Here’s How to Thrive in the Millennial Economy. Embrace this or Die.
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“Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.” — Milton Friedman, Nobel Memorial Prize Winner in Economic Sciences
Imagine you’re a 13 year old kid, right now. In 10 years from now, you’ll be 23 and in the labor force.
The question is, will you want to drive an hour to work, sit in a cubicle from 9–5, and then drive an hour home?
Will that make any sense whatsoever to you?
Does it make any sense right now?
With everything you need at your fingertips (i.e., your personal computer or cell phone) and being connected to people worldwide in seconds (i.e., email, social media, video conferences), you can get increasingly more work done remotely.
As I write this, I’ve been on a five month road-trip with my wife and three kids. My business has actually grown during this time. I have two main companies 1) A business development company and 2) an international sourcing company. I have no office and barely use my laptop and work with a couple dozen contractors globally. My work is done from my cell phone and my leads come from being a podcast “guester,” social media, and automated email marketing.
It’s never been easier to work from wherever you want.
And it’s only going to get easier.
So let’s go back to you being a 13 year old kid. Imagine where you and the world will be in 10 years from now.
The Millennial Movement
A Millennial Movement has been happening for the past five years, known as the “The Freedom Economy” (a term coined by Greg Pesci, CEO of Spera), where work is being outsourced to freelancers, entrepreneurs, consultants, experts and specialists.
Interestingly, this virtual model is:
- More productive
- Faster
- and cheaper
… than a traditional approach. Not in every case. But in increasingly more cases. In fact, Ardent Parters reports that “nearly 35% of the average company’s workforce was contingent or contract-based and this percentage will grow to 45% by 2017.”
