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Should Entrepreneurs be Thankful for the Recession?

Entrepreneurs

It seems like for the past couple of years you can’t look at any list of the day’s news headlines without finding at least one story about the down economy, jobless rates, and all the challenges that go along with them.  And while the media is notoriously negative and loves to over-dramatize things, there’s no denying things have been rough for a lot of people.  There are some bright spots in the economy though.  One such ray of light can be found in the statistics about new business startups.  It seems that those with an entrepreneurial spark have turned hardship into opportunity in a big way.

The Kauffman Foundation, the world’s largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship, concluded a study recently, the results of which might be surprising to some.  They found that in the US, in 2009, 558,000 new businesses were started per month by new and repeat entrepreneurs.  This represents the highest year on record, including 1999 – 2000, the peak technology startup boom years.

Kauffman Studdy

When you think about it, this shouldn’t be a big shocker.  When you read blogs and participate in communities that cater to entrepreneurial-minded people, you find that many people are actually excited about this time in our economic history.  In fact, a lot of leading entrepreneurs have been saying for a long time that we may very well look back on this period as a very positive shift in our economy.

Regardless of the overall economic climate, there has always been a large percentage of people who work at jobs, but have entrepreneurial dreams.  Even those who enjoy their jobs often think about what it would be like to own their own business, and some truly long to make it happen “some day.”  The problem is, people are prone to become complacent when things are going okay, so “some day” never comes.  Others have a “don’t rock the boat” mentality, and the fear of leaving a “secure” job to go it alone is just too scary.  Well, now a lot of people are waking up to the fact that there is no such thing as a secure job.  There are no guarantees.  So if working for someone else is a risk anyway, why not take a risk on self-employment?

Because of high unemployment rates, many people are finding themselves out of work, forced to do something other that what they’ve always done.  For thousands, this means starting a business will finally become a reality, and that’s a very good thing – for them, and for the economy.  Book after book on how to be successful preaches the need to get out of your comfort zone, and losing your job will yank you out of your comfort zone like nothing else.  Sure, it’s scary – even terrifying – at first, but the Kauffman numbers indicate that it’s motivating a lot of people to take action that they might not otherwise have taken.

So it seems that many entrepreneurs can indeed thank the recession.  And the rest of the country can say thank you right back to these entrepreneurs.  After all, new businesses mean spending – spending on things like office furniture, technology, marketing, and more.  And they also mean more jobs.  So the same entrepreneurs who are stepping up and finally making their own dreams come true will be the ones who help pull the economy out of the dumper.

One last point needs to be addressed: There are of course entrepreneurs who have suffered because of the recession, and it’s important that we acknowledge their struggles and support them.  One thing we know about entrepreneurs more than anything else is that they’re never down for long, so if you’re facing challenges right now because of the economy, do what you do best: persevere, adapt, and look to the future with the hope and determination that we know you have within you.

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