– By Andrew Chidiac –
When I think ‘sharing’, I think of a selfless and personal act of goodwill between one being and another. But this word [sharing] has been contaminated, bastardised and now economised.
The Sharing Economy turns everyday humans and physical resource into an exchange that is untouched and clean of the greasy mitts of companies and corporations.
Welcome to the sharing generation, a revolutionary reclamation from the corporate giants. All societies are built on the sharing or redistribution of resources, but this is the people moving in masses to reshape service industries, including fleet management, to suit them.
Whether it is a passing trend or not, the people have not only spoken, they have acted, and redefined the future standards and definition of the word ‘service’.
It’s affordable, simple and gentle on the environment. Why buy when we can share? This is the message of the sharing economy that is driving and changing the way we define what a consumable and tradable commodity is. And opening our eyes to the undiscovered inventories of under-utilised moneymakers we possess.
“I’m an Uber driver”, a statement that raises brows as a reputable service profession that boasts both positive entrepreneurial and successful reputations. But say that you’re “a Taxi driver”, and behold the lowbrow. Almost one in the same, though one benefits the ‘little guy’ more.
The sharing mentality is definitely to be feared by anyone not capitalising from it – either as a service provider, or a consumer. The entry levels do not have academic benchmarks, nor is the gap from everyday to startup hard to achieve.
Have a spare room in your home? Then Airbnb it! Have a car? Then become an UberX driver! Have a van or ute? Make $2,000 a week as an Airtasker! I answered yes to two of three; making me question my day job; encouraging me to think how I can look to capitalise too. And therein lies the threat.
Splend, a car fleet company of sorts, born from the popularity of UberX, and to cater to wannabe drivers that do not have a suitable and/or accessible car for the job.
Splend will supply you with a fully serviced and maintained economical and modern car for only $275 (or thereabouts) a week to do with as you please, UberX or personal. They saw a need, and created a supply. Their no-contract flexibility also makes trial highly considerable.
The sharing economy has not (yet) shaken up the commercial world, though the fleet industry itself needs to anticipate that it [Uber] may soon be turning up to their corporate party uninvited. Let’s not overlook the lessons and woes of the Taxi industry, that is now pleading and licking their wounds.
You may be thinking that Splend will have its hands full with the recent legalisation of UberX in NSW, but in the recent wake of this will Splend look to expand? Will they look to amp up their fleet, branch out and perhaps turn their capitalist cannons towards us, the fleet industry? Are we to combat? Or are we to join the revolution?
