If you’re not doing a side Hustle you’re not on trend. With the e-commerce and entrepreneurship boom propelled by the Gary Vee’s of the world infiltrating social media with explosive words of wisdom and encouragement that not only build your ego but become a green light to invest your savings or chuck in your secure employment under the saturating presence of “f&*k it- let’s go!” attitude, never has making a buck on a big scale become more achievable.
After watching the “Wecrashed” and “Super Pumped: The battle for Uber” fiction/doco on the wins and loss experienced by the company ‘Wework’ and ‘UBER’, the youth of today… well in fact entrepreneurship is ageless so let’s say humankind, has never had such an incredible platform for innovation. When you look at the last 100 years and track what we have done through the industrial revolution, cars, infrastructure, space travel, even the humble washing machine… it’s incredible how far we have come and so quick. So, what’s next? Web 3, crypto, VR, ChatGP, Metaverse, flying cars and AI? Nowadays, thanks to the bulging consumerism market, making millions doesn’t have to be that technical. In fact, you don’t need a degree in engineering, business, or marketing to come up with a brilliant innovative idea (the dead skin face scraper or the Oodie anyone?) however it would help with the execution though, but we see many successful self-taught company owners without these qualifications… and there is always Google and YouTube!
With inflation so unstable evading to a stock market crash, the average stalling of wage increases, Housing affordability, war, covid, cost of living and the advances of medicine keeping ‘old money’ at bay for a longer period… becoming Kardashian wealthy the old school way is becoming less and less achievable. So, how do you own a private jet these days?
Easy… get bored by stop looking at a small screen and start to notice the world around you, become a fixer and take note on what really annoys you then reframe it and sell it online. Simple. We are in the era of the ‘side hustle’ and it has never been so simple to make a buck if you have the idea and the discipline. A great example of this is Mark Fraser, founder of Cool Cabanas which has spread covid- esk’ style across the world’s beaches. This humble architect from Brisbane Australia but obviously brilliantly bored man, was sitting on a beach watching people struggling with sun tents. He started sketching up some designs and came up with the Cool Cabana idea.
It’s this type of innovation that equalisers humanity. Anyone can do it. It’s as equal opportunity as the chance of catching gastro at a hot serve bay maree. You don’t even need the cash up front to kick it off. You can work up your idea in a glossy website or E- brochure and whack it on a Go Fund Me page and pitch to the masses of curious would be investors. Governments all around the world are realising what a great boost innovation is for the economy as it involves lots of different local industries to get a product or concept off the ground and so they have easily attainable grant programs… well for those that can prove their idea is not complete nonsense.
In about 5 years time, Start-ups will be an industry unto their own. Whether these cauldrons filled with enthusiasm, ideas and buzz mixed with a side of brave craziness are tech based, product based, material based, electronic based or medically based, we are on the verge of the ‘ideas revolution’. Universities now have whole departments dedicated to start ups. Connecting students with the brave souls who have already initiated their innovated journey into e-commerce with newly created companies offering once in a lifetime internship opportunity to “be a part of something big” with the promise of a healthy side of company equity. There are also organisations like foundr or Business Chicks who create subcommunities where entrepreneurs can meet and swap successful tips and/or war stories from the front line of ‘giving it a go’.
Entrepreneurship is revolutionising the way we work and who for. It’s a revolution within a revolution. It forces to reframe the narrative of 9-5 and the 5-day work week. It also supports dissolving the ‘workplace’, making water cooler reality TV chats extinct as most of these start-up companies prefer to work remotely… because as we are slowly finding out, being stationary at a desk, in front of a screen, under artificial lights, in a sterile office for hours at a time is probably not the best space for innovation sparks or productivity.
“Sticking it to the man” will cease to exist as the ‘man’ (or woman!) is you. Being your own boss, calling the shots yourself, riding the waves of wins and the learning curves of losses are all part of the entrepreneurship journey. Escaping the prison of meetings scheduled by someone else, nailing deadlines and goals not set by you… the freedom is intoxicating but note that the risk is just as death defying. The innovation industry will give people back control of all aspects of their life and the most valuable thing of all… time.
In saying that, some people might find it just as hard. It takes discipline and stoicism. At the end of the day you have yourself to answer too. It will be ‘you’ against ‘you’ and well, that’s the toughest relationship to manage of them all right?
As the saying goes “Rich people have money, wealthy people have time”.
Innovation is the new revolution and the new actual way to make serious money and as time goes on, we need to shake off the shackles of the conservative way of making a buck, get out of the comfort zone and reframe ‘work’, stop being a victim of consumerism by being its boss and change the world further… one great innovative idea at a time.
Katie Jackson Park- Author and Founder of pooltree.com