Entrepreneurship – The Newest Alternative Lifestyle

As an entrepreneur, you probably hear those who know you say things like “I could never own my own business because I need health insurance and a steady paycheck.”  It makes you wonder why so many people think that entrepreneurship is such an edgy endeavor or see you as a huge risk-taker.  Most developed nations have an entrepreneurial tradition.  Prior to the takeover of big business and large corporations, nobody ranted and raved about being self-employed because at one time, most people were.

But things have changed.  The political focus in many countries during recent years has shifted to creating more jobs and putting people back to work.  Ironically, the consensus today is that having a steady paying job provides the working age person the most financial security.  Unfortunately, many individuals believe that working for someone else limits your earnings potential and only makes the employer wealthy.  By the same token, the individuals who follow this train of thought make the ideal consumer.

On the other hand, the entrepreneur knows that there are no certainties or guarantees when they are first starting up their business.  Nor is there a certainty of having a cash flow.  As a result, they have to view consumer purchases in a different light if they want to keep their doors open.  Their ability to survive financially depends solely on their ability to completely avoid or at least sidestep what has turned out to be (in recent years) a seemingly endless cycle of personal indebtedness.

In the coming years, we will most likely witness increased assistance and encouragement for the self-employed entrepreneur from groups that are members of the alternative labor or “alt-labor” movement.  These groups provide benefits to the self-employed such as access to healthcare insurance.  We now have online freelance marketplaces within a “sharing” economy that are focused on ensuring that entrepreneurs/freelancers can survive financially while having easy access to a number of necessary services such as healthcare insurance.