Scarcity and Abundance in the Turo Business

It May Be More About Your Mind Than Your Market

In the world of business, mindset plays a critical role in determining the success or failure of an enterprise.

Two predominant mindsets that entrepreneurs often exhibit are the scarcity mindset and the abundance mindset. While both these mindsets have their pros and cons, it is essential to understand the fundamental differences between them to know which one is more likely to lead to long-term success in business.

The scarcity mindset is a belief that there is a limited amount of resources available, and therefore, one must hoard as much as possible to succeed.

This mindset is often fueled by fear, anxiety, and a sense of competition, leading to a win-lose situation in which businesses are constantly trying to outdo each other. Companies with a scarcity mindset are likely to cut corners, focus on short-term gains, and prioritize profits over customer satisfaction, employee well-being, or social responsibility. This mindset can be detrimental to a business's growth in the long term as it often leads to a lack of innovation, poor customer service, and ultimately, the failure of the enterprise.

On the other hand, the abundance mindset is a belief that there is an infinite amount of resources available, and success can be achieved by creating value, collaborating, and sharing knowledge.

This mindset is characterized by optimism, positivity, and a willingness to take risks. Companies with an abundance mindset focus on creating win-win situations by finding innovative solutions, providing excellent customer service, and prioritizing the well-being of employees and society. They believe that their success is intertwined with that of others and, therefore, work towards building partnerships, sharing knowledge, and supporting their competition. This mindset can lead to long-term success, as it fosters innovation, promotes collaboration, and creates a positive brand image.

Scarcity Mindset in Business and Competition

The scarcity mindset in business often leads to a zero-sum game in which the success of one company comes at the expense of others. This mindset is prevalent in industries that are highly competitive, where companies are in a constant battle for market share. In such situations, businesses focus on short-term gains, such as cutting costs, lowering prices, and increasing profits, without regard for long-term consequences.

For example, a company with a scarcity mindset may choose to cut corners on quality control to save money and increase profits, leading to customer complaints, negative reviews, and a damaged reputation. Similarly, a business that is solely focused on increasing profits may neglect employee welfare, leading to high employee turnover, low morale, and a lack of innovation.

Moreover, a scarcity mindset can lead to a culture of fear and mistrust within an organization. Employees may feel pressured to hoard resources, ideas, and information, leading to a lack of collaboration and innovation. This can lead to a negative work environment, low employee morale, and ultimately, the failure of the business.

Abundance Mindset in Business and Competition

In contrast, companies with an abundance mindset focus on creating value, collaborating, and sharing knowledge to achieve long-term success. This mindset is prevalent in industries where innovation, creativity, and customer satisfaction are essential to success. For example, in the tech industry, companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft have a history of collaborating and sharing knowledge to drive innovation and success.

An abundance mindset can lead to a culture of trust, collaboration, and innovation within an organization. Employees are encouraged to share ideas and resources, leading to a positive work environment, high employee morale, and a sense of ownership. Moreover, companies with an abundance mindset are more likely to prioritize customer satisfaction, employee well-being, and social responsibility, leading to a positive brand image and long-term success.

Abundance mindset also promotes the growth of the industry as a whole. Companies are encouraged to form partnerships, share knowledge, and support their competition to create win-win situations. For example, in the automobile industry, companies such as Tesla, Ford, and General Motors are collaborating with each other to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, a move that benefits the industry as a whole.

An abundance mindset can also lead to the development of new markets and opportunities. When companies focus on creating value rather than competing, they are more likely to identify untapped markets and innovate to meet new customer needs. This can lead to the development of new products, services, and business models, creating new revenue streams and expanding the market.

However, while the abundance mindset has many advantages, it is important to note that it is not without its challenges. Companies with an abundance mindset must strike a balance between collaboration and competition, ensuring that they do not give away too much information or resources to their competitors. Moreover, companies must also ensure that they do not become complacent and continue to innovate and improve to stay ahead of the competition.

