You must have shared many things with your friends. Now, you can earn money by sharing your assets with your peers or community through sharing economy business ideas.
In simple words, the sharing economy is the short-term use of your assets or services by sharing them with others and earning money. The essence of sharing economy business ideas is in this form. You share or rent, or provide services and get paid for that.
Sharing economy business ideas are often related to app-based activities. That is, you will find your sharing partners or customers online through apps.
Try to think out of the box in growing your sharing economy business idea. Offer something helpful, beneficial, and convenient. This will make your sharing economy business more profitable.
25 Sharing Economy Business Ideas
1. Carpool
A carpool is an ideal example of a sharing economy business idea. If you own a car, you can start this business wherein you can share your car with other office-goers and provide them with pick-up and home drop-in services. The charges paid by them will cover your car maintenance and fuel costs, along with giving you good profits. Providing the service in multiple shifts will give you more profits.
2. Bike Sharing
Bikes are preferred vehicles for many people, especially the younger generation. Hence, bike sharing is a profitable sharing economy business idea. You can give your bike for sharing. Not only that, you can grow a pool of bikes for sharing by local people. This will give you a good income. You can manage the entire system of renting and receiving payments online.
3. Co-Working Space
If you own a spacious premise, you can rent it out as a co-working space. This sharing economy business idea will give you money for your premises and help others get a working space. You may have to renovate or rearrange your space to facilitate a co-working space. However, you will be able to recover the cost once your business starts rolling.
4. Parking Space Rental
If you live in a place that has a big parking area, you can rent it out for parking. This sharing economy business idea will enable you to share the space with other people in need of parking space and give you a good income for that.
5. House Rent
Do you have a vacant house or apartment? You can give it on rent and get a sustainable income from it. This sharing economy business idea has a steady demand, especially if your house has a good location or is spacious. You can get tenants through classified ads or house-renting apps.
6. Construction Equipment Rental
The construction equipment rental business is a growing as well as highly profitable sharing economy business idea. You have to invest money in buying this equipment. However, you will be able to recover your expenses and earn good profits within a short span by renting them. Buy equipment according to your budget. Some of the common and sought-after construction equipment include Excavators, Backhoes, Bulldozers, Graders, Trenchers, Wheel tractors, Scrapers, etc.
7. Clothes Rental
Owning expensive clothes is not always possible. Hence clothes rental has become an important and lucrative sharing economy business idea. You can do this business through peer-to-peer sharing. For this, you have to create an online platform or app that connects the owners to the clients. The rate depends on the kind of clothes, brand, and duration of rent.
8. Buying and Selling Used Clothes
Buying and selling used clothes have now become a popular concept as well as a profitable sharing economy business idea. You have to start this business online or through an app. In this business, you can link up many buyers and sellers and get your profit through every transaction. Branded clothes have great demand in this marketplace.
9. Jewelry Rental
Jewelry rental is a lucrative sharing economy business idea. You can start your app-based jewelry rental business and earn high profits. In this jewelry business, you can rent designer or vintage jewelry, watches, precious stone or diamond jewelry, and also costume jewelry. This has great demand, especially in the festival or party seasons. You have to invest in buying the jewelry. But you will be able to get them back by renting them.
10. Furniture Rental
Furniture rental is also a good sharing economy business idea. You can start this business by renting furniture to families, offices, film shooting sets, etc. This business can be done locally, within your community. However, for a large-scale business on furniture rental, you have to do it through apps because that will help you get more clients.
11. Food Sharing
A food-sharing business is an app-based business. This sharing economy business idea connects people who have extra food at home, after-parties or functions, to the people who need food or the local NGOs who feed poor people. You will get your income as the developer and manager of the app, as well as the entire management of food sharing. This is sharing combined with welfare.
12. Bed and Breakfast
Do you have extra room(s) in your house? You can share that room with others, offering them a bed and breakfast facility at a price. This is a profitable sharing economy business idea, wherein you can share your idle assets or extra room(s) with guests and earn money. The concept of Airbnb also started with this idea.
13. Sports Goods Rental
Sports goods like those needed for surfing, skiing, river rafting, etc, are expensive, and many people do not use them regularly. Rather, they prefer to rent it. Hence, you can consider sports goods rental as your sharing economy business idea. This is a profitable business and can be operated best through apps.
