Sharing Economy: Are You Sure You're Maximising It?

?The sharing economy is a way of transforming anything into a market and anyone into a micro-entrepreneur.?

Alec Ross

It is said that in the past it was like this? Neighbors, friends, family members shared salt with each other, the magic wand, the car. Then we wanted to have everything and everything to ourselves.

Now, step by step, things start to change again. In Portugal, the idea is still new, but the SHARING ECONOMY is already growing.

The Sharing Economy or Collaborative Economy resulted from the timely combination of the financial crisis with the spread of the internet and constitutes a new model economic and social.

Equipment loan, service exchange, group purchase, peer-to-peer rental, second-hand purchase and sale hand?Does it seem confusing? I'm talking to you, for example, about platforms like AirBnB, BlaBlaCar, OLX, and on a financial level, crowdfunding in>, on a social level, Refood, or even itself Forall Phones.

How many cars pass us with free seats? What about the stored toys? And that tool you bought because you really needed it and only used it once? What the Sharing Economy does is bring these surpluses to the people who need them, based on 3 basic principles:

1. Unused value is waste;
2. Access is more important than possession;
3. Confidence!

Benita Matofska, founder of The People Who Share, found that, despite being recent, the Sharing Economy is already worth around 400 billion euros worldwide.

And, economists say, this economy can grow world GDP exponentially, renewing the concept of consumption private sector and increase attention to environmental issues and the use of resources.Good benefits!

And you, are you sure you make the most of everything you have?

Do you need to go to another city? Join a group of carpoolers and look for a seat in someone's car. Since you won't be using your car, look for the ideal platform and make it available for rent.

How about better organizing trips to classes or work? How about checking if your neighbor has a drill before going to buy? How about using your English skills to get help with your statistics questions? How about making the word ?community? count?

When I started riding with strangers, my mother didn't like the idea. Now she hitchhikes every week! When I was in Poland, 2 families welcomed me into their homes without knowing me, in one of them the couple even gave me their own room without taking anything that belonged to them. Trusting can be easy!

It is true that there is still a lot of legislative work to be done, but it was 2011 and Bryan Walsh, editor of TIME, already stated that the Sharing Economy is one of the 10 ideas that will change the world of tomorrow.

/strong> Don't you want to be part of this change?

Think social, change the rules!

Rafaela de Melo

Sources: The Wallet, Dinheiro Vivo, The Uni Planet