Gen Y's Entrepreneurial Aspirations
Gen Y is big into entrepreneurship. The federal Bureau of Labor 2005 statistics indicate that 370,000 young people ages 16-24 were self-employed. That occupational category includes entrepreneurs. Let's compare that to 30 years ago. In 1975, 351,000 young people were in the same self-employed category, but those young people were Baby Boomers and that generation was much larger. So there has been a noticeable increase in the number of young enterpreneurs in absolute numbers and even more so in percentage terms and they foretell what is just around the corner: the Bureau of Labor projects that the number of young people in the self-employed category will grow five percent per year from 2004 to 2014, which is a huge increase over the two percent per year growth from 1994 through 2003.
Why the massive growth? One significant reason is that the Internet allows home-based businesses to look, well, not home-based. Home-based entrepreneurs can project a professional appearance without a significant capital investment or even traditional office space. The Internet has also led to cheap, reliable, and prevalent global communications, the ability to outsource the creation of products and services, cheap toll free numbers, and more. So starting a home-based business simply isn't as risky as it once was. The barriers to entry have fallen, and Gen Y are taking advantage of that.
In addition to the Internet though, are sociological reasons. Gen Y grew up watching their Baby Boomer parents live-to-work and Gen Y wisely decided that those priorities are backwards. Gen Y is much more inclined to work-to-live and to want to make a difference in their professional lives, personal lives, and in their communities.
Sources: Shannon Seery of EXCELER8ion and USAToday
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