At a point in history where innovation, entrepreneurship and individual creativity seem more popular than ever, millennials have more confidence that they can do what they love for a living than many preceding generations. They have witnessed from their youth how a meme can make the world laugh out loud, how a tweet can gather an army of protesters and how a music video can begin a dance revolution. They have contributed to the independent production of that thing they have always wanted at the click of a “Back This Project” button on a crowdfunding website.
They have made DIY a way of living, and decided that you no longer need an industry giant to fulfill your needs when you can “do it yourself.” They have revived the culture of patronage and seen the value of supporting the creatives and entrepreneurs that make the products they find useful and the content they find meaningful. Millennials look at their passions, dreams and crafts and say, “We can do this!”
It’s true! Small business owners and startup companies would seem most likely to be successful in a culture that is hungry for homegrown, homemade, handcrafted, consumer-centered products and content. Yet, some researchers have noted that millennials are facing significant obstacles in this endeavor. One might not be able to tell from the surface, when you peruse social media and see an ad from a new startup every 3 posts, get an invite from your friend to like their new business page on Facebook, or see your favorite creatives starting up a crowdfunding campaign for that long-awaited thing. However, there are some hindering factors making it difficult for millennials with dreams of owning their own businesses and kickstarting their creative endeavors. The question is, will today’s young entrepreneurs let these roadblocks deter them, or spur them on toward endurance and innovation?
Jared Meyer and Jonathan Nelson target what they believe to be the key inhibitors to Millennial entrepreneurship in their two-part article series “Millennials Want To Be Entrepreneurs, So Why Aren’t They Starting Businesses?” In their part two of their commentary, Mr. Meyer and Mr. Nelson point to government regulations as major stumbling blocks for would-be millennial entrepreneurs. Namely, strict rules on equity-based funding, unnecessary labor regulations and wrongly defining the difference between a contract worker and a full-time employee. One example of labor regulation issues are the demanding requirements of licenses for low-risk occupations. Mr. Meyer and Mr. Nelson cite this as a root cause of millennials casting aside their entrepreneurial dreams for jobs that don’t require regulations, entailing expensive and time-consuming licensure, that is unnecessary for their occupation.
Another primary source of concern for millennial startups is the increasing amount of student debt. Some suggest that the millennial’s capacity for borrowing is often hindered because of a large amount of student debt looming over their heads. However Scott Shane, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, believes that pinning this issue to student debt is a misdiagnosis of the problem striking young entrepreneurs in the U.S. He points out his observations in a piece for Entrepreneur entitled “Is Student Debt the Reason Millennials Aren’t Starting Companies?” While numerous other sources link the recent decrease of younger businesses to the rise of student debt in the early 2000’s, Shane argues that data from the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances proves that households with young businesses decreased far more in the late 90’s than in the early 2000’s. He suggests that attitudes toward business ownership and personal success have changed among millennials and that sustaining their lifestyles, supporting their families and interest in social values are replacing the entrepreneurial endeavors of today’s workforce.
As it turns out, there is conflicting data and differing opinions on the growth of young small businesses. Kate Rogers, reporting for CNBC, notes that the 2015 state of entrepreneurship report from the Kauffman Foundation records that startup rates for Americans ages 20-34 have decreased by 12 percent from 1996 to 2013. Yet the 16th annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor from Babson College records that the amount of 25- to 34-year-old in the U.S. starting businesses has risen by 3% alone in the past two years, and entrepreneurship rates for Americans of all ages have increased by almost 14 percent within one year.
And while the aforementioned issues certainly reflect inhibiting factors on millennial entrepreneurship, no one can deny the increasing and incessant number of startups that appear daily in our emails, social media feeds, TV shows and app stores. The independent creator and business owner is able to gain a much larger audience and customer base through the internet and popular television than through previous means in years past. This has given an opportunity to many small businesses, and creative pursuits that may have never seen the light of day otherwise. This instant access to the market of your choice has inspired many to pursue app development, freelance design and writing, fashion, merchandising, self-publishing, music, craftsmanship and many other avenues independent of any large corporation or employer.
The most devastating hindrances to millennials starting businesses are more likely interpersonal issues than government regulations and debt. In the 2014 study, “PreparedU: The Millennial Mind Goes to Work,” Bentley University found that 66% of the millennials they interviewed would like to start their own business and 37% would like to live on their own. It found that millennials consider themselves ambitious, motivated and innovative. However, they also fault themselves for possessing a poor work ethic and time management skills, as well as being unorganized, leaving them unprepared for their first job.
If you want the answer straight from the horse’s mouth, it’s not that different from that of their nagging elders. These young would-be entrepreneurs confess struggles with naivete, entitlement and laziness. Yet, for a great number of millennials, their drive to be successful and to impact their culture and community surpasses their inclinations to satisfaction, stagnancy and dependence. Despite external heights to be climbed and internal depths to be tamed many millennials are holding on the motto, “We can do this!”
• Nathan Bowen is an illustrator and designer, as well as a rapper and songwriter under the moniker Nate Emmanuel in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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