Modern research seems to point towards a growing trend of entrepreneurship in America.
A new survey found that, out of a pool of 1,000 millennials, 1,000 Gen-Xers, and 1,000 Baby Boomers, millennials are the most likely to have some type small business – by a long shot.
While many people think of small businesses as being owned by older generations, nearly one in three millennials actually have some type of small business or side hustle. For some of them, it’s even their main source of income.
Out of all the people surveyed, 20% of Gen-Xers have a small business, whereas only 11% percent of boomers can say the same.
In contrast to other generations, only 28 percent of millennials said they were uninterested in starting a small business. For comparison, 74 percent of boomers agreed.
The survey, conducted by OnePoll and sponsored by the global web hosting organization, GoDaddy, found that young Americans are itching to become their own boss.
One explanation for why millennials are drawn to entrepreneurship might be comfort with technology.
Fifty percent of millennials said that growing up with the internet has made them better entrepreneurs.
In addition, the affordability and accessibility of technological tools could play a role in this — 47 percent of millennials believe that all Americans have the means to start a small business, compared to 28 percent of boomers.
GoDaddy global trends expert, Melissa Schneider has also stated that with technology today, it’s much easier for people with ideas to create an online presence and find their target market.
The development of several off-the -shelve web platform and marketing product have made creating a website and generating traffic online easy and intuitive. You would assume that simplicity and time saved would encourage many people to take the leap and start their own small business — and it sees like it is working. it has probably never been easier to launch a company, than it is today; however, this also means that competition now is more fierce than what we’ve been used to.
Approximately seventy percent of respondents under the age of thirty-five feel equipped to handle marketing responsibilities that come with running a small business, compared to less than half of older generations.
A greater proportion of millennials than boomers believes that social media and online presence is the most important form of marketing.
4 out of 5 millennials know that social media is key when starting a small business, as opposed to 2/3rds of boomers.
13 percent of millennials said the arts, music, and entertainment industry was the most popular sector to start small businesses in, followed by food and beverage (12 percent) and retail and sales (10 percent).
The data also indicates that for many millennials, entrepreneurship isn’t just a career choice, but a way of life.
A whopping 20% of entrepreneurs in their twenties have actively sought out a like-minded community, as opposed to only 12% of those in their thirties and fifties, and a measly 5% of baby boomers.
The most telling statistic is that 84 percent of millennials report being more satisfied as an entrepreneur than when they worked for other people.
Entrepreneurship comes with many challenges, but it can be extremely rewarding. The majority of millennials and Gen Z’s who want to become entrepreneurs but don’t take the jump are do to uncertainties about where to start when it comes to commencing their entrepreneurial journey. The idea that an individual may have – and believe in – can easily seem too overwhelming when deeper thoughts are being put into the overall project. As Vasilij Brandt (Co-Founder of Blazar Capital, a European consumer-product brand incubator) also states, “The path of entrepreneurship is unique for everyone, and the journey from creation to success varies from individual to individual” – however, there are certain frameworks that you can follow when creating a new business from scratch, and the more you get inspired by these, while taking learnings from other entrepreneurs into consideration, the more likely you will be to kick off your entrepreneurial journey effectively. Vasilij has also published an article about his 10 primary learnings to consider when creating a new online venture from scratch, which we encourage you to read.