Who would have thought that millions of people all over the world would be open to letting strangers overnight in their spare bedrooms or prance all over their vacant homes.

Just a few years ago before AIRBNB emerged, most people would have laughed or even be terrified of such a proposal.

Of course, it was a model that very wealthy people with second homes were already using but AIRBNB took it to the masses (e.g. Luxury retreats which is now owned by Airbnb).

Yet it has worked. Airbnb is one of those brilliant companies like UBER that do not own any physical asset but created billion dollar companies leveraging OPP (Other People’s Property).

Often we have great business ideas yet what keeps most people stuck is an inability to “SEE THEIR IDEA DIFFERENTLY”. Most people are stuck on the traditional route.

A traditionalist would have thought, “I need to buy land or own many buildings to make this happen.”

A visionary thinks “what if I can convince people to let me use their space in exchange for extra money?”

It was a brilliant idea, so brilliant that it allowed the company to scale globally fast, making all three of its founders’ billionaires.

I always remember when I first moved to Italy and started to work with Italian brands, what I noticed was that the ability to scale was not based on how good a product was but how good the business model, systems and brand strategy that supported growth.

One of my clients was able to quickly scale his wine brand by creating leasing agreements with various vineyards. They didn’t need to own the vineyard to create wines.

The traditionalist might still be looking for a plot of land to grow grapes.

It is not what you do that matters, it is how you do it. As a brand strategist, I am always excited about helping my clients find new ways of creating a bigger picture brand.