When people suddenly realize their working world is about to change dramatically, the surprise of suddenly not having financial security makes them realize they no longer wish to hustle again for someone else’s vision.
This realization prompts new horizons of thought that can lead to the accidental entry into the world of self-employment in pursuit of an entrepreneurial dream.
So just who is this accidental entrepreneur?
This unique, new age person may be laid off from a white collar position but also could be newly unretired, a stay-at-home spouse; tech-savvy professional; or a new immigrant.
People who choose to step outside the box of life due to change in personal circumstance are part of a unique breed of entrepreneurial owners because they began their ventures out of necessity or after an opportunity presented itself to them.
According to the Kauffman Entrepreneurship Foundation, truly one of the entrepreneurship meccas of the world, accidental entrepreneurs are among the 500,000 North American startups every month, and that rate keeps on rising very much due to changes in personal circumstances in this ever evolving world.
A research manager at the Kauffman Foundation stated recently this new breed of accidental entrepreneurs spawned and driven more by profits than the accepted ideology of passion—launching their new ventures out of pure, unmitigated necessity rather than a lifelong dream of being “ their own boss.”
These agile, highly educated, tech-savvy and battle-tested people are like circling velociraptors, waiting to pounce and feast on the herd of opportunities before them.
The ventures formed by these accidental entrepreneurs are poised for explosive growth, particularly companies in the 10 to 49 employee range, and are aggressively leveraging technologies such as cloud computing to “fast-track” their successful forward movement.
Such ventures are born, it seems, of the recession phasing, are focused on the Internet and finding addressable markets to dominate.
The entrepreneurs behind them are less siloed, very agile, make their own decisions and are more independent than pre-recession founders.
Just as profit has seemingly replaced passion in the hierarchy of needs for these accidental entrepreneurs, don’t expect them to innovate their way to successful plateaus. As a group, they will be more focused on optimization than trailblazing. They will look to execute the playbook better and faster than anybody else.
I would like to close this treatise this week with a self-quiz for you regarding a perspective of accidental entrepreneurs that I’m certain will find you bobbing your heads in acknowledgment at least to some of the characteristics.
If you can say ‘yes’ to eight or more of the characteristic options below, you are or may be an accidental entrepreneur in the making:
1. You want what you are embarking on to make a difference in the world
2. You like living life on your terms.
3. You are not easily defeated, where others fail, you see opportunity solutions rather than problems
4. You are a creative and innovative thinker.
5. You are a calculated risk-taker; fear tempts you, not stops you
6. You are highly motivated
7. You have a wide range of interests and do many things well
8. You likely engaged in entrepreneurial-like activities as a child/youth
9. You like “making money.”
10. You have an abundance of sustainable energy .
Dear readers,everything in life happens for a reason—no accidents, only accidents by design; no train wrecks, only trains changing tracks.
