The Mesh - Lisa Gansky [61]
Two demographics, retiring boomers and young people, are classic targets for a share platform infrastructure. These two groups are likely to be open and interested. Relieving the burdens of ownership, the joy of access, and the favorable trade-off between convenience and cost are all attractive.
When people are getting ready to retire, they may downsize their home, or move from the suburbs to the city. For retiring boomers, the Mesh, particularly the Own-to-Mesh model, may be very attractive. You can help them figure out a way to simplify their lives without losing access to what they need now. You can help them connect to other people, or leverage their budget. The services are often compelling, “right-sized,” and secure. For younger people, Mesh businesses will embody the richness of a lifestyle of access to shared goods and services. In this way the Mesh clearly enables sharing when some of the parties may not own a thing. Ownership is not a prerequisite to sharing.
A Mesh business can help retired people spend less money while getting the same quality of life. They also travel—they’re looking for lots of experiences, and to cover a lot of terrain without a lot of risk or cost. Since many are living on a fixed income, most of them definitely want lower costs. Maybe they want to stay in their home, but use it as a base camp. Their friends are still there. They identify with the community. They are a ripe market for home sharing and other services.
Likewise, younger people are moving toward medium- or high-density locations. They want a social environment. They want a lot of services, such as bars and pubs, restaurants, and entertainment venues. They can use public transportation to move around a city without having to worry about transporting a child to school or after-school activities. Young people are another prime category for Mesh businesses. Over 70 percent use social network sites. They’ve got jobs and a social life in the city. They’re moving around, doing fun things, being on their own, developing a career and a personal social network.
leverage the “now,” grasshopper.
In the start-up world, we say that having very little cash to start a business is often much better than having too much. At the very least, behave and spend as though you have little. Having sufficient capital to start something, but not enough to get into trouble is generally the right balance. You need enough capital so that you’re not starving the business. You also need enough capital so that you’re not giving a show-a-little-thigh version of your business model to a future competitor who is capitalized when you’re not. In that case, you’re doing all the hard work only to get beat by a good listener with a bank account.
But if you start to scale up your business and make investments in infrastructure ahead of understanding what’s really fundamental—or the important nuances that make your service irresistible—you can waste a whole lot of money. Your business plan is basically a fiction version for the first couple of years. It takes that long to understand the cycles and essentials, who your customers really are, how to retain them, what they’re going to value, how they’re going to pay you, and why your model is unique. You need time to get into the market, observe how that market is changing, and understand what makes your offer compelling. Give yourself that time.
The capital needed for a Mesh business depends on models. You can choose something that’s very capital-intensive, like having to buy the infrastructure for managing fleets of cars. Or you can do something like customizing an existing platform for a clothing swap, toy swap, Own-to-Mesh shared car, shared bike, or home exchange. The other big variable here is geographic reach. In general these businesses have started with a focus in a local urban area. The amount of capital available to you will likely shape how you craft