Parking & zipping

Spotting one new business idea is good. Spotting two new business ideas working together is even better. Last month, we wrote about Peasy, an online exchange for parking spaces. A very similar British service, ParkAtMyHouse.com, also lets people rent out their private parking spaces, and recently partnered with ZipCar, a company we first featured back in 2003. With about 80,000 consumer and business drivers, ZipCar is the world’s largest and fastest growing car sharing service. Founded in the United States, ZipCar recently launched in London, which will become the hub for the company’s expansion into Europe. The partnership between ParkAtMyHouse and ZipCars gives ZipCars more places to park in London, and parking space owners a larger pool of potential clients. By renting to ZipCar, they’ll receive their usual payment as well as GBP 85 worth of free driving credit if they sign up for ZipCar. Consumers or businesses who have a parking spot but don’t own a car can monetize their parking space and have the luxury of a ZipCar parked on their doorstep, ready to use when they need it. (ZipCars cost from GBP 4.95 an hour, which covers parking, petrol, insurance, maintenance, Congestion Charge and 60 miles of driving.) At bit more about ParkAtMyHouse, which was founded by 23-year-old Anthony Eskinazi: anyone can register to rent out their parking space to consumers and businesses. Car owners can pre-book a spot daily, or one-off for a football match or a day of shopping in the city. Usually for much less than they would otherwise pay for parking. ParkAtMyHouse offers a smart search functionality. For example, typing in ‘Sadler’s Wells’ displays all parking spaces for rent near the theatre, ordered by proximity. A quick search reveals that 311 spaces are currently available in London. Members can also put up ads for spaces wanted. Listings show the need for city parking spots, and range from “I’m a doctor at Kings Hospital and URGENTLY need a parking spot nearby – can anyone help?” to “Looking for a lockable garage or bay in secure multi-storey for a classic car.” Those of you setting up an online parking exchange in your own neck of the woods, be sure to hook up with your local car sharing companies! Websites: www.parkatmyhouse.com – www.zipcar.com