Mom n’ Pop 2.0 — Made by Humans

How the peer-economy is keeping you and me relevant

It’s late and I’m out of toothpaste.

Luckily, I can order a tube on Postmates and have it delivered in about the time it takes to walk to my corner store. Or, if I can deal with a day of bad breath, I’ll get the same tube delivered from Amazon for half the price.

Tonight, I walk down to the corner store.

The clerk and I chat for a minute about El Niño and the road construction out front, I pay for my toothpaste, and he says (as always), “See you soon.” We exchange a familiar smile as I head for the door.

But as consumers we are going to the corner store less and less. I rarely walk into my local bank branch or hardware store anymore either. Why would I, when I can get better prices, quality, and convenience online?

Independent local businesses used to serve important functions — as curators, distributors, and customer service channels. But digital marketplaces and ratings are making it easier to find quality without middlemen. And better logistics networks and transportation are extending the geographic reach of megacorporations around the world.

For next year’s toothpaste, an increasing number of us will go big (like Amazon) rather than go close-to-home. The production and distribution of everything from food (e.g. Munchery’s robotized kitchens) to clothing (e.g. Everlane’s online-only shelves) are requiring far less human involvement.

This is nothing new. America’s mom and pop shops have been dying at the hands of increasingly efficient industrial capitalism for years.

We’re familiar with the effects of these economic shifts. The corporations churning out the most volume are using automation and robotization to employ fewer and fewer people. Returns to capital and specialized education have gone up, making the rich richer, while real median wages have stagnated. What’s new is our response.

Working in the peer-economy has increased my optimism. I think we’re starting to see the rise of empowered freelancers and entrepreneurs, who provide more human, culturally-relevant goods and services that weren’t possible within the mold of the industrial system.

Call it what you want (‘nostalgic’, ‘hipster’, ‘really really expensive’, etc.) but the ‘artisan’ movement is fundamentally a backlash against a very basic tenet of the industrial age — standardization to maximize output and profit. As more of our basic goods become robotically-procured commodities, our craving for human-touch will only increase.

Today, mom n’ pop businesses are born on Kickstarter, Etsy and Airbnb every minute.

Skilled craftspeople and entrepreneurs, amateurs with vision and hustle, and everyone in-between, can now directly serve diverse communities. As a consumer, I can engage directly with makers and support creativity or ethics that I’m aligned with. “Made By Humans” will solve for the intangibles — novelty, idiosyncrasy, and emotional value. In short, our very basic desire to stay connected to the humanity around us.

These new mom n’ pops are reminiscent of small-scale livelihoods that were typical before the coordinating institutions and processes of the Industrial Age. Today though, independent producers can benefit from much of the same collaboration, education and innovation-potential that used to come from centralization.

What has changed?

• Democratized education: Online learning platforms and access to information make it easier to independently learn and improve skills
• Lower barriers to entry: Most businesses can be started more cheaply and can access distribution channels more easily. Crowdfunding is surfacing good ideas, and improving access to capital
• Online trust: Consumers are comfortable with online marketplaces and ratings, rather than just household brandnames. Digital payments and currencies allow us to directly transact with each other

These practical factors for producers, combined with our increasing consciousness as consumers and yearning for human-touch, will continue to enable our peer economy mom n’ pops. That said, even as we unlearn the ‘bigger is better’ mantra, working independently will continue to be riskier than traditional employment. For now, success as a freelancer still requires more ingenuity and comfort with failure. There are no clear career paths, union rights or paid time-off.

The best training grounds for new entrepreneurs are platforms and networks that offer education, creative ownership, and community. Think Etsy’s Craft Entrepreneurship Program or the values in Kickstarter’s Community Guidelines. I hope these networks can stand out from more exploitative companies with the help of greater transparency and worker mobility.

The peer-economy is today’s Wild West of employment —but since inexorable technological forces will continue to displace the corner store, it is becoming difficult to ignore. Workers’ rights, government regulations, and social contracts will have to catch up quickly.

Toothpaste — yeah, I’ll probably order from Amazon’s robotic warehouse. But tomorrow night’s dinner, or that 40th anniversary present, I might just buy from a real person, who can throw in some extra spice on a rainy day or leave a little note to make my parents smile. I may miss my corner store, but I don’t have to miss my humanity.