14. Errand Service Sharing
We need errand services now and then. On the other hand, people do the errands and get paid. If you can link up the need with the providers through an app or by online networking, you can earn good profits. This sharing economy business idea of errand sharing is helpful as well as profitable. You can start this business after researching the demands along with service providers.
15. Education Sharing
Education sharing is a popular and profitable sharing economy business idea. If you are good at academics or any other skills, you can start an education-sharing business through direct classes or online teaching platforms. In this way, sharing your knowledge and skills will fetch you a good income.
16. Event Venue Rental
If you have a property that can be used as a venue for social or corporate events and parties, you can rent it for the occasion. This is a good example of a sharing economy business idea that will get you high profits. Maintain the property well with certain additions and alterations for events or parties. Enlist your name in various online listings of party venues. You will get many clients.
17. Technology Sharing
Technology like software, programs, and related features is expensive. Hence, not many can afford it. Those who possess the technology, as well as the know-how and related services, are willing to share them with people who need them for a short term or based on a particular project. The sharing involves payment by the service-seekers. This sharing economy is a good business idea. You can share technology or build a common platform for sharing technology and get paid.
18. Office Equipment Rental
Office equipment includes a wide range of items from computers and printers to the air conditioner and the scanning machine. Many offices do not want to make a high expenditure on buying this equipment. Rather, they prefer to take them on rent. Hence, office equipment rental is a profitable sharing economy business idea. You can have your set of equipment and put it on rent. Or create an online platform wherein you will connect the owners to the customers.
19. Home Equipment Sharing
Home equipment sharing is a good example of a sharing economy business idea. You may have several things, like garden equipment or spare kitchen tools and utensils, that you can share with your neighbors. Otherwise, you can create your collection of home equipment, like a fire alarm, burglar alarm, CCTV camera, etc. And then share it with the local community as well as others through an online network. This will give you a good income.
20. Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a utility and need-based sharing economy business idea. In this business, you have to create funds through contributions from various investors and give the funds to start-ups of peers based on interests or profit-sharing. In most cases, the investors also belong to the known group or peer group. However, this business gives you good returns on investment.
21. Storage Space Rental
Different kinds of offices and businesses need storage space for several reasons. Not only that, they are ready to pay a good rent for the storage space. Hence, this can be your sharing economy business idea. You can utilize the extra space in your possession for this. Otherwise, you can build or buy a building or storage facilities to rent them out. This is a growing market in the sharing economy, which ensures a steady and high profit for you.
22. Vacation Rental
Do you have a property in a tourist destination? If yes, you can rent them to tourists coming there for vacation. Otherwise, you can also invest in a property at a tourist place and rent it to tourists on vacation. This is a lucrative sharing economy business idea, as many travelers prefer to rent properties during vacation. You can get customers through an online network.
23. Musical Instrument Rental
Musical instruments are often rented by upcoming or established musicians. You can buy instruments and put them on rent. Or, you can grow an online network of owners with people who are interested in taking the instruments for rent. It has a huge market. Musical instruments, recording equipment, etc, are given for rent. This sharing economy business idea will give you a high income.
24. Marriage Party Rentals
Marriage parties need so many types of things, like cars or carriages, decoration items, lights, music arrangements, dance floor decoration, flowers, etc. You can start a business by renting out these essential items for marriage parties and earning high profits. This is a profitable sharing economy business idea. You can rent them to the venue owners or wedding planners according to requirements.
25. Food and Goods Delivery
We are all acquainted with the concept of food or goods delivery services. There are many players like UBER and others. However, there is still a large scope for you in this sharing economy business idea. You can start an app-based network for delivering restaurant food or other essential items from nearby stores to your subscribers or members. People now require this service, and that will create an opportunity for you to make profits.
We often say that ‘sharing is caring. Through the sharing economy business ideas, you can share, care and earn good profits.
Rupak Chakrabarty is a small business coach and founder of 99BusinessIdeas.com, where he and his team share practical guides and startup resources for entrepreneurs worldwide. With over a decade of experience in business consulting, Rupak has advised startups and small businesses across industries, including retail, food services, making money online, and e-commerce. His mission is to simplify entrepreneurship by providing actionable insights that help everyday people turn ideas into profitable ventures.
Contact: rupak@99businessideas.com
