Entrepreneurship and Ruling the World

I came across Kate Phillips article on “Why Entrepreneurs Rule the World”, and I wanted to share it with you in parting.  It’s a little long (but not any longer than some of mine 🙂 ), but well worth a read.  An excerpt:

Once upon a time… the world was full of small business people and independent entrepreneurs. Every town had a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick maker.  A blacksmith, a barber, and a farmer (or two).  A shepherd, a weaver, and a preacher.  There were no factories, no corporations, and… no employees.

…

One thing is clear to me: no matter what rung of the ladder you are on, jobs are going out of style.  Fast.

For years now, the trend has been away from hiring employees and towards hiring independent contractors.  Why?  Huge savings in benefits, also huge savings in waste.  Rather than paying for people’s time, contracts allow employers to pay for the *result* they want.  Deliver this, we’ll pay you “X.”

…We’ve put our faith and trust in the wrong places, counting on an employer or a company to sustain us, when we should have been developing our own value in the market place.  We can no longer count on jobs to sustain us, rescue us, or bail us out.  Employers are doing their best to keep their own head above water, do not count on them to rescue you.

In case you didn’t get the memo: Jobs are Dead.

…Two years ago I attended an orientation at my daughter’s high school.  One teacher spoke about “how we’re going to help your children prepare for the job market.”  They would learn to write resumes and cover letters, fill out applications and interview for jobs.

I inquired afterwards what was being done to prepare kids for a world in which jobs are going away.  What do the kids learn about businesses?  About self-employment options?  Is there a class teaching entrepreneurial skills?  Could I volunteer in such a class?

You could well imagine the response from the teachers.  Of course, no one has trained them to think this way either.  We’ve all been brainwashed into believing that there is a job “out there”.  There are opportunities “out there”.  However, it is up to each of us to take ahold of our destinies and our lives and move on in a new economy.

It is not an economy of our own making.  However, opportunities rarely are of one’s own making.  Rather, opportunities present themselves and we either jump on them or let them pass on by.

Me?  I’m moving!

Technorati Tags: consulting,contracting,contractors,entrepreneurs,entrepreneurship,self-employment,employment,jobs,recession

Making Extra Cash

TechRepublic posted “10 ways techs can make extra cash” a while back.  There are some good ideas there, and even gives you sites that cater to specific categories.  Some of these can even help drive people to their own business.

Technorati Tags: it,technology,employment,consulting,contracting,moonlighting,business

Anyone Up For a Freelance Collaboration Site Review?

There are a number of freelance sites out there, some of which cater to IT professionals.  Does anyone have experience dealing with any of these and would be willing to author a review?  It would be nice if I could get reviews from both hiring agents and contractors.

Here are the ones I know about:

• eLance
• Success Group International Global IT
• LimeExchange
• Guru
• GetAFreelancer
• oDesk

I would post the review with author credit duly given, naturally.  There’s no money to be made from this, but it should count for 2 seconds on your 15 minutes of fame. 😉  After all, who can resist fame amongst all one dozen steady readers of this blog. ;->

Technorati Tags: request for reviews,freelance sites,outsourcing,contractors,contracting,consulting,consultants,writers

Tough Client Questions

It is a certainty that clients have become more picky about who they will hire.  It is also pretty evident that many in IT are now using this opportunity to turn to going it on their own.

That’s why I think Chip Camden’s article on TechRepublic about “Answering client questions about perceived risks and benefits” is a good one to read if you are contracting or thinking about it.

For example, if you are just starting out, you may be the only one in your “firm”.  So, how do you answer the question, “How many people are in your firm?”  Remember, there’s an upside as well as a downside to being small.  Think communication.  Think reliability.  Those are the risks that the client wants to mitigate.

That’s one of the questions.  Chip asks 6 others.  A recommended read.

Technorati Tags: it,information technology,consulting,clients,risks,benefits,communication

Consulting Maxims

If you are reading this, then it is likely I’m either still on the road or recovering from the road trip.  However, this gives me an opportunity to point you to some backlogged bookmarks I’ve built up.

Many PMs are consultants, so TechRepublic’s article on “18 maxims of successful IT consulting” might be of interest to you.

And, if you are not a consultant … well, rethink that, will you?  As I’ve quoted before, we are all consultants in this economy.  Companies can let you go at any time with no reason.

Technorati Tags: it,consulting,consultants,pm,project management,economy,employment,jobs,contractors