Too scared to fail: Millennials aren't starting businesses

[Kinsey6287]

Interesting article on Millennials and entrepreneurship.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/too-s...als-aren-t-starting-businesses-143544000.html

So let's motivate the "millennials" on here and let them know that you need to fail to learn and you need to fail to succeed!!

 

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[Djs87]

Before even reading the article I thought to myself, "parents giving kids trophies for everything and student loans." Simple as that. Sure enough...

 

[wade1mil]

Before even reading the article I thought to myself, "parents giving kids trophies for everything and student loans." Simple as that. Sure enough...

Agreed. I would say technology has a lot to do with it as well.

 

[Mattie]

The millenial's on here aren't so bad as the one's I'm used to talking too. The one's I'm conversing with are in the middle of a lot of pain and suffering, and in the victim mentality from abuse. Now I can talk to them and share this kind of stuff with them, but they have a lot of fear about breaking away from their dysfunctional homes. It's kind of like the human conditioning of being loyal to the toxic parent, and their siblings they need to rescue. And this is side walk and middle class kids I talk to in a wealthy area.

The one's in the hood and lower poverty are hustling and doing business on the streets and aiming all that negative energy towards other people through crime.

And than you have the one's that are above those two levels that are striving for college or entrepreneurship that have their head on straight to a certain extent.

Most of the one's I know don't have a mcdonald's job and keep a job for two seconds, because it's F..ck the world and they have an attitude like you can believe. And I laugh sometimes because I understand them wanting to rebel against toxic parents, but they haven't learned quite yet, how to harness that anger and negative energy towards doing something productive, and I have to sort of wait sometimes for them to get done blowing off steam, and with one of them, it's been four months they're having their growing pains. So, I know they have the information I gave them, and I've planted seeds in many of them, but somehow, ha ha they seem to be lost in the emotional and mental thing and I guess when they're done with it, they might do something.

 

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[Formless]

Penn Jilette had an excellent quote that relates, he said something along the lines of:

'Two things are always true:

1) The world keeps getting better
2) People think it's getting worse.'

The relevance here is this media and public fearmongering. Economy is crashing and burning. Debts are rising. Sky is falling. Dan Kennedy also mentioned this in one of his seminars. He said 'Nobody talks about the new company which hired 300 people, but the one that fired 20.' So you have these people who are so afraid of starting anything.

I haven't seen any of this 'helicopter parenting' EVER in my life though. It has always sounded to me like bitter old people making things up. Can someone give me an anecdotal example of helicopter parenting in real life? (This is a legitimate request, not a facetious one.)

 

[Jamesdoesmith]

Penn Jilette had an excellent quote that relates, he said something along the lines of:

'Two things are always true:

1) The world keeps getting better
2) People think it's getting worse.'

The relevance here is this media and public fearmongering. Economy is crashing and burning. Debts are rising. Sky is falling. Dan Kennedy also mentioned this in one of his seminars. He said 'Nobody talks about the new company which hired 300 people, but the one that fired 20.' So you have these people who are so afraid of starting anything.

I haven't seen any of this 'helicopter parenting' EVER in my life though. It has always sounded to me like bitter old people making things up. Can someone give me an anecdotal example of helicopter parenting in real life? (This is a legitimate request, not a facetious one.)

you know the ones. Parents who won't let their kids get dirt or hurt EVER. The parents who get their kids clothes picked out, shop for them , fill out apps for them. Drive them everywhere out of fear. Overbearing over the top safety parents. parents that bail out lil johnny cause "he's just being a 20 yr old!" Kids don't get bruised up anymore or work hard. Buying pre cut wood over choppin logs nomsayin??? Kids are babied. They love the system. They walk out of college with their hand held to the sky cause they are looking for a freebee or a handout. Why would they not? their parents have always ever just kicked things their direction no question. If only to keep em quiet. They vote for a party cause they never knew any other way. They look for perks, not real legitimacy of a candidate. What can be done for me? why is the world hating me? why don't things change for me???

In relation to the article. It is also what I call the hivemind. The mindset of "well my sister, brother, and closest friends are doing XYZ...better do the same!" revolves around FOMO. (Fear Of Missing Out) Fear to be individuals. Fear to step out of the norm. Keep the sheep mind and we will all be OK. It is why the music on the radio all sounds the same. Fall into line and get a safe 60k job and pay back a debt that the gov will eventually just nip for you anway.


