More People Dreaming of Entrepreneurship?
Doyle Slayton | Jan 24, 2010 | Comments 28
Reader Q&A:
There are people who think the grass is greener working for another manager, then there are those who think they would be happier in another department, and there are always people who think it would be better to leave and go work for another company.
Although these scenarios will always exist, I am noticing a recent shift where things seem different. More than ever, I hear people talking about their dreams of entrepreneurship.
Is it just me, or is the number of people wanting to run their own business increasing rapidly? If you are noticing the same entrepreneurial trend, what do you think is the cause?
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I believe it is because the barrier to entry has shrunk at an alarming rate. To start an ecommerce site, you can easily do it for under $1000 with limited or no programming experience. Old businesses are stuck with antiquated ideas and technology and a younger generation sees the negatives and thinks they can do it better.
The Great Recession is a loud wake-up call that job security is dead. People are smart to be thinking entrepreneurially. What entrepreneurs do is to increase value in a transactional environment. That’s what we all need, and that creativity is what the economy needs now.
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Entrepreneurship is all about pursuit of ideas, and a lousy economy fuels many to believe that entrepreneurial ventures are better ways to make money than the salary-cutback jobs (or lost employment) that they’re shouldering.
Unfortunately, entrepreneurship is not a solution to money woes (which is how I size up what the current trend is all about) and, in fact, business startup ventures can create even deeper debt.
Entrepreneurship is about having a burning desire to achieve a purpose at all costs, and money — to a true entrepreneur — is not an issue. Those who embark on new business ventures to make money are not likely to succeed.
I’ve spent over 25 years teaching entrepreneurship and have helped start hundreds of businesses. I’ve never seen a single person start on the entrepreneurial path with money as her or his goal, and succeed.
The grass always looks greener…
Entrepreneurship- is a beautiful dream to become a reality. It is about the freedom of speech, freedom of thought, a freedom to lead. It is all about freedom. If you look at the human history it is the people who dreamt of freedom who made a mark. Over the time, people are breaking shackles and started dreaming. That is what makes them shift. Money, Popularity etc., etc., are byproducts.
Entrepreneur is the one who chooses not to work 8 or 10 hours for his current boss over working 12 hours and being a slave of his dream. That’s how companies start.
But according to Michael Gerber in his great book, E-Myth (the myth of the entrepreneur) (you can read its first chapter at http://www.e-myth.com/pub/htdocs/emr_ch1) thousands of entrepreneurs starts every year and very few get to accomplish the first 5th year.
I started my own company at the Argentinian default in 2002, and many as me did it the same way, crisis is a great mobilizer. It is natural that a crisis (from the inside or from the outside) wake up dreams of independence.
If you accomplish it is great! (a subproduct of a crisis)
A truly entrepreneur.
Doyle,
It is because of the economy and its direction. More people believe it is far better to start a business versus go and work for someone else. There are many people dreaming of entrepreneurship as a result these same people go out and start a business.
I believe the desire for entrepreneurship can be summarized in three words from Dan Pink’s new book, “Drive”:
Autonomy
Mastery
Purpose
You only rarely achieve these three motivations in corporate employee roles.
Many who have lost their jobs in the last year and have had trouble finding a new one may be considering their own business out of desperation.
More importantly, I think tough times bring out the independent and resourceful parts of human nature.
There is also much animosity toward major corporations these days. A world full of entrepreneurs and small businesses is much more democratic I believe.
I believe people are ready to dictate their own destiny and use their own creative tools to win customers. Companies are so focused on numbers that they fail to look at the root cause of why they are not getting new business. Other causes can be due to company culture, politics, or just looking for a new challenge instead of the cofining to the traditional rat maze.
The urge to go out on one’s own is always evident in an economic downturn, and many do, be it as a consultant or in contract situations. Many also return to full-time employment upon recovery. The depth and impact of this current downturn – still to be slugged out over 2010, and add more of the 78-million Boomers edging to retirement or repositioning – and the noise will be louder.
I’ve not read Dan Pink’s new book, yet his “Free Agent Nation” from 2002 put forth similar arguments for the future. Also, today there is a growing project based movement as well. Just as the large consulting firms sign major deals, smaller projects (as well as augmenting the large ones) are being driven by longer-term non-employee led efforts. This lends well to the independent movement.
As others commented, doing it on your own is not as easy as the dream from last night, yet it can be done, has been, and will be more so. The enterprises may not be the next Google or Microsoft, but provide a decent living in the chaos around us.
Entrepreneurship isn’t about freedom to make more money — those are the measures of a SUCCESSFUL entrepreneur and, as noted several times already, most are NOT successfull.
I’ll be Debbie Downer for a minute and tell you what entrepreneurship is:
Collections
Documentation
Correspondence
Unpaid Marketing
60-80 hour weeks at 20% billable, not 40-60 hour weeks at 80% billable
Seclusion
Responsibility and Stress
Your “boss” STILL sets unrealistic expectations!
SUCCESSFUL entrepreneurship is:
Happiness during 80 hours a week, paid or not
Freedom to take time off if needed
Challenge you seek
Money you truly earned
I have had much success as an entrepreneur, but most sales people I know who’ve tried it give up for the same 2 reasons they leave corporate work: documentation and overwork.
