Entrepreneurs identify and solve problems. Typically, they look at the range of market activities and determine where their skills can be best applied to either give better value than current competitors or they attempt to offer an entirely new solution based on looking at where current trends are likely to lead.
At this point, it is hardly worth trying to pinpoint a single cause for the economic calamity that has unfolded across the globe. The fact is that millions of workers have been displaced and it is having a dramatic impact upon the fundamental nature of employment, even in the most traditional areas of the economy - particularly education, healthcare and manufacturing. To make matters more challenging, automation has only accelerated over the last two years and it is being estimated that perhaps half of all human jobs could be done by machines as soon as 2025.
The good news amid the doom and gloom of daily economic statistics and projections is that an increasing number of people are seeing new avenues to create solutions that can help themselves while providing options for others who may be feeling trapped by the flip-flop policies being dictated in our current start-stop economy. These are the people who refuse to accept another's proclamation of whether or not they are "essential" and have prepared to build and promote their own prosperity. Let's look at how a commitment to adaptability is already creating new business opportunities in the face of extreme adversity.
Perhaps no vocation has been as dramatically impacted over the last two years as education. Whether it is health-related demands, or socio-political debate surrounding teaching methods and subject matter, I was stunned to learn that up to 800,000 educators have left their traditional employment and nearly half are considering changing jobs, with 34% considering leaving the career altogether. These are clearly people who have valuable skills and a desire to help others. And, indeed, according to the Wall Street Journal, teachers are among the highest in demand for any new career of their choosing. However, the entire landscape of education is changing with the rise of homeschooling options. This offers innovative new ways for teachers to remain in education. As one of the nation's foremost experts in homeschooling and non-traditional school options, Kerry McDonald, has reported:
In the education sector, more teachers are leaving district schools to create microschools, run tutoring programs, and imagine other exciting learning options. Homeschooling has skyrocketed and many parents are forming learning pods and co-ops, often hiring outside facilitators to lead various programs. Education-focused “private membership organizations” that offer maximum autonomy are also sprouting across the country.
McDonald goes on to feature the personal story of 20-year educator Jill Perez who took her own challenges and those of many of her colleagues as a call to action to create community-based solutions for many of the problems that had arisen. Instead of bemoaning a situation that was likely to only get worse, she spearheaded a learning center of her own.
She founded Tranquil Teachings, a learning center in Monmouth County, New Jersey that operates on a private membership model where parents can choose to send their children part-time or full-time each week to engage in academic and/or enrichment activities. She currently has 40 students enrolled...
“I was able to take some of these teachers and bring them here and they’re wonderful. They have a lot of skills, they’re questioning things. And they are loving what they are doing in a way that they haven’t in years,” she said.
As an education entrepreneur, Perez encourages other parents and educators to use this transformational moment to create new learning communities. “Get out of your comfort zone,” she suggests. “Understand that connection is our way out of this. It’s the opposite of everything we’ve been told,” she adds.
Another key element of the floundering economy is, of course, the supply chain issues we have seen ramp up across nearly every sector. While some of these issues - like prescription drug shortages - do not have easy, independent solutions, there are many other areas that offer budding entrepreneurs many avenues of potential success. One key area that is benefitting from novel solutions is housing. Lumber prices are skyrocketing and many homes are unable to be finished due to various shortages. Fortunately, 3D printing is beginning to come of age on an industrial scale.
The image above comes from 3D home printing company ICON, based in Austin, Texas. They are one of a number of business that are utilizing new technology that can print up to 3,000 sq. ft. homes in a matter of days at half the overall cost of a similarly equipped new home. According to an article by CNBC, a New York builder says that they can't keep up with the interest:
Demand is off the charts.
“By the time I walk out of this house I’ll have 20 emails, 20 voicemails, and 20 texts, and by the time I get to respond to them I will have another 20 emails, 20 texts and 20 voicemails, so it’s nonstop,” said Stephen King, the real estate agent for the property...
“We’re trying to build homes and houses in half the time for half the price,” said Andersen. “Our profits will be higher and we will be able to show that with more projects that we do.”
Exploring entrepreneurial ideas does not even have to be this elaborate, and statistics surrounding small business license filings suggest that potentially millions of innovative new ideas have been formed during the mass upheaval we have witnessed. I'll close with a terrific list of ideas put together by Aden Tate which highlights just how many options are available to utilize the skills you probably already possess:
- Leather work
- Lathe work
- Independent contractor
- Farming
- Become a guide
- Build furniture
- Arborist positions
- Homemade lumberyard
- Trapping and selling skins
- Opening a fishing pond
- Trucking
I would add several of my own -
- Fitness instructor
- Life coach
- Survival skills and preparedness training
- Self-defense instructor
- Cryptocurrency education (or any hobby or interest where you have proficiency)
- Copyediting, proofreading and copywriting - especially for all of these new marketing materials!
Are there others that you might suggest? Please leave your ideas in the comment section and help someone learn to become their own best advocate. In so doing, we can help promote the spirit of entrepreneurship for many generations to come and maintain our resiliency in the face of whatever the wider economy throws our way.
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it's a great news for youth.
There are even so many times when I want to sit down and think about the cause of all of the economic calamities that we have been having but there is nothing to talk about.
It makes me feel I am blunt but no...
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Self employment is what is gaining ground in this our century has there is decreased in white collar jobs and even collar jobs did not pay much as handwork. I understand the plight of teachers and what they are going through especially in Nigeria, where you work for hours and get paid peanut that a hairdresser can earn for five days is what some of them are earning for a month. We are in the time of creativity, the more creative you are the more wealthy you become.
Freelancers and entrepreneurship is rocking at the moment.
In most part of the countries where there is economic crises, sometimes I usually wonder why the government aren't doing anything to curb it or making the living standard of people to improve
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If economy goes well, it will be very good for the youth of our country, they will not have to go to other countries to earn money.
The situation in our country is going like this now, the whole world is worried because of inflation, so if something like this happens, it will be very good for all people.
#hive #posh
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