I know you’ve been thinking… ok, so they have had an online business idea, quit their jobs, started house sitting, created a card wall BUT what exactly are they up to??

Drum roll please…

Foxhound Developers is joining the collaborative consumption revolution! Duncan and I are developing a website that will help people lend their stuff, or rent other peoples stuff. You know what I’m talking about, that stuff that is lying idle in backyard sheds and spare bedrooms: power drills, lawn mowers, tents, sporting equipment - the list is endless.

It is estimated that every year Australians buy $10.8 billion worth of “stuff” they will never use - that’s an average of $1,250 worth of stuff lying idle in every Australian home! That “stuff” is a waste of money, takes up space and is not particularly environmentally friendly. Our site will offer Australians the opportunity to save and make money while living a sustainable and community minded life. Our site will help you to:

• lend out your rarely used stuff to other people near you. Make money lending out your power drill (how often do you really use it?) rather than just having it gather dust in your shed.
• experience things you might not otherwise experience - you don’t need to own “stuff” to experience it. Why don’t you borrow that kayak for the weekend and give kayaking a go!
• try before you buy. We hope people will put their iPads, Kindles and Digital Cameras on the site and give others the opportunity to rent them for a couple of days, have a play and see whether it really is what they need before they buy.
• build new or strengthen existing community connections.

This idea developed out of one of my favourite TED talks - The Case for Collaborative Consumption by Rachel Botsman - which you can watch here.

After listening to the talk I read Rachel’s book (written with Roo Rodgers) What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, and started researching collaborative consumption and peer-to-peer businesses in Australia. From there the idea just kept on turning over in my mind, until I had a business model that both Duncan and I really liked.

So in a nutshell that is what we are up to!

In future posts I will tell you all about how the site will work, planned features etc. I will also be writing here about the growing Australian collaborative consumption marketplace and sharing with you other cool opportunities out there to be living a more sustainable and community minded life.

I’ll also keep you updated with how the start up lifestyle is treating Duncan and I!

What do you think? Got any advice/ suggestions / feedback you would like to share?