Sharing Is Good: How to Save Money, Time and Resources Through Collaborative Consumption (26 page)

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding platforms have dramatically changed the way indi-

viduals and entrepreneurs gather funding in the early phases of a project. In the past, recording a demo, making a documentary, creating a prototype gadget or taking a research trip required money from banks or other wealthy beneficiaries, if they would even take the time to meet with you. Having a promising idea wasn’t enough, however, you also had to have a business plan, collateral, and in some cases, sign away partial ownership to your investors. And that’s if you’re lucky enough to be granted the loan, which is less likely now than ever. According to
Forbes
, in 2012 the total number of loans and money distributed in the United States via the Small Business 160

Sharing is Good

Administration has dropped as much as 20 percent! Also, nearly

98 percent of the business plans received by accredited investors and VCs are rejected. Think of how many potentially revolutionary ideas have been abandoned because an unproven entrepreneur simply couldn’t get funded. Now, crowdfunding services like Kickstarter and Fundable have made it possible to “pass the hat” on a global scale, tapping into social networks and sympathetic communities who are

willing to pitch in a few dollars to help bring a good idea to fruition.

Through these online platforms, entrepreneurs and artists alike can find the funds they need to continue their work without debt or lack of control over the finished product.

Kickstarter.com
— A crowdfunding site powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully funded or

no money changes hands.

Indiegogo.com
— A crowdfunding platform where people who

want to raise money can create fundraising campaigns to tell their story and get the word out.

StartSomeGood.com
— Connects social entrepreneurs, change-

makers and non-profits with people who want to contribute

knowledge, facilities, or capital.

LuckyAnt.com
— Lucky Ant helps local businesses get funds to grow by turning to you, their customers, for help.

CommunityFunded.com
— Focused on finding and spotlighting

projects in the community that might otherwise be swept under the carpet.

Small Knot.com
— A way for you to fund independent businesses in your neighborhood looking to expand, grow or open up shop.

Petridish.org
— Crowdfund exciting new science projects and research.

Pozible.com
— A crowdfunding platform and community-building tool for creative projects and ideas.

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Crowdcube.com
— A new way to fund startups and business expansion by crowdfunding for equity, giving entrepreneurs a platform to connect with ordinary people and raise venture capital.

WhenYouWish.com
— A new form of investment where ordinary

people — instead of entrenched capital — have the opportunity to

invest in the ideas and causes that will propel tomorrow.

GoFundMe.com
— A do-it-yourself online fundraising service that has helped thousands of people raise millions of dollars in online donations for the fundraising ideas that matter to them most.

Fundable.org
— A funding platform for startups that provides entrepreneurs with the tools they need to showcase their deal to potential customers and accredited investors.

Crowdfunder.com
— A social network and business crowdfunding platform for entrepreneurs and investors to connect, crowdfund and grow.

Watsi.org
— An online peer-to-peer crowdfunding platform that allows users to fund life-changing medical treatments for underserved people in developing countries.

Peerbackers.com
— An online funding platform that allows business owners to raise capital from their peers in exchange for tangible rewards to those who contribute.

Rockethub.com
— A grassroots crowdfunding community for “creatives and fuelers.”

Microlending

Also known as microfinance or peer-to-peer lending, microlending

describes the extension of small loans to borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment or a verifiable credit history.

Business loans, often under $1,000, are the most common type of

financial service offered by microfinance institutions.

Microfinance, while purely an investment vehicle, is also a compassionate venture, often used to support entrepreneurship and alleviate 162

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poverty. Although many microlending services are aimed at the

developing world, some acknowledge that there are plenty of peo-

ple in wealthy nations who could use a boost as well. In most of

these microlending schemes, the lender has the opportunity to

browse through a number of different projects looking for funding.

Whether it’s $5,000 for a new car, or $300 for a rural farmer to buy new chickens, the parties agree to the amount of payments, payment scheduling, and sometimes an interest rate. Rates are guaranteed to be more competitive than those available from traditional financial institutions, and instead of funding the bonus of another corporate CEO, the interest earned (if any) goes right back into the pocket of a regular individual.

UK.Zopa.com
— Where people get together to lend and borrow money directly with each other, sidestepping the banks for a better deal.

Prosper.com
— A peer-to-peer lending site that allows people to invest in each other in a way that is financially and socially rewarding.

Kiva.org
— A non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the Internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.

LendingClub.com
— An online financial community that brings together creditworthy borrowers and savvy investors so that both

can benefit financially.

Zidisha.org
— The only international peer-to-peer lending service that allows lenders to interact with borrowers directly, without intermediaries.

Zafèn.org
— A funding source for growing Haitian businesses and social projects that do not qualify for traditional bank loans and otherwise would not have access to capital.

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Milaap.org
— The only online microlending platform that enables non-Indians and non-resident Indians (NRIs) to make a loan to India.

Vittana.org
— A microlending platform that facilitates low-interest student loans for those seeking higher education without a lifelong burden of debt.

