Along time ago, 2000 AD I think, I got curious about building software to make group purchases and group rentals ridiculously easy. For example: one neighborhood should only need to own one leafblower, one snowblower not several. Or a group of yuppies could own a yacht together. What beyond existing group tools like Google Groups, Groove, or Spreadsheets would a group need?
They would need several capabilities:
Finding, Storing template documents for contracts, insurance policies, user agreements. Timesharing calendar to manage when someone used the leafblower. Membership signup. Accounting, tax document preparation, splitting repair/maintenance bills.
Voting capabilities for electing management and officers. Social networking tool to keep track of who is in the group and also referrals for new members. Member credit ratings: [how well do people take care of the group stuff, do they pay bills on time?]
I'm guessing that right now there's all kinds of proprietary solutions that each different cooperative is using. Enterprise Rent-a-car has their own software for renting out their fleet of vehicles. Could it be adapted so a group of friends could own a work truck together?
They would need several capabilities:
Finding, Storing template documents for contracts, insurance policies, user agreements. Timesharing calendar to manage when someone used the leafblower. Membership signup. Accounting, tax document preparation, splitting repair/maintenance bills.
Voting capabilities for electing management and officers. Social networking tool to keep track of who is in the group and also referrals for new members. Member credit ratings: [how well do people take care of the group stuff, do they pay bills on time?]
I'm guessing that right now there's all kinds of proprietary solutions that each different cooperative is using. Enterprise Rent-a-car has their own software for renting out their fleet of vehicles. Could it be adapted so a group of friends could own a work truck together?
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