Hey guys, So I’ve been contemplating an interesting business idea that I haven’t seen implemented in South Africa (for some obvious reasons which I’ll mention) but I think given the right systems in place it could be a great way for people to earn passively though items they already own and hardly use. The idea is essentially “Airbnb, for your stuff”…so some good use cases are things like camping gear, events equipment, formal outfits, and even short term office space usage (renting out your garage for storage, if you have a studio for podcasts etc.) The obvious hurdles with a business model like this in South Africa is trust, safety and protection. My vision for this, is that renters and lenders have to go through a KYC process and be verified. Renters can charge deposits and also insure their items through the platform incase of damage or theft. Lenders and renters can review each other to build community trust as well. But why I like this idea is that it allows people to possibly try things out before buying. It makes certain things more accessible especially for things which are expensive to purchase but won’t be used all that often. It also allows everyone to earn some extra income on the side and possibly even turn it into a mini side hustle where they rent out things they have (which if rented out enough could actually make more money than selling it). Then for people who rent it also saves them money as renting is cheaper than buying. The typical user journey on the platform would be a user finds something they want to rent. They will be able to see the item’s availability for certain dates, they can select the dates they want the item for. Then submit a reservation request. The Lender will be notified and they can choose to accept or decline the request. Once accepted the payment will be processed but held in escrow. The lenders and renter can then communicate to arrange pick up/collection. User uses the item. Then once the period is up returns back to the lender. Once the rental is complete, the lender is paid out and the deposit also refunded to the renter. Would appreciate any feedback and ideas on this idea, and also if anyone would be interested in beta testing as well.   submitted by   /u/RicardoDeSousa7 [link]   [comments]