaces compared to the government or public slots.
The respective parking companies consider how much parking space each car takes up and the time consumed, to come up with the price.
Benefits of Business Models in the Sharing Economy
Not only has the sharing Economy brought different innovative business models, but it has also contributed to economic growth and job creation. Some of the benefits of these models include:
- Creativity and Innovation – First and foremost, to be able to make a great business in the sharing economy, you have to have a high sense of creativity. Think of problems that need to be solved and forms of resource sharing methods that will not need a lot of capital for you as a business person, yet they will generate revenue. Most of these business models require a significant percentage of technical input since they run on a mobile application basis. This thus requires innovation.
- Job Creation – With more people being able to share resources and get some money out of it, even more, people are getting flexible ways of earning a living. The best thing about jobs created in the sharing economy is that the service provider usually has the option of regulating their hours.
- Extra Sources of Income – Regulated hours bring you to the third prestigious benefit. This is the benefit that allows you to make extra money whether or not you are informal employment.
- Maximum Use of Resources – For many people, if it were not for car hiring services, their vehicles would be sitting idle in their car parks at home. Having avenues that maximize resources has reduced wastage and, at the same time, benefited many. People with excess clothes and jewelry have also been able to share or hire out the same, thus making more money and turning many resources into assets before they depreciate.
Tridens Monetization supports the Sharing Economy
Now that you know what it means to be part of the economy sharing age and how well it works for many, you should have the confidence to start your own model that helps solve a problem in your community and, in turn, add some income to your pocket. Maybe you are thinking of how you will work out the entire system and how much time you will have to spend before you have secure billing methods.
Worry no more, Tridens is here to help. With well researched and developed cloud-based billing system, you will have your money collection and management at the tip of your fingers. Our services have unique differentiators such as commissions, split billing, real-time notification, hierarchies, and quote-order-cash, among others. We are simple, agile, and reliable.
Some of the benefits you will enjoy from utilizing out monetization services include less to no capital expenses, immediate operations, reduced indirect costs, reduced time for marketing, and low operation costs. We understand the flexibility required in the sharing economy as well as security and reliability assurance for your clients.
We aim to make your payment work easier and trustable. There is no point in running an agile business if your methods of payments are not growing as fast as the economy is. We employ digital solutions to your financial needs so you can have more time to build your businesses. We are not limited to any particular industry. Our services have been tested in the education, media, telecommunication, IoT, and even health sectors. Tridens Monetization supports the Sharing Economy.