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 Channel Futures

Leadership


Forced Entrepreneurs: Cheap And Profitable?

  • Written by Mitch York 1
  • March 15, 2009

The Times reports that the growing armies of the unemployed are sick and tired of sending out resumes and are starting their own businesses in droves. One laid-off biologist is making–and taking orders for, thank you very much– $25,000 jelly fish tanks. An entrepreneurship professor at the University of San Francisco coined this phenomenon “forced entrepreneurship.” It’s what you do when you can’t find a job and you have to pay the bills. Plenty of former IT administrators, for instance, could become IT consultants and managed service providers.

What I like about the forced entrepreneurs is that they tend to do things on the cheap, which is exactly the right way to get going. When I launched a new service to my catering business, I didn’t buy any equipment or product before I’d made my first sale. The equipment paid for itself after two jobs. Starting up with less definitely helps focus the mind.

On the Other Hand…

Still, many forced entrepreneurs would be happier if they could only get another job in their field after a layoff. But most of them use poor methods for finding a job so they conclude they have no choice but to start a business.

The typical mistakes of job hunters include:

  • not having prioritized, multiple targets for their job search;
  • spending the majority of their time answering Internet job listings, which account for perhaps 15% of available jobs;
  • not targeting enough positions (not jobs, but positions that are currently filled but which they’d be eligible for);
  • and falsely believing that their job-search objective is to get a job, rather than to get dozens of meetings.

For people who really would like a job rather than forced entrepreneurship, I recommend you visit The Five O’Clock Club. It has the best process for job search I have ever come across.Not that you shouldn’t do your entrepreneurial thing if that’s really your passion. Just be careful–those jellyfish stings are wicked.

MSPmentor contributing blogger Mitch York coaches executives who are evolving into entrepreneurs. He is a veteran of high-tech media and an entrepreneur himself. Find York — and his personal blog — at www.e2ecoaching.com. MSPmentor is updated multiple times daily. Don’t miss a single post. Subscribe to our Enewsletter, RSS and Twitter feeds.

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Leadership

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3 comments

  1. Avatar chris.martin@hounddogiseasy.com March 16, 2009 @ 6:26 am
    Reply

    I agree with this post. We’ve seen (through our online trial system) a huge growth in new small IT companies/MSP’s (as you call them in the US) starting their own small IT business.

    And you’re right, small or no capital investment is very important to these guys, and if they pay, they’re looking for small monthly payments, that they can stop with no long term headache

    Chris Martin
    HoundDog Technology
    Easy, Affordable Tools for MSP’s
    http://www.hounddogiseasy.com

  2. Avatar jeffatrackaid March 16, 2009 @ 10:44 am
    Reply

    The XaaS model certainly lowers barriers to market entry. The true test in the IT area will be can these entrepreneurs actually manage a business? Working in the web hosting industry, I see and know many entrepreneurs who simply never grow beyond working as an independent consultant. They have great technical capabilities but very little marketing, sales or business development skills. I know I spent a couple of years with lackluster growth until I learned how to exploit a business niche. My technical expertise was nearly useless in that endeavor. So, I would not be surprised to see a lot of start ups, but I suspect many of them will be gone once a good job offer rolls along.

    Jeff Huckaby
    rackAID LLC
    On-Demand IT Management
    http://www.rackaid.com/

  3. Avatar Rich Forsen March 16, 2009 @ 9:53 pm
    Reply

    Hey Joe – as you know, http://www.virtualadministrator.com is all about low cost entry into the MSP world. We’re currently doing Hosted Kaseya, will be doing Hosted GMS soon and rolling out other programs. One thing will be common in almost all services – a minimum of one. We’re also going to be joining with industry leaders to present our partners with promotions in price and function based on their participation in our programs. What I’m wondering is from a Master MSP status, what do you think is more attractive to this low quantity prospect – discount programs or low quantity XaaS services? We kind of believe it’s a combination of things designed to empower the small guy, but I’d be curious if you’ve ever had feedback on this subject. Thanks.

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