In just the span of a decade, the sharing economy has exploded onto the global scene. If an entire business model can be hosted on a digital platform and accessed through a smartphone application, odds are that the industry to which it belongs has been disrupted.
Technology is enabling this economic model to thrive. People are turning their guest bedrooms into guest suites, turning their vehicles into ridesharing money makers and turning their passion for creativity into a commercial enterprise. You already are familiar with the big names which have heralded this new economic age: Airbnb, Lyft, Uber, etsy, et. al. But what you may not know is how big the sharing economy actually is.
Washington State University’s Carson College of Business has prepared an infographic which goes deep into the sharing economy while giving us a view of the incredible revolution changing how we do, basically, everything.
Some key takeaways:
- Wherever there is a cellular connection, there is the sharing economy. 68 percent of the world has some form of online business specializing in at least one of 25 different industries.
- The adoption rate for sharing economy services is astounding. WSU cites a statistic that says a staggering 72 percent of Americans have tried one of these services.
- There are advantages to the sharing economy: it allows people to get connected to an independent contractor gig without significant barriers to entry and has increased competition to introduce lower prices for users. However, more scrutiny of the companies which employ workers in the shared economy has come with increased regulation at the state level.
