#SharingIsCaring

Nowadays, more and more people accept the concept of the sharing economy. A wide audience appreciates the benefits coming with it, and there is no doubt why. Sharing resources, services, and information enable individuals or smaller companies to cut costs by sharing office spaces, resources, or skills. Thus, this type of economy provides much lower costs of manufacture, operations, etc.

There are three concepts of sharing economy.

1. real sharing

2. gift giving

3. pseudo sharing

The first concept shows signs of net sharing without further expectations from the counterparty. The second case is a specific gift, but expectations followed by the offering. Third option is a case where something is offered in order to earn money.

There are many ways to share your know-how, information, resources, services, and more. The first is shared workspaces. A typical example is this workspace sharing provides WeWork. The company offers freelancers, young entrepreneurs, and other individuals to work anywhere and rent out a workspace. A great advantage for smaller companies and start-ups is the possibility of renting space without more available capital.

Another typical way to share is Crowdfunding. This type of sharing allows users to connect with anyone interested in similar projects, who might want to participate in or co-finance the project. Crowdfunding thus enables smaller projects to inform the general public about their ideas or interests and raise funding.

Driving sharing and reducing car maintenance costs have become a significant part of the sharing economy over the last decade. Typically, it is often not worthwhile to own a car in big cities and pay the costs involved. That's why companies like Uber and Bolt providing these shared rides are experiencing a big boom.

People started to share not only rides but also accommodation. A company like Airbnb provides its users with housing all over the world. It is a typical double-sided platform, at both ends of which users benefit. The trend of the double-sided platforms also gave rise to the company Boatcation, which offers the possibility of charter boats worldwide. On one side, there are shipowners, who typically use their boats only a few days a year. It is, therefore, beneficial for them to reduce their costs and provide their boats to the wider population. This charter company thus offers people the opportunity to charter and share a boat with their friends and go on a cruise.

To conclude, it is important to say that a shared economy and sharing of different resources has become a very important part of our lives from which many benefit. It is clear that this trend grows fast and is very popular among generation X, Y and Z.

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References

What is the Shared Economy? Definition, Types, and Examples. (2021). Money Club. https://moneyclubber.com/blog/what-is-the-shared-economy/

Sharing Economy. (2021). Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sharing-economy.asp

What Is The Sharing Economy? (2021). BusinessBecause. https://www.businessbecause.com/news/insights/6736/what-is-the-sharing-economy