Your next startup will share values of the passion economy

The flourishing of the Passion economy shows how important the producer’s personality and the soul that he invests in his product is.

With incomes falling, the middle class prefers to abandon the mass market favouring local sellers, buying “less often, but better.”

This trend can be seen in the Internet business as well. Massive online courses compete with private tutors who have mastered Tilda, offering a personalized approach instead of webinars and marathons. Small Indie studios develop games that attract millions of fans around the world.

Passion economy has already become a prominent cluster. These are people and companies that work in a decentralized manner directly, and in 2021 are forced to use old tools like banks or paper workflow. It is easier for such organic companies to monitor their environmental impact: a small producer can track the performance of suppliers and their commitment to a green philosophy. And while the mass market is working out the environmental agenda only in advertising, distributed manufacturers create goods and provide services for people they know practically by sight.

At Arbonum, we work with each user, as if he is our neighbour and went into the shop in the morning for coffee and a baguette. This is even though our users are located on all continents. Support does not hide behind endless auto-replies, bots and boilerplate emails. When deciding for a new functionality to implement, we talk with people, make sure that it will be useful to many.

It seems the passion economy does not imply exponential growth in 6 months for subsequent public listing or a profitable sale. The Patagonia example is rather an exception to the rule. The main idea here is to create sustainable businesses with strong ties with their customers. Emotional connection with the brand and the position that this brand promotes not in words but deeds.

The distributed economy makes businesses very flexible. Typically, a core team of three to four founders expands for a specific project, hypothesis testing, or new market entry. There is a definite problem with hiring temporary staff. Despite modest opportunities, indie businesses can offer more freedom and involvement than corporations. And yet, the latter are lured by stability.

If you work in the passion economy paradigm, make your life easier by using freelance management platforms, digital banks, and logistics companies to understand your pace and values.