The sharing economy has surged in recent years as noted back in 2013 by The Economist. It has caused new business models to appear and new employment arrangements to be considered.
Professional Services
As a Co-Founder of a start-up (more on Stow later) in the sharing economy, I have realized the various degrees of services provided on such platforms. This included finding ad-hoc legal assistance for our own company on UpCounsel and integrating Onfido into our forthcoming app to provide background checks for users.
There are a variety of platforms where professionals provide specialized services. For example, Dolly is great if you have a truck and want to perform local moves; Bench Accounting for bookkeepers; and VerbalizeIt if you have language translation skills. All are great ways to earn money in your domain of expertise and availability. Many of us hear of people quitting their day job to be an Uber or Lyft driver or having their Airbnb listing on the side where they play host in the perfectly quaint spare bedroom or apartment they have. So what about those that have a full time job they enjoy and don’t want to leave? How does somebody that doesn’t have extra time or a spare house make some money?
Stow
Stow lets you make money on the side from renting your space for storage and parking. You can clean out the extra space and set the terms that accommodate your schedule. You don’t have to take hours away from each day or learn how to tuck in the sheets for your guest. Stow users are everyday workers and students with extra space. They save more cash to help to reach their goals for vacation, paying off debt, or starting a family. Renters seeking a friendlier, more flexible solution for their parking, boat, RV, and general storage needs get a service that includes security with background checks and cashless transactions.
I would love to hear what sharing economy platforms you use. Let me know on Twitter @dev_eld and @just_stow_it.
See my blog at https://www.cpa-preneur.com/blog/
For more information on Stow visit JustStowIt.com and look for the iOS app in Spring 2016.
