Business
Looking for positive and inspiring business stories? From green operations to employee rights, from innovative corporate structures to diversity and inclusion, the Business section at The Optimist Daily has got the latest innovative solutions from the corporate sector.
Can a new worker-owned platform create a more equitable sharing economy?
Carolina Herrera pushes a stroller through the slushy city streets, propelling one-year-old Zavier, as well as her own two-year-old daughter, Mariana. Herrera is small, and the double stroller takes a lot of her strength—usually, it’s a single stroller, and Mariana is at home with a neighbor Read More...
Five ways you can inspire budding entrepreneurs
Starting a business is an unpopular career choice among school pupils – 78% of young people aged 15-18 have no interest in doing so, according to a recent YouGov survey, commissioned by Google. But, as a business owner, you have the power to motivate the future generation of founders. Read More...
Airbnb just acquired a team of bitcoin and blockchain experts
Home-rental company Airbnb has “acqui-hired” the majority of the team behind ChangeCoin, a startup that runs a bitcoin-based micropayments service, according to four people with knowledge of the deal. The alternative lodging site has been looking at a few bitcoin and blockchain startups, Read More...
BMW ReachNow car-sharing service offers i3 electric cars in Seattle
After a brief hiatus, BMW is once again offering a car-sharing service in the U.S. The German carmaker shut down its DriveNow service in San Francisco, but is now re-launching the service—with a new name, ReachNow—in Seattle. Users will have access to a fleet of 370 vehicles, including BMW i3 Read More...
Jaguar Land Rover launches tech venture to test car-sharing
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) launched a technology business on Monday which aims to create apps for services such as car-sharing, the latest automaker to explore ways of tapping demand for cheaper and greener ways of making short journeys. The InMotion venture will begin testing products including Read More...
Sharing economy: A revolution at our doorstep
In a good overview of the emerging sharing economy, Inc. writes that the phenomenon is more than just a trend; it’s rather a revolution. Communal exchanges and self-sufficiency change the rules of the game, threatening the status quo of established industries. Previously, government restrictions Read More...
Making sense of the many business models in the sharing economy
Is Uber even part of the sharing economy? Does Airbnb’s business model have a positive or negative impact on communities? Are on-demand startups like TaskRabbit leveraging exploitative business models? What is the right approach for local governments when it comes to regulating the sharing Read More...
IKEA's plans to become a solar energy powerhouse
For years now IKEA has had a strong commitment to environmental responsibility and last week the organisation’s green credentials received yet another boost with it announcing that it plans to expand its solar sales. Already the world’s biggest furniture seller, IKEA has announced plans Read More...
Apple Operating At 93% Renewable Energy Worldwide
March 23rd, 2016 by Joshua S Hill Speaking at Apple’s Monday ‘Loop You In’ event, the company’s VP of environment, Lisa Jackson, claimed 93% of Apple’s facilities worldwide run on renewable energy. Apple has been targeting the running of all its facilities Read More...
3 counterintuitive business decisions that have kept Uber relevant
All too often, people look at a startup and assume that the key to its success was coming up with the right idea to disrupt a market. Not true. The truly groundbreaking startups all have something else in common: a willingness to keep rethinking what's made them successful. Take Uber. Ride-hailing Read More...