Living in the society we do today, with most of our assets squeezed to their limit each month, the financial strains of life are more prevalent than ever before. I think the creation of collaborative platforms that share underutilized resources is a wonderful thing for people to benefit from…
More so in the last few years, they have become widely accepted and trusted by society as a whole. We’re all a lot more receptive to it now, people don’t feel the need to own and instead rent, share or swap – whilst not forgetting the earning potential too.
A good example of an industry evolving through the sharing economy is the car hire market. The ability to hire cars dotted about our neighbourhoods by the hour (through the likes of Zip Car), is now sprouting peer-to-peer service companies that enable a shared rides to work and now even a platform to rent out your own car instead of it sitting on the driveway (just check out Whip Car).
However I feel the title ‘sharing economy’ isn’t an entirely accurate representation of the industry as a whole. Maybe the ‘consumer network’ works a little better? What it does represent is a financial system built from network technologies that enable the creation of exchange platforms for assets (including money) or services. Thus unlocking the power of access, not exclusively sharing.
Image from gettyimages.
A major hurdle for companies starting up in this sector is reputation and how they can build traction, growing quickly through trust and reviews from press and social media rather than a capitalist status. I feel this is key to unlocking massive opportunity in peer-to-peer services through collaboration rather than ownership.
However, downsides to this form of industry can have an effect on the actual economy if it is not controlled in some way. I speak to cab drivers in London who are using Uber and are earning less money per ride than they would usually, but the jobs are there tenfold due to the instantly accessible use of the mobile apps speed, convenience and price. So what happens to the iconic black cab drivers that London is so renowned for?
For me, elements of love and frustration of living in London encouraged me to try my hand at entrepreneurialism and create my own collaborative platform to sell unique mobile imagery and art – called miPic. What began as me selling my own art and photography from a micro art stall studying architecture, gave me the desire to attempt it. I began wanting to recapture the micro business on Portobello Road or Camden market, but realised juggling a 50/60 hour week as an architect wouldn’t enable me to do so without becoming a complete recluse.
Seeing the success of stock photo companies such as Getty or Shutterstock and the impact Instagram has had on photography as a whole, quickly made me revaluate my hobby. I wanted to turn 100 likes into £100 as a physical tangible product, by selling my own iPhone photography via a web portfolio before manufacturing and distributing it myself. This could have been achievable, but the crazy idea I could somehow create a portal for everybody to share and sell their own mobile imagery as art to earn from seemed impossible.
Through persistence and belief I managed to employ the right team – on a shoestring budget – to design and execute the website with me over a two year development period. Then an influential collaboration with a UK print manufacturer to distribute our product resulted in the miPic platform app and website.
At the heart of our concept is the collaborative consumption approach. We aim to help one billion people benefit from something they already frequently do by creating and selling a physical good. We are aiming to open our first retail gallery this year and give everyone the opportunity to become the digital artist of tomorrow. I am really proud to see the process working.
Image from gettyimages.
Buying awesome iPad art directly from someone in Russia, earning them money as well as the personal pride of being their artwork being hung on your walls – now that’s what I like about the sharing economy.
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