The big problem with the ‘privilege’ of entrepreneurship

We treat entrepreneurship in the US like a “nice to have” for those who are somehow driven & gritty enough to go for it. We rank them by exit size & hype the effort without creating real pathways for the average entrepreneur to succeed.

You could brush this off as the game we play. It’s a risk, right? Entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart after all. If it were easy, everyone would do it. 

These passionate aspiring entrepreneurs aren’t content with the status quo. The job, the career, the step-by-step move up a ladder they had no part in designing. So, we tell ourselves the story that it’s a little selfish to ditch a stable day job. The regular paycheck, the health insurance, the security.

It’s a lie of course. That’s not stable either (if one ever had it to begin with), but that’s out of our control.

If we take the leap and follow our gut to build something, then if we fail, it’s all on us.

That’s the game, it’s not for the faint of heart. And it’s true, most don’t succeed. Only 1 in 9 businesses will ultimately succeed.

A full 25% of Americans report being aspiring entrepreneurs and decide never to go for it. It’s just too risky.

Ok. So we can play that off as part of the game too. Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, and it shouldn’t be, right?

Here’s the problem with that thinking. Entrepreneurship isn’t a privilege, it’s the backbone of our economy and it’s SHRINKING.

In fact, it’s been shrinking for the last 20 years and we’re doing very little to shift it. Amazon and Facebook get bigger and the millions of small & medium sized businesses that create a network of economic stability are shrinking.

COVID has had a devastating impact too, with up to 30% hanging on by a thread or permanently closed. 

Think I’m over blowing it?

Small businesses in the US contribute nearly 50% of all jobs created and 45% of GDP.

We can no longer afford to reserve entrepreneurship for the privileged few who have the existing safety net [mom & dad’s 200k investment] to financially float them the 2-3 years it takes most businesses to become profitable. It can not be reserved for the start-ups who catch the eye of a VC or angel investor (who looks like them), or who are lucky enough to convince the bank to leverage their own home for a business loan. The long game of humanity cannot rely on unicorn exit strategies. It relies on a growing and stable ecosystem of small & medium sized businesses.

Entrepreneurship is a requirement, not a privilege.

We’re fooling ourselves to think that keeping the current model is going to somehow produce a better, more robust network of thriving entrepreneurs who are going to show up for our economy.

Let’s start treating entrepreneurship for what it is; a critical role in our future.

That 25% is there, waiting. And it’s full of talented , passionate people.

It’s going to take us all agreeing that Karla’s landscaping business is as important as Andy’s tech startup. It’s going to take systems that support a Positive Exchange Economy. And it’s going to take a pathway to reduce the risk to entrepreneurs (and average investors) to start showing up to one of the most important jobs in our country.