According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 144,000 fewer chief executives were employed in the United States in 2010 than in 2007. More broadly, half a million fewer people were employed in management occupations in 2010 than in 2007. While some former executives have taken lower-paying jobs, a great many are still out of work.
If you are one of the unemployed, the pain is real, not only financially but also in a sense that you are not contributing to your own potential. But I see former business managers as potential entrepreneurs. Granted, not every former executive has the ability, the desire or the luck to start a successful business. But if you try and succeed you cannot only regain meaningful employment, but you can also help restart the great American jobs engine.
As I recount in my book, The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream, small business (defined as firms having fewer than 500 employees) create more jobs than larger businesses. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses account for a full 50 percent of total U.S. employment. Yet, company size is not the full story.
A 2010 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that only certain types of small business are the primary job creators. “Our findings highlight the important role of business startups and young businesses in U.S. job creation,” the report found. “Business startups contribute substantially to both gross and net job creation.”
In other words, entrepreneurs who start small businesses are real job creators. It stands to reason that if there were more startups then there would be more employment. And who has the skill sets and business knowledge to run a business? Former corporate executives.
As Americans, we are not only great innovators: we turn lemons into lemonade. And this is the age of entrepreneurs. Never before has it been easier to start a business. A few home office products, a broadband connection, moxy and an honest assessment of skills can be the start of a new venture that provides both emotional returns and real income. Or you can just watch ESPN and play video games. Your choice.
But being unemployed is the lowest risk opportunity to start something new. Take consulting, for example. If you are unemployed, you can use Craigslist to peddle yourself as a consultant to solve problems a small business is having. Each new consulting job can and should be a learning experience – and if you start out small, you can build up a portfolio and even then, start hiring others to help. This works well for those with accounting, IT, SEO, sales and other practical business skills.
There’s also the industry I specialize in: consumer electronics. The examples of unemployed CEOs and managers beginning successful small tech companies are too numerous to list here. But if you have the technical know-how, why not try your hand at creating the next great gadget or electronic service? Many of the great tech companies today started out in someone’s garage.
If you have an idea to fill an unmet need in the marketplace you can launch your business virtually or through the Internet. It does not have to be expensive to get a domain name from one of the numerous services out there, such as GoDaddy.com, and a logo from HP’s service, Logomaker.com. The important thing is to try something. You miss every shot you don’t take, and even if you don’t succeed, you have learned something valuable. America is the only nation where a business failure earns you stripes of respect.
The important thing is you keep thinking, trying and growing your experience until you hit something that succeeds or develop marketable experience. This is not the time to get great at golf or catch up on sleep – it’s the time to embark on an entrepreneurial adventure which will challenge you, hone your skills and help you develop new ones. Who knows, you might not only create your own job, you also might even create a job for someone else.
Being out of work doesn’t always have to be a waiting game, especially if you have the skills to strike out on your own. The number of out-of-work CEOs and managers actually presents an opportunity for the country – but one that requires individual initiative and good ol’ fashioned American ingenuity.
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