Date: 9 Oct 2009 Comments: 2 so far

High Unemployment, Higher Ambition

Whatever your preferred method of logging your contacts, I am certain all you have to do is give that list a quick glance and several of the people listed have probably lost their job in the past year.  The recession has shown no mercy and all industries have been hit.  As the level of unemployment has gone up, one thing that I have noticed is the level of ambition amongst people of my age group (I’ll define this group as 25-35 year olds) has sky rocketed.  People are refusing to give up easily and ride out the downturn with unemployment checks and occupational slumming as part-time help.

Instead, I get the sense in the next several years the independent business owner will make waves.  If corporations are no longer hiring because they simply do not have enough business to go around, then the unemployed are going to make their own business.  I’m not suggesting we’re going to experience something on the same level as the Dot.com era.  I could be wrong but there is not going to be another Google that emerges from the remains of this downturn.

A Local Revolution

However, I believe that locally owned businesses are going to surge.  A  reason for this is that large corporations that have fired part of their workforce are traditionally stationed in a major city.  People deal with commutes every morning and evening via train or automobile that can take ridiculous amounts of time.  It is frustrating sitting in heavy traffic on the highway.  Public transportation might allow you to work while in transit, but if your train is regularly delayed that doesn’t exactly brighten the start to your day.  So, the new entrepreneurs will want to cut out that irritation and open a local business.

Keep in mind I am painting with a wide brush on this.  Local businesses can mean everything from a small restaurant, a clothing boutique or even a website design company.  Local business can mean operating out of the house or grabbing a great little office somewhere that allows for the barest of necessities to be productive.  The ability to market yourself online for little money (Local SEO!!!) means that setting up a headquarters in the heart of a major metropolis is no longer important.

Your address means less to prospective clients than ever.  What matters is your ability to help them start trending upwards and if you can do that it doesn’t matter if you’re operating out of the spare bedroom of your house and taking conference calls on your way to pick up the kids from school.

Smart People Do It Better

Being frugal and smart with finances is the #1 Lesson Learned from the current economic downturn.  Which means that start-ups are going to be mindful of where their money is going on a very acute level.  This also means that getting the most for your advertising dollar is going to be a top concern.  And the smart entrepreneurs are going to truly embed themselves in the community and become a Local Business.  I’m not going to pretend that Local SEO efforts are not key – this is an SEO blog after all!  But I also think local businesses succeed when the employees leave the office and do something for the greater cause.

Another trend is the rise of Volunteerism.  Local business owners should be thinking of ways they can help their community.  The jaded will say this is a deceptive way to make money – volunteering for the sake of handing out business cards.  I don’t think that has to be the case.  If you believe your business is only as strong as the community and other businesses around then it is vitally important to help inspire growth.  Again, local business can sponsor events, participate in fundraising activities or donate to charities.  These are the type of things that matter to the population when all hell is breaking loose across the globe.

A Yellow House

Perhaps I am being naive and dead wrong on my prediction that locally owned businesses are going to grow in the next several years.  My brother lost his job several months ago and I’ve seen firsthand how a relative can become frustrated and lose all hope after months of job searching.  Then, landing a job interview only realize it would be simply settling on a shitty alternative that would not make you happy.  It would be a paycheck, but you’d still be miserable.

Instead, my brother has started his own business.  It is an independent insurance agency that he’s worked tirelessly over the past few months to get going.  He found a great office location on a busy street and we moved in his office furniture a couple weeks ago.  (Note:  The office furniture was used and purchased from a small company that buys office furniture and refurbishes it for future use.)  The location is a bright yellow house that has been converted into office space.  In fact, it is the only yellow building on this stretch of road for several miles!

Here I will admit that I am allowing my nature to find symbolic meaning in things run rampant but the yellow house my brother is operating his brand new business out of is inspirational to me.  It is something you can see from blocks away.  It stands out from everything around it.  This doesn’t look like your typical office but rather an actual home where people will feel relaxed walking through the doors.

And this desire to stand out from a typical corporation, to inspire your customers to become champions for your cause and to believe that losing your job is only the opportunity to find something better is what will spure a new wave of entrepreneur.