Identified by TIME Magazine as "one of the 10 Ideas that will change the world", hailed by the Economist as a big trend with "immense potential" and cited by Forbes as a new "disruptive economic force", week-on-week, the 'Sharing Economy' is making headlines all over the world, on screens and in publications on every continent.

But what exactly is it and why is it important for entrepreneurs?

Simply put, this disruptive new activity is a socio-economic system built around the sharing of human and physical resources. In practice, it's an opportunity to create new business models that capitalise on the estimated £3.5+ trillion worth of idle goods by redistributing them to those who want them. Think Airbnb or Zipcar.

There are currently over 7,000 Sharing Economy platforms covering everything from peer-to-peer dog walking, to crowdfunding. What's becoming clear is that this isn't some fly-by-night trend, it's changing the business landscape forever.

Entrepreneurs – ignore it at your peril

Estimates on the value of the Sharing Economy range widely. A recent report from PwC shows current global revenues at $15bn, with the potential for that to rise to $335bn by 2025.

With valuations of Airbnb at $10bn and Uber at $17bn, this is a megatrend and it isn't just SMEs who are getting in on the act. Corporate activity in the space is booming.

Everyone wants their share

Avis (purchased Zipcar), Virgin Atlantic (partnered with Taxi2), Marriott Hotels (joined up with LiquidSpace) and now Amazon have just announced their move into the Sharing Economy with plans to open a peer-to-peer local services marketplace.

Savvy entrepreneurs know that the business-to-consumer relationship has changed forever. Now that people can trade directly with other people, peer-to-peer reliance on corporations is becoming a thing of the past.

We can all become makers and suppliers of goods and services. We can open restaurants in our front rooms and sell our favourite dishes to those interested in buying them; we can swap houses for our summer holidays or find a new job via a task sharing website.

You only have to look at the businesses who didn't embrace sharing. Take Kodak for starters. Or gaming giant Atari who viewed gaming as a solo experience and didn't live to tell the tale. And let's not forget Our Price, the original record store who didn't see music sharing in their future and ultimately didn't have a future.

Share to survive

But aside from business survival, there's something even more fundamental. We live on a planet of finite resources, with a growing population. If we were to continue consuming at the rate we have been, we'll need more planets to sustain us.

It doesn't take a genius to realise that, in the future, we'll need to share to survive. The savviest entrepreneurs who build businesses based on sharing will win out.

We're witnessing a culture shift – a Millennial Generation – or Generation Share as I call them, who are choosing access over ownership. To them, the idea that you'd pay to own a car that sits unused in the driveway for 23 hours a day is absurd. Why pay for what you don't need?

This smart, savvy, on-demand generation are choosing to access what they need when they need it. They recognise that they can have the lifestyle they choose by just paying for what they use.

Fancy a summer holiday? Head to compareandshare.com and pick from over one million properties rented directly from the owner. Need a designer dress for a party? Use the Global Sharing Economy directory on compareandshare. com to access renttherunway.com and over 7,000 sharing platforms from around the world. Looking for a new job? Try taskrabbit.com.

The fact is that the Sharing Economy isn't going away. It's here for the long term, precisely because it's about the long term. Any self-respecting entrepreneur should grab a share of it.

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