The State of the B2B Sharing Economy

What is the B2B sharing economy?

The B2B sharing economy is a system in which businesses share assets and services, mirroring the consumer-oriented peer-to-peer sharing economy.

“As in the peer-to-peer sharing economy, the B2B sharing economy works by unlocking the value pent up in underutilized assets,” said Robert Vaughan, managing consultant of economics and investment strategy for PA Consulting.

Although technology has greatly advanced the B2B sharing economy in recent years, the concept has been around for decades. Shel Horowitz, a profitability consultant for green and social entrepreneurship businesses, started using sharing economy principles more than 30 years ago when running a resume business that relied on an expensive laser printer. To share the burden of the costs, Horowitz convinced several other businesses to pay to use the printer when they needed it. 

Horowitz was inspired by a visit to an Ohio community where a group of homeowners chipped in to buy a tractor to mow lawns and care for farm acreage. “This inspired me to be creative some years later when I started my own business,” Horowitz said. “The virtues of the sharing economy — both frugality and community — were obvious to me even back then.”

B2B sharing economy services

B2B sharing initially focused on peer-to-peer services, similar to the business-to-consumer (B2C) sharing economy, but its offerings have expanded dramatically. Consider the following B2B sharing spaces and how they can benefit companies compared to traditional models. 

Phone systems

• Traditionally: Setting up one of the best business phone systems can be costly, requiring an investment of thousands of dollars for in-house PBX equipment, handsets, and landline connections.
• In the B2B sharing economy: Cloud-based VoIP phone systems can be considered part of the broader B2B sharing economy. They’re built on shared infrastructure, allowing businesses to access advanced communication features without significant upfront costs. The systems require minimal installation and often cost less than $25 per employee per month, offering scalability and affordability.

Office space

• Traditionally: In the traditional model, businesses must lease or buy office space, pay for all overhead costs, and expand their offices when the company grows.
• In the B2B sharing economy: Coworking spaces allow businesses to rent a desk monthly and offer access to professional amenities such as conference rooms and administrative assistance. Small businesses that use these services aren’t locked into long-term contracts and can save significant money.

Software

• Traditionally: Purchasing stand-alone software packages and installing them on a company’s servers can be costly and time-consuming, and require ongoing maintenance.
• In the B2B sharing economy: Cloud-based software can also be considered part of the B2B sharing economy because it acts as a shared resource. When businesses tap into cloud-based software, their investment is often minimal or reasonable and they gain the benefit of being able to access it from anywhere at any time. 

Data storage

• Traditionally: In the traditional model, businesses invest in expensive server equipment and space. The data housed on the servers is accessible only to local users.
• In the B2B sharing economy: Thanks to cloud computing and its shared resources model, businesses can take advantage of cloud storage services for secure, accessible, and cost-effective data storage. Remote workers and employees working from other locations can easily access the data and files they need in real time.

Loans

• Traditionally: Traditional startup funding sources include applying for business loans, asking family and friends for money, finding investors, and relying on personal savings.
• In the B2B sharing economy: Thanks to the B2B sharing economy, businesses now have more ways to minimize startup costs and access funding. Crowdfunding, for example, can provide access to new streams of capital. Various crowdfunding platforms help entrepreneurs raise money for their ventures. Instead of paying back the money with interest, businesses often offer repayment through their goods and services. 

Payroll

• Traditionally: Under the traditional model, businesses handle payroll in-house with a dedicated staff. They may run payroll manually or use payroll software. Handling payroll alone can be costly and error-prone.
• In the B2B sharing economy: The shared resources of cloud services have revolutionized payroll. Many of the best online payroll services are cloud-based and cost-effective, and come with an error-free guarantee. 

Hiring

• Traditionally: The traditional hiring process involves advertising to fill a position, interviewing, onboarding, and employee training. All equipment and workspace needs are the employer’s responsibility, as are employee benefits packages.
• In the B2B sharing economy: The traditional hiring process isn’t going away, but today’s employers have multiple options thanks to the B2B sharing economy. You can hire freelancers or contractors for projects, for example, or work with a professional employer organization (PEO) or human resources outsourcing (HRO) company to handle numerous aspects of employee management. You can even designate one of the best PEO service providers as an employer of record and allow it to handle administrative HR tasks such as payroll and HR compliance challenges.

Website hosting

• Traditionally: Traditional web hosting involves an onsite server that holds all website data. Web-hosting servers require significant oversight and costs.
• In the B2B sharing economy: Cloud-based website hosts use shared resources to provide businesses with robust and cost-effective web-hosting services, including scalability, enhanced security features, and the ability to handle high traffic with minimal downtime.