B2B Sharing Resources

Although we often envision private individuals when we talk about peer-to-peer bike rentals or swapping, corporate entities aren’t excluded from the sharing economy. Even if you run or work for a

traditional company, with cubicles and 401ks, collaborative con-

sumption can still be used to increase efficiency, profitability, and most importantly, strengthen strategic relationships with both

customers and competitors. Collaboration and diversity make solo

entrepreneurs and small businesses stronger, but they aren’t the only ones who can benefit from a free exchange of ideas and resources.“The way we work is changing dramatically,” writes James P. Ware in
The
Future of Business Collaboration.
“The workforce has become far more mobile. And new technologies have made it both easier and much

cheaper to connect with friends, family, and business colleagues on a global basis … At the same time, those interactions have become far more critical to organizational success. Collaboration — getting work done with other people — is increasingly seen as the key to

success.”

Dog-eat-dog competition, the idea that every detail about a com-

pany must be kept under lock and key, lest someone else be inspired by or improve upon them, is dying. And not a moment too soon.

Rather than a hierarchy, the business world is slowly becoming more like a spectrum, a plateau, a sandbox. Playing together nicely means the generation of more high-quality ideas, and putting them in the hands of consumers who want them even faster. An openness to

B2B sharing also means throwing off the limitations of financing —

knowledge, physical assets, space, and experience all become

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currencies with which companies can trade before (and even long

after) they’re in the black.

FLOOW2.com
— An online marketplace that facilitates the sharing/renting of personnel and equipment between companies.

BizX.com
— Members of the B2B exchange network called

BizXChange use the BizX dollar as an additional form of currency, providing companies a strategy to increase sales and save cash.

GreenAmericaExchange.org
— A unique online marketplace

where members can make trades using a complementary currency

instead of cash. By turning unsold goods, unbooked appointments

and under-utilized space into transferable digital “Trade Dollars,”

the exchange combines the benefits of direct barter with the flexibility of money.

e-Xmerce (thinkbarter.com)
— A leading provider of barter

exchange services for Western Canadian businesses, eXmerce iden-

tifies trade needs, efficiently matches buyers with suppliers, and consistently ensures a robust and growth-oriented barter exchange environment.

U-Exchange.com
— A swap site that specializes in every type of trade. No barter currencies or commissions taken on trades. Contact, post and swap with other members (allows businesses to register.).

Barter Business Unlimited (bbubarter.com)
— A membership lets you barter for products direct from other businesses, as well as obtain-ing media advertising, travel and entertainment services, healthcare, fitness opportunities and more, all without exchanging cash.

MaestroMarket.com
— A unique and first-of-its-kind platform that connects people with their ideal experts, or even their heroes.

Apply to be an expert or use it to get valuable business advice.

General Resources for Sharing

S
hareable.net
— The first and only online magazine completely focused on telling the story of sharing. This publication covers

the people and projects bringing a shareable world to life. It also offers a wealth of free resources for starting or participating in just about any kind of peer-to-peer or collaborative consumption initiative.

SharingSolution.com
— A Web community created by Janelle

Orsi and Emily Doskow, authors of the book by the same name.

This website offers a constant stream of insightful articles, links, and resources for sharing food, housing, transportation, housing and

more.

P2PFoundation.net
— An international organization focused on studying, researching, documenting and promoting peer-to-peer

practices in a very broad sense. This website is a knowledge com-

mons collaboratively built by the P2P Foundation community.

CollaborativeConsumption.com
— An online information hub created by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rodgers, authors of the break-out

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book,
What’s Mine Is Yours: How Col aborative Consumption Is

Changing The Way We Live.
This website is a gathering place for the most up-to-date information about the collaborative consumption industry, including market reports, definitions of the movement and collaborative consumption principles, infographics, blog posts, interviews with sharing economy leaders, tweets and more.

Meshing.it
— A website community created by Lisa Gansky, author of
The Mesh
, a book about how collaborative consumption is reshaping how we go to market, who we partner with and how we

invite participation and engage new customers. Includes a directory of companies currently moving the sharing economy forward.

OnTheCommons.org
— OntheCommons (OTC) is a commons

movement strategy center founded in 2001. OTC’s purpose is to

activate the emergence of a commons-based society by: building and bringing visibility to the commons movement, initiating and catalyzing commons work that focuses on commons-based solutions,

and developing and encouraging commons leadership.

All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons
— A book by Jay Walljasper and Bill McKibben. A wake-up call that will inspire you to see the world in a new way.

It’s a Shareable Life
— A book by Alexandra Liss, Chelsea Rustrum and Gabriel Stempinski that includes tons of how-to’s, case studies and tips and tricks for making money through collaborative consumption. The book itself was crowdfunded.

The People Who Share
— (thepeoplewhoshare.com): founded

by Benita Matofska, a global movement and campaign to build a

Sharing Economy; the organization behind Global Sharing Day

which takes place each year on the first Sunday in June and reach-es over 70 million people in 147 countries and Sharing Economy

TV (SETV) the only crowdsourced web channel devoted to the

General Resources for Sharing

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Sharing Economy (sharingeconomytv.com) The People Who Share

are also the pioneers behind the Global Sharing Economy Network

(meetup.com/Peoplewhoshare) and Crowdshare, festival-style com-