Mostly we tend to think of entrepreneurs as a good thing. They drive growth, innovate, employ people and move us all forward. But is a forced entrepreneur as good as a voluntary entrepreneur?
A press release just out from peopleperhour.com is pleased to announce that a huge number of young people are setting up their own businesses and so have signed up to the site (freelancers use it to sell their time by the hour). 89% more are signed up this year than last year. Good news indeed, you might think. You'd be wrong. Why?
Two reasons. First because "most" of the new freelancers "admit that the tough jobs market" has forced them into it. In this week's Moneyweek magazine I interview Luke Johnson. (If you're not already a subscriber, subscribe to MoneyWeek magazine.)
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
We run through the characteristics common to successful entrepreneurs. They include being optimistic, persistent, maverick and the like. They don't usually include being desperate (although if you have the other characteristics it might help).
The fact that you can't get a job and so are forced to hawk what skills you do have around on the internet doesn't make you an innovative wealth creator. More often than not I would guess it makes you one of the semi-hidden unemployed.
The second problem is this: peopleperhour describes the people who sign up to its site as "freelance consultants". And if there is anything we really don't need too many more of it is these.
Run your eye down the list of services on offer and you will see that they are all actual services accounting and legal stuff; web design stuff; fundraising and sales stuff; and an awful lot of marketing. That's all fine. But it isn't enough. A dependence on the circularity that is the services sector is part of what got us into the trouble we are in now.
We should of course be pleased that our young are having a go at making a living but, much more that, we should be ashamed of the fact that, in part thanks to their lousy educations (one of the miserable unemployed youths highlighted in the Times today had a degree in music and media management for god's sake) and to our employment-inhibiting regulatory environment, this is how they have to do it.
Johnson wrote a piece in the FT yesterday calling for a bonfire of red tape and a tax holiday for fast-growing start ups. If we want get our youth out of the dead end that is freelance consultancy and into proper jobs we are going have to do that and more.
Why just start ups? Maybe we owe it to the youth we have so let down with our idiotic credit bubble and bust; our failed education policies; and our woefully ill-balanced economy to introduce some kind of special treatment for all fast-growing employers whenever they were founded.
That might, as Johnson says, not seem particularly fair to the plodders in the corporate world. But having youth unemployment at 21% isn't exactly fair either.
-
-
Savers will benefit from Plum’s 4.94% money market account
Savers will benefit from Plum's 4.94% product that relies on money market funds that closely track the Bank of England’s base rate. We explain why this could be good news for savers.
-
Revealed: Best funds for DIY investors
Wondering where to put your money? With thousands of investment options, which funds, ETFs, trusts are the best? Bestinvest has just released it’s best funds list - we have all the details to help you strengthen your portfolio
-
Beating inflation takes more luck than skill – but are we about to get lucky?
Opinion The US Federal Reserve managed to beat inflation in the 1980s. But much of that was down to pure luck. Thankfully, says Merryn Somerset Webb, the Bank of England may be about to get lucky.
-
Rishi Sunak can’t fix all our problems – so why try?
Opinion Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement is an attempt to plaster over problems the chancellor can’t fix. So should he even bother trying, asks Merryn Somerset Webb?
-
Young people are becoming a scarce resource – we should value them more highly
Opinion In the last two years adults have been bizarrely unkind to children and young people. That doesn’t bode well for the future, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
Ask for a pay rise – everyone else is
Opinion As inflation bites and the labour market remains tight, many of the nation's employees are asking for a pay rise. Merryn Somerset Webb explains why you should do that too.
-
Why central banks should stick to controlling inflation
Opinion The world’s central bankers are stepping out of their traditional roles and becoming much more political. That’s a mistake, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
How St Ives became St Tropez as the recovery drives prices sky high
Opinion Merryn Somerset Webb finds herself at the epicentre of Britain’s V-shaped recovery as pent-up demand flows straight into Cornwall’s restaurants and beaches.
-
The real problem of Universal Basic Income (UBI)
Merryn's Blog April employment numbers showed 75 per cent fewer people in the US returned to employment compared to expectations. Merryn Somerset-Webb explains how excessive government support is causing a shortage of labour.
-
Why an ageing population is not necessarily the disaster many people think it is
Opinion We’ve got used to the idea that an ageing population is a bad thing. But that’s not necessarily true, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
