The Sharing Economy

How to Make Money in the Sharing Economy in 2018

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you wouldn’t have escaped all the talk about the sharing economy. The sharing economy, which has been made famous by companies like Uber and Airbnb, has helped so many people earn a decent income, especially at a time when the economy is still recovering and good, high paying “regular” jobs are hard to get.

Indeed, the sharing economy has been a highly disruptive force, and has challenged the established way of doing business in so many industries.

The traditional taxi-cab business has been completely demolished by ride sharing services or apps such as Uber and Lyft, while the biggest challenge faced by the multibillion dollar hotel industry is an app called Airbnb.

Experts say that the sharing economy will be worth $300 billion by 2025 and provide full-time employment or a part-time income to a significant section of the US population. It is based on the premise that all of us have some asset that we can share, whether it is our house, time, expertise or car, to help others and make money out of it. Simple, isn’t it?

Here’s a look at the different ways in which you can make money in the sharing economy in 2018…

Share Your House

Airbnb is a highly disruptive platform which has changed the hotel industry forever. It has made it possible even for an average homeowner to compete with the biggest hotels by offering a spare room or two to visiting tourists. You can also rent your whole house or apartment to someone through Airbnb when you go on a month-long vacation abroad. This is one of the easiest ways to make money. You can charge anything from $50 to $300 a night on your rooms. Just be sure to maintain your house or guest rooms well so that they are of a professional standard.

Share Your Knowledge

Udemy is one of my favorite platforms for making money online. You can basically create a video course on an area where you are very good at, which could be something like “Fundamentals of Tai Chi” or “A Quick Guide to C++”, set your own price, and put it up for sale. You can market your video courses to over 10 million learners from around the world who regularly visit Udemy, and make $2,000 to $3,000 a month quite easily in this manner – provided your course catches on.

Share Your Car

Uber is the biggest company in the sharing economy. It is estimated to be worth $50 billion and is considered to be one of the most successful tech startups of all time. It is a ridesharing platform where you can start your own taxi service with your car and make good money from it. Drivers on Uber earn $30 to $50/hour. [Big Guy Note: I think this quote is a little high. This is probably true for larger markets.]

Another ride-sharing service that is very similar to Uber is Lyft, which has the reputation of being more user friendly than Uber.

Share Your Care

Care.com is a wonderful platform which pairs those who need child care, pet care, senior care and house sitters with those who can provide these services. You can make a good part-time income by registering as a babysitter on Care.com. The platform has over 19 million members and is very successful. [Big Guy Note: The wife and I just went through the process of finding a babysitter. It is hard. I’m not sure I would trust someone off of a site over recommendations from people I know.]

Share Your Experience in Sharing

Have you tried any of these sharing services? Have you had success? Do you have any funny/weird/horror stories while participating? Let us know!