Generation Me

To start with, we may need to admit the word “entrepreneur” has been pretty much abused lately. It got generalized on what does and doesn’t fall under its umbrella. So for the sake of this article, we will define entrepreneurship as the act of starting a business from a new or renovated idea in a current field, cross fields, or a new field all together.

I have observed in the past few years a rise between the young generations pursuing entrepreneurship, be it in our region or internationally. I had to research this fact to confirm it is not only my observation. The articles termed these generations doing so as “Generation Y”, “30 years and younger”, “millennial generation”, “Generation Me”, etc. So the question arises as to why this is happening.

External elements

Looking at the rate of growth in the corporate world compared to the rate of growth in the population, the gap is easily noticed. So whether Generation Me are smarter or not, organizations cannot absorb them all for employment. This led to a number of this generation to pursue entrepreneurship, either voluntarily because that was their passion, or forcefully leading them to find their way into it.

From another angle, the focus was always given to build the main infrastructures, and facilities. Now that the city is pretty much built, the focus is directing towards enriching the community itself.

The fact that more people have embarked on entrepreneurship, lowers the risk and fear of doing the same. Hence, more and more are not being intimidated with the thought of entrepreneurship.

Technology and knowledge economy

Generation Me had the privilege of growing up with technology. Most of them, had a computer at home since school days, and most of them are experts at exploring the internet. This has added a new dimension to the way they think of dealing with new gadgets constantly. It also undeniably broadened their horizon, by being exposed to vast knowledge while growing up. Any information they needed is always at the tip of their hands, from any field, age, country, etc. This built their comprehensive perspectives across fields. In the old days, gaining such information wasn’t as easy, which inevitably perhaps meant less information.

Social networking

All sources of current technologies as mentioned above, have largely transformed and evolved the social networking fields, be it through emails, forums, blogs, social media websites such as LinkedIn, facebook, twitter, etc. All these made networking with different sorts of people much easier, sharing ideas and discussing them became a trivial matter.

Forming support communities have never been easier; the number of online foundations, group, councils, etc. is growing every day. This gathers people of same interest from around the world to discuss ideas and give support.

All these form a stepping stone for entrepreneurship, because it builds on sharing ideas using easy, fluid, and instant communication between people with the same interest. Such communication allows them to stir ideas and ignite them, till they finally execute them. Set aside, that the power of networking and online marketing grants the entrepreneur higher success through the easier spread of word of mouth.

Individuality

Individuality is the acknowledgment of your unique set of traits, qualities, and skills that sets you apart from others. Generation Me has shown their high sense of individuality around the world, they acknowledge it, celebrate it, and demand to be treated upon it. I couldn’t point a finger as to why this is more prominent on this generation, it may be a subsequent result of all the reasons above, it may be because they have witnessed so much from the previous generation that they refuse to follow the tribe. Whatever is the reason, the fact remains valid, Generation Me are individualistic.

The higher sense of individuality is a vital part to pursue entrepreneurship, because entrepreneurs are often inhibited by others from endeavoring in it. It is often those who are highly individualistic that can stand still against such inhabitation, because they believe in their traits and skills, they demand to own their own future, and are persuasive enough to fight for it.

Needless to say, these factors are not by any means generalized on all the addressed generation, and are not exclusive for them either.