I hope that you will find the next 10 minutes interesting and that they will provoke ideas that will give you good food for your brain.

Before I go on, I guess it's a good idea if I introduce myself a little more and tell you about my ideas and future plans. I would describe myself as a self made.  I am an infrastructure and technical web solutions expert
So back to the subject in hand - one that is in everyone's mind at the moment - the economy. But, before you say you've read for a pleasant moment and not be reminded of the difficult situation out there, I will revise my topic and say it's actually about a functional economy and how I believe my idea will change people's way of acquiring and using goods and services.

So what is a functional economy? Well, it's a difficult subject to sum up in one sentence, but I like the idea from Walter Stahel, He said:
  
The economic objective of a functional economy is to create the highest possible use value for the longest possible time while consuming as few material resources and energy as possible.

In the earliest eras people simply took or bartered goods from each other.  As time progressed more sophisticated trading took place and monetary units were introduced in some parts of the world.  Traders encouraged people to replace their current goods for newer and better versions.  Many cultures embraced this idea with the idea of one-upmanship over their neighbours and friends.  Old fashioned models were discarded and the start of the throw-away culture began. People believed that resources were limitless and engineering and technological advances would always ensure we could access and exploit them.  There were no concerns about supplies drying up, the pollution caused by their production or what would happen to the goods that were discarded in favour of newer items.

 

And so, today, our economy is centred on buying goods, owning them for individual use and replacing them as soon as new models are released.  This isn’t a new concept and for millennia people have been acquiring possessions for their own benefit.  In fact, in ancient Greece Aristotle stated:

“A person should have possession of an object because they would take care of it.”

However, I believe that another great Greek philosopher, Plato, had the right idea.  He observed:

“People shouldn’t have possession of objects because it increases conflict.”

This has been clearly demonstrated to me more then once.  I have found that when individuals own their own possessions they aren’t interested in helping others.  But I believe it would be better if people shared there goods and knowledge.  So, I started to think about how this could be achieved in today’s world, a society that allowed communities to share their possessions, skills and time for everyone’s benefit.

And that’s when my dream started to unfold and I started to see how it could be done.  What I envisaged was a Web-based platform available for everyone to share their possessions and skills with selling, renting, bartering and swapping capabilities. 

Right now the world is in financial meltdown and many people have been comparing the current situation with the great depression of the 30s.  There are various fundamental differences and similarities between these two situations.  One difference is fairly self-evident; we now have the technology in place where boundaries and borders don’t matter as people can instantly communicate across the globe.  More pertinent, I think, is the similarity to the early part of last century where many people now want to share and buy goods locally – they want to feel part of a community.  They are concerned about food miles, petrol consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and, perhaps most importantly, getting the best deal possible on any new possession.

And if we can meet these personal needs through the use of a functional economy, the opportunities are limitless.  Just to reiterate - a functional economy is all about re-using and recycling the goods that are currently in possession.  To quote Stahel once again:

“[the need is to] lower demand for energy and materials by designing durable and upgradable products with a long-life span.”

So as well as having a major negative effect on the economy, this crash is also providing us with new opportunities – especially via the internet.

We’re all very familiar with sites such as eBay.  But eBay and similar websites are only about buying and selling goods.  Of course, there are other sites such as freecycle that lets a local group give away and swap goods and social networking sites such as Facebook to build friendships and share experiences.

However, each of these sites only meets a small segment of the current market’s need and leaves a window open for a platform that meets all these needs in one place. So this is where I introduce you to BipBoom, the website that is not just another website it is a functional economy.  It’s somewhere you can:

·         Buy and sell possessions

·         Swap and barter services

·         Negotiate and trade knowledge

·         Swap skills

·         Set up community, affiliate, company or other interest groups

·         Discover new activities you can participate in

 Development is well underway and the initial launch into the key English-speaking markets is planned in the next two months. We aim to serve human need by providing an open yet secure environment for people to interact, communicate and exchange their possessions and skills. 

And that, is how I predict a functional economy can operate in today’s world.  A website that allows people to build their own communities and share the excesses of what they own.  An opportunity that lets individuals trade skills, build relationships, extend community links and develop a business.  A win-win situation for all.

Alpha version create your catalog of goods and services

 

Sacha Lin