More people are starting new businesses than ever before. That’s not because all of a sudden this year more folks have better ideas than in years past. It’s because the barriers to creating a new business have never been lower.
Technology has broken down the walls and empowered anyone to start a business of any kind. Flexibility, cost and mobility have created a solid foundation for entrepreneurship to continue growing in the years to come. Here are three key reasons anyone can become an entrepreneur.
1. Financial liquidity early on.
Historically, getting a higher education (i.e., university, graduate school, etc.) could actually be an impediment to starting a business. It’s sometimes viewed as a roadblock, layering you with debt — forcing you to work a “normal” job to pay down said debt — and pushing off your entrepreneurial dreams for a long time or forever. Unsurprisingly, no liquidity, or access to capital, is a common reason why people do not start businesses.
Now, it has actually never been easier or more transparent to refinance near term liquidity requirements, especially for someone in their teens or 20s. Young adults are now investing in themselves with respect to proper education and structuring their finances to where they have the flexibility to start a business without having creditors breathing down their necks. If they have an idea, there aren’t any financial chains holding them back from reaching their entrepreneurial potential.
2. Affordable legal and marketing.
Unlike in years past, you don’t need to ask a friend or family member to recommend a lawyer to help you cut through all the red tape to form an LLC. You can set up a legal entity in a matter of days, and pay no more than $50 to help with the filing. That’s not just a slight improvement — it’s a game changer for eager entrepreneurs everywhere.
Once your business gets set up, finding those first customers is not the grind it once was. Have a local service business? List yourself on Yelp, HomeAdvisor or Thumbtack. Sell software to other businesses? Find customers on LinkedIn. Build hardware to sell to consumers? Grow an audience and funds on KickStarter, or drive Googling consumers to your website with AdWords. The art of finding customers has moved online, which has dramatically reduced the legwork to help you grow.
3. Mobilization of businesses.
The days of buying into a multi-year office space lease are over. Coworking spaces, for example, have dramatically reduced the price of office space to accommodate anywhere from one to 20 person companies. Month-to-month desk or office rentals are the norm for any entrepreneur who needs office space, but these days, professionals are increasingly choosing mobile over a physical location.
In 2015, mobile usage eclipsed desktop usage for the first time ever. Across the board, consumers and businesses are turning to mobile for more convenient and real-time actions. Clients no longer expect a physical presence for a business, and businesses now have the ability to access their computers from their pocket. Handheld devices can handle scheduling, payments, marketing, employee management and more.
Not only is this structural shift to mobile more convenient for professionals, but it has dramatically reduced fixed costs for any aspiring entrepreneur.
