Entrepreneurship has become trendy in recent years, but as it happens in all industries it will sooner or later become unfashionable. This “trend” of “Entrepreneurship” or being “Entrepreneur” didn’t arise as a fashion, but by a need for survival, a rebellion against the labor exploitation of long hours of work and the poor balance of professional and personal life. A paradigm shift.
Although most young entrepreneurs say that their main reason to become an entrepreneur is to be their own boss and to build something from scratch, the background is simple; there aren’t enough work offers or job opportunities, few companies really offer a balance between life and autonomy.
As you may have noticed, during no point do entrepreneurs touch on the issue of money as the main reason for seeking independence. This is because the new generations today have realized that quality of life and autonomy is something much more valuable than the “slavery” of a job in exchange for a salary that is barely enough to get by. Entrepreneurs see it as an opportunity that’s worth trying.
It’s becoming increasingly obvious that life goals and objectives have changed between the generations before the millennials (born before the 80s) and those born after the 80s.
Generations before millennials were more concerned with material things such as houses, accumulating money, a good job, university degrees, MBAs, a stability that would “ensure” their future; whereas millennials live in a rented and possession-free economy (Netflix, Airbnb, Uber, Co-working, Co-living, Cloud computing, etc…), they learn with tools like YouTube, Lynda, online courses and also like to feel free to move with more flexibility and adapt to changes as they know that the future is uncertain.
“Entrepreneurship is a TREND by NECESSITY and SURVIVAL. The entrepreneur is only the first link of an approaching economic change, it’s the Lucy of the new economic era that we still can’t visualize. “
It’s always motivating as an entrepreneur to listen to and see success stories of other entrepreneurs. What we mustn’t forget is that the origin of companies such as Facebook, Google, Uber, WhatsApp, Instagram (just to mention a few examples of massively and globally recognized companies knowing that there are many more that aren’t technological), is that they started for the same reason, need, survival and mentality. I’m sure that Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Kevin Systrom and all the other entrepreneurs who were EXTREMELY successful didn’t look like a unicorn when they started. Let’s say that the stars aligned in their favor to be EXTREMELY successful.
As an entrepreneur you shouldn’t compare yourself to them, nor try to replicate their business model and become the next Facebook, or start a venture if what you want is money and fame. The true motivation of an entrepreneur is based on independence, on the motivation to create something that you are passionate about (it doesn’t matter if it’s a good or bad idea) and to believe in the life model of an average entrepreneur with aspirations to always improve, invent, create and grow without losing your quality of life.
We don’t know what the future holds for millennials and future generations. We will probably have to be self-sustaining, we will adopt a hybrid economy with the use of barter and we will offer our time and knowledge, more as independent contractors than as employees.
