Sharing economy impacts both business, consumers

CEBU, Philippines - Uber is the world's largest transport company that owns no vehicles.

Facebook is the world's most popular media owner that creates no content.

Alibaba is the highest valued B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-customer) retailer with no inventory.

Airbnb deemed as the world's largest accommodation provider owning no property.

This collectively describes what is called today the sharing or collaborative economy.

Its concept is that consumers are able to get what they need from each other instead of always going to large companies.

Technology, instead, becomes the way.

These are crowd- and peer-based business models that have impacted the hospitality industry, financial sector and transportation services, among others.

"Peer to peer markets are changing the economics of the future," so said Mario Berta, founder and CEO of FlySpaces, of how collaborative economy disrupts the way business is done nowadays.

Berta talked about disruptive innovation during the Social Entrepreneurship Conference yesterday in Cebu City.

His company bills itself as an Airbnb for office and retail offices. FlySpaces is a market place for short-term office and retail space rentals.

Moreover, the sharing economy is defined as a socio-economic system built around the sharing of human and physical resources.

It includes the shared creation, production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services. It also includes money, transportation and space.

As of 2013, Berta said the collaborative economy's market stood at US$15 billion. And this is projected to reach US$335 billion by 2025.

Berta said collaborative economy is becoming a disruptive economic force, impacting both businesses and consumers.  (FREEMAN)