This way of thinking is sad but welp I can't help you. I went to a school where money was a plenty and trucking to work every weekend was obscene. I went to work to make money and pay for things cause my parents stopped covering frivolous things early on. Kids I went to school with did it to "learn value". Most don't hold jobs and get random thousands of dollars from their parents. I used to be bitter and envious...but I know had I been brought up that way I wouldn't turn it down. This grand ignorance of the road less traveled. It covers it back up in trees and weeds and makes it alot easier for trailblazer "try hards" like me to succeed in it. It makes it more "man on the moon" vs "random success in the news". I love the lack of competition. The NEED TO BE LIKED and the NEED to fit in. College is doing exactly what the economy wants. Chaining the perfect person to a desk to pay off a debt they know they can't pay back in a timely fashion. They fit the mold perfectly. Made for it. Slowlane gerbil wheel.

 

[Mattie]

you know the ones. Parents who won't let their kids get dirt or hurt EVER. The parents who get their kids clothes picked out, shop for them , fill out apps for them. Drive them everywhere out of fear. Overbearing over the top safety parents. parents that bail out lil johnny cause "he's just being a 20 yr old!" Kids don't get bruised up anymore or work hard. Buying pre cut wood over choppin logs nomsayin??? Kids are babied. They love the system. They walk out of college with their hand held to the sky cause they are looking for a freebee or a handout. Why would they not? their parents have always ever just kicked things their direction no question. If only to keep em quiet.

This exactly why I ended up not succeeding. I was always given everything and rescued and bailed out or bought all the time. I remember when I was 22 I wanted to buy a mountain bike and pay for it myself, and it ended up getting bought for me. The thing is when people buy everything for you and bail you out you don't learn. I was a spoiled kid from the beginning. I had every toy in the store, because people competed. I never lacked anything.

And so though when everything came crashing down, It probably was the best thing that happen to me. At the same time, I saw how the poverty people had to survive and how hard of a struggle it was, and at the same time, I see how the side walk and slow lane people didn't ever teach me how to fish or sell fishing poles. I was fed all the time, but even there version of success and going to college, and wealth is distorted.

If I didn't know better the fall and failure actually made me a champion in life. And like Eminem stated, perhaps I needed to go there, to get here. During that experience it wasn't pleasant and painful, but perhaps the experience was necessary to become my best self.

Think that makes the difference in leaders that make an impact. They've went through the experience and process.

When I work with the Millenials, the one I keep watching and trying to reach, I know they have to go through the process of emotions and hardships, this person knows I'm there online, and I make comments once in awhile when I see the behavior is appropriate. The thing is as a mentor I know they have to get rid of that negative crap and when there finished fighting and resisting, I can step back in when they're ready. Metaphor (sometimes it's like when you have a fish on the line and keeps pulling the string out and their thrashing and fighting the line) You have to let them get tired and step in and work with them.

There's a group of them I've tried to work with, but it's not an easy ride, they listen to me, but they have a hard time disciplining themselves, and sticking with it.

 

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[Even Steven]

On the flip side of this, I wonder if fewer people willing to take the risk and start a business means more opportunities going forward for those are willing to.

 

[ClintonSkakun]

On the flip side of this, I wonder if fewer people willing to take the risk and start a business means more opportunities going forward for those are willing to.

Yeah, more money for us in the end Well, not true, entirely. But it's a nice thought for the competitive minded.

 

[Ninjakid]

Maybe because we have so much instant gratification?? Oftentimes entrepreneurs are driven by excitement; the burning desire to bring their larger-than-life idea to life. But when you can lose yourself in a hyper-reality at the touch of a touch-screen, building anything in real-life becomes less exciting.


So why would you go through the failures and emotional roller-coasters of starting a business when you can just lose yourself on your facebook newsfeed?

 

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[Even Steven]

Maybe because we have so much instant gratification??

I've wondered this when watching my girls. It seems to be a motivation killer. My oldest enjoys creative activities like drawing, sewing, etc. But she'll always choose the iPad over those if it's available. We make her take breaks, and sometimes it's only after 30 minutes or so of bitching about being bored that she will decide it's worth the effort to go find something else to work on.

It seems to me that those who have the strength to achieve in spite of that instant gratification will have a huge advantage in the coming decades. of course, then the wealth gap will get worse, then more griping...etc, etc.

 

[ClintonSkakun]

I've wondered this when watching my girls. It seems to be a motivation killer. My oldest enjoys creative activities like drawing, sewing, etc. But she'll always choose the iPad over those if it's available. We make her take breaks, and sometimes it's only after 30 minutes or so of bitching about being bored that she will decide it's worth the effort to go find something else to work on.

It seems to me that those who have the strength to achieve in spite of that instant gratification will have a huge advantage in the coming decades. of course, then the wealth gap will get worse, then more griping...etc, etc.