How businesses are using the B2B sharing economy

Businesses of all sizes are embracing the B2B sharing economy, appreciating its benefits and growth opportunities. A Business.com survey found that nearly one-quarter of businesses use the sharing economy to hire freelancers and contract workers, while 13 percent use it to access technology such as Amazon Web Services. In addition, 11 percent use platforms like WeWork to find office space. Beyond the office, 37 percent of businesses surveyed use consumer-focused offerings such as ride-sharing services for business purposes. 

Below are some real-world examples of the B2B sharing economy in action. 

• Early adopters: Yard Club, founded in 2013 and acquired by Caterpillar in 2017, is often credited as one of the first businesses to adopt the B2B sharing economy model. It began as an online peer-to-peer construction equipment rental platform, allowing businesses to rent idle equipment from other construction companies. Other pioneers of the B2B sharing economy include Flexe, which connects organizations that need warehouse space to organizations with extra capacity, and Cargomatic, which matches shippers with carriers.
• SquarePeg: Entrepreneur Claire McTaggart, founder of the HR tech platform SquarePeg, emphasized the cost-cutting benefits of the B2B sharing economy. “Like many new tech startups, at SquarePeg we have taken advantage of the proliferation of free or discounted B2B services, which keeps our recurring costs very low,” McTaggart said. SquarePeg uses coworking spaces in New York City that provide access to desks, video-equipped conference rooms, high-speed internet, coffee, computer monitors, landlines, printing, and a host of other services at an affordable cost. It has also joined business incubators, which provide mentorship and help with legal, tech, public relations, and marketing tasks, and hired technical talent from abroad through the freelancer website
• Kris Marsh Consulting: Kristina Marsh, the founder of Kris Marsh Consulting and director of marketing for Consumers Energy, used the shared-service model for office space when the company outgrew her home office. Finding space in a local business incubator provided a dedicated office area and access to conference rooms and workspaces at an affordable price. “It has been a game-changer for my business by providing me with a professional workspace for client meetings and workshops,” Marsh said. Marsh has also provided shared services to smaller businesses that don’t have the budget or organizational structure for a full-time marketing team. “This business model allows them to fast track their marketing strategy and initiatives with an experienced marketing leader on their team at an affordable shared-service cost,” she said.

Pros and cons of a shared economy environment

Businesses have mixed feelings about how the B2B sharing economy impacts their operations. Its adoption provides businesses with low-cost opportunities and greater flexibility, but it also leads to concerns about sustainability and long-term scalability. According to the Business.com study, here’s what business owners see as the upsides and downsides of a shared economy environment. 

Sharing economy pros

Here’s what survey respondents saw as the biggest advantages of the sharing economy:

• Reduced expenses (40 percent)
• Time savings (18 percent)
• Reaching new audiences (17 percent) 
• Increased access to technology and services (13 percent) 
• Increased access to capital (11 percent)

Sharing economy cons

Forty percent of survey respondents said the sharing economy has negatively impacted their business. They cited the following reasons:

• Less of a competitive advantage (15 percent) 
• More competition because it’s easier for others to enter the market (13 percent) 
• Devaluation of their services (12 percent)

Still, despite potential disadvantages, McTaggart sees the trend as ultimately positive. “The sharing economy just makes it easier for companies to launch, share ideas and resources, and benefit from services that used to be available only to large enterprises,” she said.

The future of the B2B sharing economy

The sharing economy is undergoing a transformation, growing from a turbulent adolescent phase to a mature and stable adulthood. That evolution is fueled by a shift in businesses’ consumption model from ownership to usership, rapid digital technology adoption, a recognition of the economic benefits of collaborative consumption, and the use of crowd-sourced assets and services. 

Near-term outlook

The Business.com survey showed that, although the sharing economy presents challenges, businesses recognize the economic and social benefits of sharing assets. They see that adopting a usership model — where consumption is based on utilization rather than ownership —  can generate multiple sustainable advantages. That perspective shift is transforming how businesses operate and derive value from their assets. 

Most businesses expect to invest more in the sharing economy over the coming year. Nearly 60 percent of businesses surveyed by Business.com said they would spend more in the sharing economy over the next 12 to 18 months because it has served their business well, they value the services, or they feel it is their only viable option. 

Not all businesses, however, share that optimism. Those opting not to invest further often cite the model’s misalignment with their needs or the negative impact it has had on their business as reasons for holding back.

Long-term outlook

Looking ahead, the B2B economy is expected to grow significantly. According to the Thematic Intelligence: Sharing Economy report, the market is predicted to surpass $1 trillion in revenue by 2031. 

With a yearly compound annual growth (CAGR) of about 32 percent, according to Statista, industries such as travel, tourism, transportation, and real estate are likely to see dramatic growth. Even more, larger organizations will increasingly adopt the B2B sharing economy model, recognizing it as a profitable way to make money from idle, capital-intensive equipment.

As the market continues to evolve, the sharing economy is poised to disrupt industries and reshape global economies. By offering businesses greater access to affordable resources, it has the potential to drive a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable economic future. 

Miranda Fraraccio contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.