Good luck and I wish you the best, but be realistic.
No doubt the economy has taken it’s toll on the American worker, specifically those workers that have contributed years of hard work and dedication to companies only to be laid off.
I believe many are turning to entrepreneurship to take control of their own destiny (and retirement).
Doyle,
If I am going to work this hard to make someone else a fortune…why not work this hard and put that fortune in my pocket! I constantly bring my entrepeneur skills to the table to better the company I work for because it is expected. Why couldn’t I do that for myself? The hard part is stepping out to take that risk, but you know, unless you take that risk you will never know!
The desire to “go entrepreneurial” has always touched many regardless of industry. The trick has always been how. The entrepreneurial formula is just one item I share in my book about how someone can recognize when the time is right to go for it. It involves the right IDEA, the right situation and the right opportunity -all coming together simultaneously.
I have noticed the same thing, more people wanting to hang their own shingle.
What I have seen is two main reasons; necessity – they have tried to find a job with no luck, and what I call “never again syndrome” – never again will my future be subject to corporate downsizing.
The challenge however is there is a big difference between working for someone and owning your own company. So much so I wrote an e book; the 50 ugly truths about starting your own business…and why you should do it anyway. Your readers can download a free copy on my blog.
My desire in writing the e book was to make sure those considering taking the leap know what they are leaping into. Far too many jump expecting a four hour work week only to become disgruntled and lose their 401k’s .
Great timely topic,
Mark Allen Roberts
Because it’s there…
I agree. I have been in the broadcast & pro a/v industry for over 15 years. I am now looking for different lines of products to represent to the customer/clients I have developed along the way. I am looking to create my own job security and answer to myself.
I think some of this is a result of the long periods of unemployment so many folks have endured. Some is creativity and a fulfillment of a burning desire to build something yourself. Some comes from a need for personal freedom. Some comes from a desire and need for money.
Simple, its called neccesant entrepreneurship. When people cannot get jobs they are motivated to become entrepreneurs – they have no choice!
I have also seen a swing in the job market. In addition to the great comments already referenced, I believe that people want to leave a footprint in the community or a legacy for their children/family. Whether it’s a fresh graduate or a “seasoned” executive, both have excellent reasons (and resources!) to excel in this market. Technology, Social Media, and a myriad of free/inexpensive tools have enabled talent to make the jump and take the risk. In many cases, what is there to lose? No regrets!
Futurists are telling us that while about 25% of the workforce is “self employed,” that number will escalate to 75% by the year 2050. This bodes well for high producers who won’t be constrained by corporate hierarchy and executives who got their position through being at the right place at the right time. However, it also bodes poorly for under performers who have been hiding under the corporate radar.
Doyle,
Your hunch is spot on.
1. The Department of Labor predicts that the #1 employer for 2010 will be “Self”
2. Inc.com recently listed “Niche Consulting” as one of the “Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now.” Also that it’s the number one industry in overall job growth expected to increase 5.9 percent by 2016. Businesses are “dropping corporate consultancies in favor of smaller, more specialized firms.”
3. Part of the reason for this could be explained by a study by the Kauffman Foundation (the world’s largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurism) “More than half of Fortune 500 companies were founded in recession or bear market.”
4. The nature of a commissioned sale attracts the entrepreneurial at heart, and entrepreneurial sales professionals share a common number of frustrations. They’re frustrated with only being paid a small percentage of the business they create. They get tired of their company changing the rules (their commission structure, their territory or accounts) just when they start making money (the owner can’t have a sales rep who is making more than he does!) Also, most pertinent right now would be sales reps who are concerned with the long term viability of their company.
Security in the corporate world is not what it used to be. Many are realizing that just because you have a pay check coming from the same person every month, doesn’t mean your job is any more secure than if your income was coming less regularly and directly from a number of different clients.
Regards,
Perception of Risk and Reward: Most people’s perception of entrepreneurship is that it is inherently more risky than “a normal job”. But when layoffs start happening, the perception is that you might actually run into better opportunities working for yourself than working your now precarious job.
As an entrepeneur at heart, I can’t say – to be sure- that I have heard a louder rumble of entrepreneurs coming from under the radar…However, I love the noise and encourage it!!! No matter what the cause, I believe it is a great thing, and here is why…When someone approaches me with entrepreneurial ideas and aspirations, I know immediately that there are other people in this world that may be as creatively driven as I am. I find more problems residing in the un-enthused, unmotivated, and negative individuals who sit around and wait for opportunities to approach them.
When people become successful at their jobs and start receiving accolades/money it often leaves them wondering why they are doing all this hard work for “someone else” and earning a paltry salary and why they shouldn’t be doing it for themselves?
I think this is the primary reason why people dream of being entrepreneurs.
People are starting to figure out the Industrial age is over, no more working for the same company for thirty years and they will take care of you the rest of your life.
The world has opened up to be this one beautiful village. People have learned more and are developing so much more than ever before. There is so much more opportunity exposed, now and more people want to exploit their own potential to the optimum without one-sided bosses frustrating their ideas or capacity. What better way than carry your own show as an entrepreneur!!