“Get a job!” is not something most Gen Y-ers have heard. Instead of becoming job seekers, many members of this industrious group are becoming job creators, laying the groundwork to parlay their hobbies into careers.
By 2017, the stereotypical white, middle-aged men who traditionally started small businesses will be outnumbered by a newly emerging work force: Generation Y-ers — those born after 1982 — women, immigrants and “un-retiring” baby boomers opting for entrepreneurship as a second career.
Some researchers predict that Generation Y will make the largest impact in the entrepreneurial world. In fact, the “Future of Small Business Report” says Gen Y may be the most entrepreneurial generation ever.
Generation Y grew up in the entrepreneurial shadow cast by Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and has been, in turn, inspired to start their own businesses. This entrepreneurial interest, coupled with the innovations made possible by technology, gives this generation an unprecedented opportunity to shape the world of small business.
Three characteristics make Gen Y markedly different than its predecessors.
Tech-savvy: Gen Y is the first generation to grow up with digital technologies rather than having to adapt to them. From video games to digital music and the Internet, this generation knows no bounds with technology. They were born into a culture of multitasking — listening to an iPod, surfing the Net and text-messaging at the same time.
Effortless multitasking often is an essential survival skill for entrepreneurs; they must wear numerous hats to move a company forward. Familiarity with technology makes multitasking second nature.
Juggling multiple and diverse projects, such as balancing a company’s books, running an advertising campaign and creating a Web site all in the same day, are not far-fetched for this innovative group.
Networked: Gen Y is the most networked group in history. The Internet has replaced the campus, coffee shop or shopping mall as the social gathering place, spawning the creation and nurturing of hundreds of relationships around the world. New media, such as e-mail, blogs, alumni Web sites and social networks, make it relatively easy to connect with anyone from their past.
Quite simply, the Gen Y-ers’ network is exponentially larger than that of their parents and predecessors. Socially, Gen Y-ers depend on relationships with a select but changeable group of peers.
Communications today are often group-oriented: one-to-many rather than one-to-one. Instead of contacting individuals sequentially, Gen Y-ers reach out to many with the same message.
Though this may seem impersonal, it allows these 20-somethings to keep tabs on a much larger group with less effort. This lifestyle relies on peers to share news, ideas and opportunities.
In the business world, this dialogue can prove invaluable to entrepreneurs, allowing them to approach their entire network with business ideas, partnership or consumer ideas. Finding a base population to grow their business is one of the big challenges facing entrepreneurs. But Gen Y’s networked lifestyle holds the ingredients for a ready-made group of business partners, test markets and customers.
Independent: Lastly, Gen Y-ers seek independence. They are leery of working in the corporate world and see traditional “big company” jobs as both constraining and risky. They want to chart their own destiny, which works out well as the business world becomes more complex.
As businesses become more sophisticated and need more specialized skills, Gen Y can fill that need by focusing solely on their own niche or skill and build companies based on that expertise.
For example, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in 2004 as a way to network his Harvard classmates. Today, the site boasts some 80 million users worldwide with revenue estimated at $150 million.
Gen Y-ers enjoy freedoms few other generations have experienced, mainly the independence to follow whatever path they choose.
They have an enormous network and specialized skills; why would they work for anyone but themselves?
Confident and innovative, many Gen Y-ers are natural-born risk-takers, unafraid to chase dreams in their personal or professional lives.
They are socially networked, tech-savvy multitaskers who believe that all outcomes are possible.
And this trend toward entrepreneurial job creators will continue as colleges offer students more courses with specialized degrees. There are 27 million small businesses in the United States today, a number that is expected to continue growing over the next 10 years.
Given the importance of small business to the nation’s economy, it’s important that the emerging Gen Y entrepreneurs receive the educational and career guidance they need to support their dreams.
Is Generation Y the new Greatest Generation? Time will tell. But one thing is certain: Gen Y is changing the business world in a way that no other has.
Rick Jensen is senior vice president and general manager of Intuit’s small-business group.