Scarcity and Abundance in the Turo Space

I listed my first vehicle in “the wild west” of 2018. Before listing it, I joined every Turo Facebook group I could find to learn all I could about the business before jumping in. I learned a lot, from some legendary winners on the platform whom I deeply respect. But I was also struck by the toxicity and intellectual (and sometimes hands-to-hand) warfare that does waft through the community like a poisonous cloud. From the very beginning I saw hosts building and scaling their businesses with an abundance mindset, and others with a scarcity mindset. One group seemed a lot happier and more successful. The other group seemed quite miserable, thriving on outrage, and always appeared to be struggling.

What the scarcity mindset looks like:

In the Turo space, a scarcity mindset takes on a few different shapes, from mild to extreme. On the less destructive end of the spectrum you’ll find hosts doing all they can to prevent new hosts from joining the community. They’ll describe their healthy market as being on the verge of collapse, a race to the bottom, a money pit, that nobody else should ever even consider launching their business in, when all of those descriptions are false and new hosts could be quite successful in that city.

On the more extreme end of the spectrum are hosts who deliberately sabotage other hosts in their markets. I heard about this more back in the “wild west” days, but I know it still happens. These are the hosts who will book, or pay others to book vehicles owned by other hosts in their markets, keep them out of search results for as long as possible, before cancelling 25 hours before the trip. There are the hosts who report big fleet owners to Turo for violating the Good Neighbor Policy, just to get them in trouble, when they don’t even live in the neighborhood. And then there are those hosts who actually rent vehicles from other hosts, and then give them unjustified 1 star reviews for no other reason than to damage the competition, who is actually a great host. They engage in personal attacks to discredit and damage successful hosts, instead of focusing on becoming more successful themselves.

These hosts are playing a finite game with winners and losers, and a determination to make sure everyone else loses, without realizing that they are choreographing the end of a game that isn’t supposed to end.

What the abundance mindset looks like:

The hosts who operate out of an abundance mindset understand that there is enough rental car business for everyone, in almost every market, when factoring in all of the vehicles that are rented from Enterprise, Hertz, Sixt, etc., that could be booked with Turo hosts instead.

These hosts understand that every new host who enters the market, and enters as an educated, professional, reputable host who consistently delivers All-Star experiences, brings with them the potential of further building the Turo brand, drawing even more guests away from the traditional rental car companies, increasing the guest community, and helping all hosts everywhere. They understand that the success of Turo as a company translates into success for the host community.

Hosts with an abundance mindset will offer help, support, and collaboration with new hosts to make sure that they are building the Turo brand, not tearing it apart through bad, or shady business practices. They’ll form alliances. They’ll look for opportunities to refer guests to one another when they don’t have a specific vehicle a guest is looking for, but they know their fellow host does.

Even in markets that do have legitimate saturation, supply, demand issues, and struggle with low daily rates, the hosts with an abundance mindset would never consider deliberately doing harm to their fellow hosts, but instead they gather together to brainstorm network, and create solutions together.

These hosts are playing the long game, the infinite game, where the objective is to keep playing as long as possible, and an understanding that the more winners there are, the longer the game can be played by everyone.

The scarcity mindset and the abundance mindset are two distinct ways of thinking that can have a significant impact on a company's success.

While the scarcity mindset can lead to short-term gains, it often comes at the expense of long-term growth, customer satisfaction, and employee well-being. On the other hand, the abundance mindset promotes collaboration, innovation, and long-term success by focusing on creating value and supporting the industry as a whole.

Therefore, as a business owner or entrepreneur, it is essential to cultivate an abundance mindset and foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and customer focus. This involves prioritizing employee well-being, social responsibility, and long-term growth over short-term gains, collaborating with other businesses, and continuously innovating to meet customer needs. By doing so, businesses can not only achieve long-term success but also contribute to the growth and development of the industry as a whole.