#momandpopdotcom

The 5-cent candy prices may be gone, but the mom-and-pop-shop spirit is back in the rent-free space called the Internet. E-commerce startups like Etsy, Kickstarter, and Warby Parker are taking back the power from big box stores by cutting out the middleman, while the entrepreneurial spirit is rearing within hordes of DIY-ers. Without inventory, rent, or traditional advertising, consumers are able to connect directly with the products they want – while sticking their finger to the man.

“On some level the Etsy idea is not really techno-progressive at all. It’s nostalgic… Buying something from the person who made it is “the opposite of what Wal-Mart is right now: just this massively impersonal experience,” he told me earlier. “When you get an item from Etsy, there’s this whole history behind it. There’s a person behind it”” (New York Times).

“Traditionally, designers have been very dependent on their few retail channels […] Retailers called the shots—they paid your mortgage or your rent. When those accounts go away, designers are no longer tied to these companies dictating how, when and at what price they sell your products. Suddenly people were free. They didn’t have to worry about stepping on anyone’s toes, because the big retail accounts are no longer big retail accounts. That’s a new phenomenon” (Entrepreneur).

“This sharing economy is based on people coming together to create their own markets (Airbnb), their own products, (Etsy), and their own currency (TimeBanks). It relies on shared needs, trust, and the belief that the group is stronger than the individual. This new shared market economy is being driven by a quiet revolution: the millions of Americans who no longer want to prop up our faltering economy with endless and thoughtless consumption”.

IMPLICATIONS:
Large companies -- How can you enable and profit from the DIY spirit without getting directly involved?