How Maimuna became a pioneer amongst friends
We recently had a chat with Maimuna Ndow who shares her Smart Fortwo on Karshare in Manchester. Maimuna came across Karshare after looking for a way to make money from her car. She is no stranger to the sharing economy and has rented out rooms in her house before using Theatre Digs Bookers, an accommodation service aimed at theatre professionals. Being a film and theatre enthusiast, Theatre Digs Bookers was the perfect fit for Maimuna to make some additional income on the side.
It’s because of this, that when Maimuna started a virtual training course and was working from home, she began to wonder if her car could make her additional income on the side as well. “I was thinking there must be a way to make things work for me with my car there, so I’d thought about different things I could do, then I did a bit of a Google and it came up that there was a car sharing scheme that was local to me! It suited me because the car was sitting on the drive doing nothing. When I started looking into it, a Karshare leaflet appeared and it felt like serendipity, so I went for it!”
“I wasn’t using my car and someone else has the pleasure of using it now”
When asked how she felt about the concept of sharing cars, Maimuna let us know that “I’m the sort of person that likes to try something new. A few people were apprehensive about this, but I just see it as exciting!”. She later broke it down simply by saying “I wasn’t using my car and someone else has the pleasure of using it now”, which really highlights the key purpose of sharing cars - making use of cars otherwise sat idle!
We know that accidents can happen now and then, but when there was an incident with her car it didn’t bother Maimuna at all. “There was no inconvenience for me when the car got damaged as Karshare completely took the reins and sorted it out. They gave me a car to cover the time that mine was in the workshop so I wasn’t without any transport. Everything ran so smoothly and they made me feel really supported in order to continue the journey with Karshare.”
Four months down the line and the car is making its way round the local community. In fact, Holly, is a regular fan of Maimuna’s car and said that it’s perfect for when you need to pop out of the city for a break.
Maimuna has said she’s “really happy with the way it’s all worked. It is like the AirBnb of cars - you’re supported by a great customer service team, it’s good for the environment and it helps with paying for your car costs. It’s a win-win situation. I’ll also be looking to hopefully rent a car myself at some point!”
To rent Maimuna’s Smart ForTwo from just £34 a day, click here
If you are interested in sharing your vehicle, get in touch with the Karshare team here. click here.
