Taking new job opportunities with sharing economy…

Sharing economy, also defined as collaborative consumption and cooperation economy comes as a conspicuous notion nowadays. I studied a lot on this subject and wished to share my findings through this text.

“Everything which is mine is also ours!…”, “Access instead of Possession!…”, “Life is good if shared!…” are some of mottos we hear a lot but effective, aren’t they?

We can define the sharing economy as a new order, ecosystem based on using or getting service as much as needed, instead of possessing.

Actually we have grown up in a sharing economy for years.

We borrowed sugar from our neighbour with a cup in our hands. There was one person who have a drill in our neighbourhood and we always used it. We watched 1982 FIFA World Cup Final as coloured together with 15 neighbours in upstairs neighbour’s home because the only colour television in the neighbourhood was there and nobody took offence at sharing this experience. Car owners in the neighbourhood chauffeured voluntarily for everyone in need because sources were limited.*

Then, a consumption frenzy has started with a relative economic wealth. We wish to possess everything. We have possessed houses, cars, summerhouses, and instruments and devices that we will use once and then discard. Let alone borrowing a cup of sugar from our neighbour we do not even recognize them if they fell on us.

It is so easy to re-bring idle sources into economy and cycle with the increasing technological opportunities. The main reason of most problems that we get used to hear (for example; urbanization, environmental pollution, inflation) is ‘consumption frenzy’ and ‘possessiveness’. Its solution can be within the sharing economy.

Awareness of sharing economy in Turkey is gradually increasing. New examples, new implementation from car sharing to exchange of goods have started to appear fast. However, the adequate threshold user has not been reached yet for success of this implementations…

Peer to Peer (P2P) sharing among our neighbours or group of friends from individual equipment-device sharing to Uber or Airbnb which are commercial and global brands is known by everyone. This improvement not only change our perspective but also almost meet us eternal universe of social innovations.

Collaborative consumption start-ups serve fundamental duties such as minimizing damages in our globe we caused and giving us opportunity to experience new business models alongside of approaching us to each other. Sharing has become an important part of our country life such as libraries for goods, common social areas and even public transportations. If we check the last decade, start-ups and innovations providing opportunity for sharing from journeys (Uber, Bixie Bikes, Coop Cars, Bitaksi), to accomodation (AirBnb, Coachsurfing) and even to make people we do not know do our day-to-day businesses (Task Rabbit) shape our lives.

In addition, big companies are trying to help to increase this sharing ecosystem with shared-purchase, social responsibility, time boxes or exchanges of clothes and goods through sharing their idle sources and uniting their mass powers.

The Sharing Economy* contains exchange, shared use, leasing, borrowing, lending of all kinds of goods, time, skills, services, idle sources among individuals, corporations, organizations and masses. Mobile and digital technologies are supported with online platforms. They are based upon reciprocity principle and trust. This is an ecosystem pulling all of us in unavoidably because of economic crises and financial difficulties, increasing urbanization, gradually being limited of sources and energy and gradually becoming difficult of access to sources.

We have eternal opportunities to re-bring our idle sources into economy. There are so many sources that are used a little or not used, so boggle the mind. To say nothing of their social, economic and environmental values.

Abandoning possession is so hard for most of us. And we do not lean towards collaborative consumption and collaborative usage. It is a great and difficult step to experience mental conversion from Possession to Access. However, as we all know, more we will share, less we will consume raw materials and energy.

Briefly, it is necessary to think “simple” but “different”. Productivity may decrease and creativeness may disappear when we think so complicated for a new invention. It is necessary to look at ones already inside the life, so maybe it is necessary to be “arranger” instead of “inventor”… We can find expansion opportunities for our current business, new business potentials or inspiration of creative ideas within this new trend and formation. As long as we look in a straight way, all together…

Source: http://www.paylasimekonomisi.com/