The sharing economy is growing from strength to strength. Companies like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb, are getting more popular by the day, and a number of prominent economists believe that by as soon as 2030, we could be renting more of the things we need than buying them. So, it’s fair to say that the sharing economy is going places and if you run a sharing-based business, it’s the perfect time to start growing your company.

Here are some of the things you will need to think about if you want your sharing economy business to be as big as Uber of Airbnb in the future:

Safety

As a sharing economy business, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your company is transparent and that your customers are safe. For example. Employing something like this technological solution for identity verification is a great way to ensure that the people who use your services are who they say they are. If everyone has to verify their identity, there will be less instances of fraud, criminal activity and bad behaviour from the people who use your services. Airbnb, in particular, has had a lot of issues with tenants sub-letting properties without the owner’s permission and with people trashing their accommodations, Good safety procedures will minimize such issues in the future.

Crowdfunding

If you know that your sharing economy enterprise could be a whole lot bigger and better if only you had the money to invest in your ideas and grow your business, check out crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter. If your idea really is good, you should have no problem raising the cash you need, and you’ll have a crowd of customers ready and waiting to give you their business. Just make sure that you create a decent pitch because many a good idea has sunk without a trace because their pitch wasn’t up to standard.

Networking

Networking is a vital part of growing any business, but it is perhaps even more important when you’re operating in the sharing economy because, although it is becoming very popular, it is still quite new and the more solid connections you can make the better. So, make an effort to attend as many conferences and local events as you can, to meet industry insiders and build your reputation. The more people you know, the more doors will open to you and the more you will be able to learn from individuals who have already found success in the sharing economy.

Connect

As an up and coming company, instead of spending money you probably don’t have on big expensive advertising campaigns, talk to the people on the ground. Focus all of your efforts on connecting with your target market on social media and create a strong personal relationship with them. If you can do this, and you can offer an excellent service, they will do your advertising for you, spreading the word about what it is you have to offer far and wide, and everyone knows that word of mouth recommendations are a lot more valuable to the average business!

Evolve

You might have hit upon a good idea, and you might be doing quite well for a sharing economy startup, but that doesn’t mean that you should rest on your laurels. If you want to make it big, you need to continuously monitor and adapt your business to meet the needs of the market. So, if more people are, for example, using Bitcoins to pay online, make sure you accept them, or if the trend is for local vacations rather than overseas ones, provide more local options. This is the only way you can hope to survive.

Create a Community

The sharing economy relies to a large extent on trust, and apart from implementing safety measures, as we discussed above, one of the best ways to build trust is to create a friendly community of users who enjoy connecting, supporting and helping each other out. This might mean having a web designer create a new social platform for you, or you could use social media groups to connect people – it doesn’t matter as long as you do something to foster a sense of community.

If you implement at least some of the ideas above, and you put in the hard work, there is no reason why you couldn’t be the next Uber within the next few years. The sharing economy is here to stay; you just need to leverage it to your advantage.