A Look Into Young Entrepreneurship
Let’s face it: Entrepreneurship is hard. And being a young entrepreneur can be even harder. But more and more young people want to start businesses. This increase in young entrepreneurship also increases the opportunities for different generations to interact. So we decided to talk to fellow business owners about their experiences. And we found a few interesting points.
Our Findings:
1. The older demographic doubts the knowledge and experience of the younger one.
Please don’t think that we’re talking about everyone. But we did speak with several entrepreneurs in different industries and found this to be a common thread. Sometimes, when a millennial entrepreneur is the same age as a colleague’s child, it can be hard for a baby boomer to get out of the “parental” mindset. This can lead to unwanted advice, which can cause tension between the two parties.
And, sometimes, there admittedly might not be a direct reason to doubt the knowledge and experience of young entrepreneurs. One business owner that we interviewed said, “My perception is that [millennials] would not have the same work ethic that I have. I still have that perception even though that has been far from the case. I can’t really explain it.” A young restaurant owner that we talked to said, “Most people thought that I didn’t know enough to have a business and it would fail in the first year…Another perception was that I wouldn’t have the discipline and dedication of getting up [early] every morning.”
It’s clear that there are certain perceptions about the knowledge and experience of young business owners that are often not based on true evidence. This is challenging, because doubting the competency of younger people can cause miscommunication and result in a loss of potential, intelligence and creativity from business networks.
2. There is a general assumption that millennials are not business owners.
From my personal experience, there have been several times that other people thought we were the children of our clients. And, often, when we tell people about our company, they’re surprised because of our age. One young entrepreneur we talked to said, “…they didn’t believe that I was the deciding person for the business…When I joined local meetings, no one would introduce themselves, and I felt alienated from other business owners. It was as though they didn’t believe I was the person that owned the business.”
3. Technology is an important aspect of communication differences.
Several of the young business owners that we talked to reported difficulties communicating with some of their clients via technology. Since email, social media and text messaging have been a part of their lives and businesses for a long time, that’s the most efficient method of communicating. However, for baby boomers, they much prefer phone calls, even if it’s to report a one to two sentence message.
But this is nothing that can’t be overcome. One older entrepreneur told us, “The people younger than me are routinely bringing new forms of technology to me and showing me how it can benefit my business or my life…I feel like younger people learn quicker so they can keep pace with how fast technology is changing.”
Our Entrepreneurship Challenge:
Young business owners: Act with confidence and responsibility and don’t live up to the assumptions and prejudices that older business owners have. Be patient and understand where other people are coming from. Work hard to establish your knowledge and skills and prove your value.
For everyone else: Jumping to conclusions and acting on prejudices can definitely harm relationships and businesses. Business owners should strive to find out all the information and treat young people just as they would any other person in business. You don’t want to miss out on something or someone that could improve your business.
Have you had any similar experiences as a young entrepreneur? Comment below!
