A recent paper by EY that I received today contained some interesting information. Or at least it was interesting to me, and I think should be to you as well.
The paper was talking about consumer behaviour, especially amongst the millennial generation (born 1981 – 1996) and generation Z (born from 1997 onwards). But, buried inside it was a very revealing statistic. This is that 22% of millennials and 24% of Gen Z want to start their own business. That is hugely significant. This means that we could expect millions of new businesses to start in the next few years. It is already happening, and not simply because of the pandemic and the so called ‘great resignation’. It is happening because these generations want to be more self-determining. This leads to great opportunities and great responsibilities, and not just for these new entrepreneurs. An equal responsibility must fall on the shoulders of the people of my generation who have built businesses. Let me explain by going back into my history.
Back in 1976 I met and began a friendship with someone who at that time was my age now (63). He was a Member of Parliament in the UK and was a close family friend of my then girlfriend, who is now my wife. I met this man at a family party and as we talked, I asked him to tell me what in his opinion was the best qualification to obtain if I wanted to be a good politician. He didn’t even have to think. He simply said, “study history”. He then went on to explain how history does indeed repeat itself, that human beings react in the same way repeatedly to the same circumstances and that having a very good knowledge of history and continuing to read social and economic histories gave good politicians the gift of foresight. Laurie Pavitt, the MP in question, throughout our friendship took time to illustrate his point to me by drawing analogies from history and applying them to situations developing during the times we were both living in. He had an amazing gift of being able to predict behaviours and outcomes and did it all from finding almost identical situations back in history.
Now, why do I bring this up? It is because history and experience are priceless commodities and the older entrepreneurs reading this have this information inside them. Some of us try to get it into print as some form of legacy, writing their books, just as I did. Many act as advisors and mentors to new businesses, as I do. The best of us doing that largely do it for free. We recognise that the parents of these new potential entrepreneurs were, and in some cases are, our own customers and clients and we owe them a debt of gratitude. It is best described as “giving back”.
Many more entrepreneurs have simply decided to retire and live their lives out in comfort. Not because they don’t want to help others, but simply because they don’t know how or where to offer their help. Very often I have seen young entrepreneurs be dismissive of the advice being offered to them by people who have “been there and done it” simply because the old guard “don’t understand” today’s world. I avoid those types of entrepreneurs. Frankly I can stay home and be ignored. I don’t need to go out of my way to seek venues where I am dismissed because of the grey in my beard.
As my friend Laurie said to me, when I thought everybody over 25 years old was closer to death than reality, “history is the very best teacher”.
So, what is the point of me telling you all this?
Well, it is to appeal to all the Gen Z and Millenial potential entrepreneurs out there to use the resources available to them.
Seek out the experience, seek out people who can bring something to your own knowledge. Find those older entrepreneurs out there who have failures under their belts and in a perverse way celebrate those even more than their successes. We know that the failures and the mistakes are the things that truly teach us.
And for those older entrepreneurs reading this I would say it is time for you to pay something back. Having paid your taxes is not enough. There are going to be millions of businesses starting up in the next few years and there will not be enough good mentors, advisors or non-executive directors for them. Initially offer your advice for free, and then when it is appropriate charge for your services, because after all nothing valuable should ever be totally free. If it is then people cease to value it, history has taught us that lesson as well.
