Sharing economy is an economic model defined as a peer to peer (P2P) based activity of providing or sharing access to goods and services. This is not a new model because people have shared the use of assets for thousands of years. However, the advent of the Internet has made it easier for asset owners and those seeking to use those assets to find each other.

Sharing economies allow individuals to make money from underused assets. In a sharing economy, idle assets such as spare rooms, unfinished basement, empty garage or even parked cars can be rented out when not in use. In this way, physical assets are shared as services. Sharing economy is the perfect solution for those wanting to save money and those wanting to earn passive income.

Sharing Economy Examples

The sharing economy business model has been used in almost all sectors. Some popular examples are in ride-sharing like Uber & Lyft, food delivery like DoorDash & SkipTheDishes and lodging like Airbnb.

Sharing economy has also been used in the self storage sector. Self storage facilities have doubled across Canada over the last decade. The total revenue in the Canadian storage industry in 2019 was CAD 4 billion.

Airbnb of Storage

The concept of self-storage sharing economy comes from Airbnb but for stuff instead of people. It is less invasive to let someone keep their stuff in your house then let someone stay there. Furthermore, even small and unfinished spaces can be utilized like a closet, garage or unfinished basement.

On one hand, homeowners are more welcoming to share their extra space as storage facility. Many people own spaces that are no use to them, at least temporarily. An empty garage or unfinished basement gathering dust is worthless. However, if you utilize your empty space to park a car or store some stuff you get money on the side. This model is one of the best passive income streams.

On the other hand, people are on the go all the time, moving, relocating, etc… They are often looking to store their items (like luggage, boxes and cars) at friends and families or at self-storage facilities. Self storage facilities are not cheap though and usually people end up paying for a space bigger than really needed (Take a look at our review of the Canadian Self-Storage Industry)

Existing Business Model

The existing solutions in the storage sharing economy model do not provide flexibility for Renters and Hosts. In the existing sharing economy business model, Renters can only rent a whole storage space or room for the monthly price set by the Host. This model is not bad if you have a lot of stuff to store. But if you only want to store few items, you will end up paying for a lot of space that you don’t really need. Also, the Host does not have any control on what goes into the storage space as it is technically rented so the Renter could store anything in there.

Storval’s Business Model

We designed Storval with flexibility in mind for both Renters and Hosts. With Storval, Renters can store their items (big or small) without having to worry about paying for extra space. They can also set their budget and the storage duration even if less than a month. On the other hand, Hosts can use any extra space they have and select the items that are going to be stored at their home. The more organized Hosts are, the more passive income they can generate.

Storval is currently available all across Canada with focus on Ontario. If it is not available in your area, please help grow the community by signing up and sharing it with friends and family.