Sharing Economy: How To Make Rural Money

The New Economy Is Driven By People Sharing What They Have And Do!

The sharing economy is an economic principle, which many new startups are basing their business models on and the world is signing up.

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I know this to be true because businesses such as Airbnb, YouTube, Uber, Lyft, Pinterest, etc. use the sharing economy principle to make billions of dollars.

In capitalism, the sharing economy is a socio-economic system built around the sharing of resources with the help of technology.

It often involves a way of purchasing goods and services that differs from the traditional business model of companies hiring employees to produce products to sell to consumers.

Did you get that?

The conglomerates mentioned above don’t “produce any products to sell to consumers”, yet they hire employees and rake in plenty of money.

I heard someone say, “The sharing economy reminds them of the European Union.” 🙂

Investopedia.com defines the sharing economy this way:

• The sharing economy involves short-term peer-to-peer transactions to share use of idle assets and services or to facilitate collaboration.
• The sharing economy often involves some type of online platform that connects buyers and seller.
• The sharing economy is rapidly growing and evolving but faces significant challenges in the form of regulatory uncertainty and concerns about abuses.

According to Investopedia, many groups have issues with these ‘new’ types of businesses as follows (bold emphasis by Rural Money):

Current Criticisms Of This Economy

“Criticism of the sharing economy often involves regulatory uncertainty. Businesses offering rental services are often regulated by federal, state, or local authorities; unlicensed individuals offering rental services may not be following these regulations or paying the associated costs. This could mean giving them an advantage that enables them to charge lower prices.

Another concern is that lack of government oversight will lead to serious abuses of both buyers and sellers in the sharing economy. This has been highlighted by numerous highly publicized cases of things like hidden cameras in rented rooms, lawsuits over unfair treatment of ridesharing contractors by the platforms that employ them, and even murders of customers by real or fraudulent rental and rideshare providers.

There is also a fear that the greater amount of information shared on an online platform can create racial and/or gender bias among users. This can happen when users are allowed to choose who they will share their homes or vehicles with, or because of implicit statistical discrimination by algorithms that select users with characteristics such as poor credit history or criminal records.

For example, Airbnb had to face racial discrimination complaints from African-American and Latino would-be renters due to widespread user preference not to rent to these customers. As more data is presented and the sharing economy evolves, companies within this economy have pledged to combat bias in both their users and algorithms often by deliberately limiting the availability of information to and about buyers and sellers.”

I take issue with these points, but because the sharing economy provides jobs and much needed income for tens of millions of people across the world, I table my debate.

America Needs More Sharing And Less Red Tape

We all know the U.S. economy is bogged down by bureaucrats, plutocrats, etc. who love to TAX , SPEND and impose REGULATIONS ON INNOVATIVE BUSINESSES, THE POOR AND WORKING PEOPLE.

We need these economic building businesses to create more jobs and extra income oppose to shipping “our” jobs to you know where.

These are prime examples of sharing economy businesses that provide more tax revenue for our government, et al:

• Uber: $72 Billion
• Didi: $50 Billion
• Lyft: $11 Billion
• eBay: $36.8 Billion
• Etsy: $5.2 Billion
• Rent the Runway: $800 Million
• Fiverr: $351 Million
• Upwork: $168.8 Million +
• TaskRabbit: $50 Million +
• American Well: $441.5 Million
• Doctor On Demand: $160 Million
• Cohealo: $9 Million +
• And many more

What the critics don’t mention is: The various work from home, homebased, make money online, and extra income gigs and income opportunities that Americans do, help to drive these industries.

Moreover, they help to keep people gainfully employed albeit by unconventional means.

These industries are simply doing what corporate America is supposed to do and that is create jobs and economic opportunities for “the people”.

The New Economy Is Driven By Collaboration

The main objective of Rural Money is to present income opportunity ideas for people in rural areas particularly to use what they already have and do to make money.

These businesses being criticized are showing you how they have taken this very basic concept and turned it into billion-dollar industries.

You may not want a large concern.

But whether you do or not, you can take one of the ideas on this website and apply the same concept to make money.

This blog is doing it and so is TheFinancialDiet.com.

The moral of this post is: Don’t let anyone tell you that economy sharing is bad.

Especially when it is the only income keeping a roof over your children’s head and food in their bellies.

What’s Next For The Sharing Economy?

All of the above listed and unlisted companies are asking this question.

And for good reason because this is probably the best business model in 100 years utilizing other people’s transportation, goods and services.

So, in answer to what is next for the sharing economy, two things: 1. You! 2. Expect many more traditional companies to get on this money-wagon because of its huge profitability.

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