What’s your business?
Modo is carsharing. We were the first English-speaking carshare in the world so it’s safe to say we’re not just in the biz, we are the biz!
Why did you start your business?
To eliminate as many point sources of greenhouse gas emissions as possible. By sharing cars we reduce the number of privately-owned cars on the road.
Why Vancouver?
Our founder started the ‘Co-operative Auto Network’ (our former name) in 1997 when living in the West End with 15 friends/neighbours. From there we’ve grown to over 7,300 members sharing 240 cars. We are in many neighbourhoods – www.modo.coop/find shows all of them. Neighbourhoods are absolutely vital to our business – not just the location itself but the kind of people that live there – people who believe in a shared economy.
What’s a little known fact about you or your business?
Our online booking software was written in-house. It’s an intelligent piece of software that helps us make sound operational decisions. We offer this software free to carshare startups in other locations so that they can grow.
What innovation are you most proud of?
From an environmental sustainability perspective, sustainability is pretty much our raison d’être: taking cars off the road, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, sharing space. We’ve taken about 3,000 cars off the road.
What’s the most important business lesson you’ve learned?
Give your customers something to be proud of and they’ll be your best brand ambassadors!
What local suppliers (goods or services) can you not do without? Why?
Actually, our staff – our Member Care centre is located downtown on Granville and Pender. We know the city and the region. This helps us provide a level of care that is difficult to replicate.
You are excited about the future because…
The concept of sharing is gaining momentum and popularity. We’re excited not only because we’re a carshare but because we’re a co-op and believe in a shared economy.