I'm 24 and not sure if it's only something to do with my generation but being "bored" seems to be a norm. When I was younger, and today, I'm rarely bored. Too many areas to improve, interests and hustles. Being bored is foreign to me. I'd often have friends calling me to take a break from my freelance work to hangout because they were bored. These are the F*cking problems we have these days. We're bored, yet at the same time, we completely lack in any type of meaningful accomplishment.

 

[Trivium iz rC]

Interesting Article Thanks For Posting,

I think the big thing that Yahoo's article missed is, the ECONOMY isn't just Tech Companies or an APP Company. An economy is based off production of valuables & goods.

A lot of people don't have the SKILLS to start a tech company or don't even know how technology (Computers, Software, Hardware) works.

The other reason why most economic growth (Besides Fracking For Oil) has come from tech is because it is one of the least regulated industries in the united states. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars to comply with different regulations for different states. Just web-hosting and a laptop and you have access to everyone in the world todo business with.

Regulations, Taxes, Debt, Legal Suing is why most millennials won't take risk. 40k Average in student loan debts, 18 Trillion in Federal Debt, Everyone that plays the victim mentality and sues businesses for no reason.

 

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[Journey2Million$]

Sucks for them. Good for us. Let them do their dead end jobs and buy our products.

 

[GuestUser112]

It seems like everybody who has never started a business is obsessed with the so called statistic that '95% of businesses fail', so they say very loudly that starting a business is a 'fools errand', and wealthy business owners are 'lucky'.

 

[Andrus]

Most of my peers were brought up by parents who bought them everything they wanted (the latest Apple products, Air Jordans, etc) and gave them participation trophies. As a result, they have no idea of the rewards of hard work and are afraid of rejection.

Fortunately that mean more meat on the bone for me

 

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[Formless]

Maybe because we have so much instant gratification

I had this moment in my life that I remember vividly.

I was playing The Witcher for about 9 hours straight, completely enveloped in this intriguing world, experiencing it as an intriguing character.

Then there was a power cut.

Once the computer went off, within 20 seconds I remember something inside me clearly saying 'Oh, so this is what my life actually is. This is what it feels like.' I felt worthless. It was an important lesson.

The reason I loved RPG and Storyline-based games so much was because my own life had no 'story'. I was a vegetable, not an interesting main character whose decisions make dents in the world.

So it is definitely instant gratification. Closing your eyes to your reality and pretending that it isn't there.

When I stopped gaming so much and started giving my monitor to my friend for the week to motivate myself to work in the library, I realized how creative, intelligent and actionable I'm capable of being.

Most millenials have more potential than they will ever know, because they've stuck themselves in a cycle of instant-gratification and virtual reality, which is not enough to make them happy, but enough to make them comfortably miserable.

 

[Journey2Million$]

On other message boards when I talk about success advice, people usually give a hostile reaction. They think it's garbage. They like to whine about their problems just to get attention but they don't want to do anything to help themselves. They like to whine about their future, lack of jobs, career choices, college major choices. Every time I recommend making money on the internet, nobody is interested. It's like you're talking to deaf people. I feel like they think that starting a business or being self employed is for space aliens and they can't imagine themselves doing it. They act like the only way you can make money is a job. Some of them choose really stupid college majors and careers too. Then they get a low paying dead end job after they get their bachelors degree and they think the answer is to get a masters degree in another equally ridiculous, worthless major. I'm glad I can now come here instead of hanging around those people anymore.

 

[Kak]

I am disgusted with my generation... But, I am also excited that the incompetence will leave room at the top for those of us with some ambition and intellegence.

It is going to be really easy to win with these folks as the competition... I really don't relate with my generation at all... I can count on 2 hands the people in this world who I consider my very good friends and they are almost all older than 40.

 

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[parkerscott]

Coming from a millenial there are many reasons. Too many reasons, and they are all terrible reasons.

I have a friend who loves watches, he always asks for my opinion on watches, and he dreams of owning nice clothes, and looks at motivational pictures, and big houses etc. He always talks about the future, and how hes going to make it. He never takes action though, and instead he rather just dream.

The typical excuses from millenials are pretty funny. Some think you have to have a college degree. Others think you have to have 50k. Some think you have to be super lucky. Some just dont want to give up their time. Others think its too risky. Some think they are not smart enough.

They are all just excuses though. Luckily I stopped making them.

 

[Kak]

The big one that I always heard when I was nearing the beginning of my "career" was to "pay your dues" then you can start a business... I always pissed them off when I said the only dues I'll pay are to a country club.

I currently make more money than almost everyone who told me that. I am also a member at a private country club just like I planned.

 

[Ronnie]

As a millennial with millennial friends, there's two reasons I see why some fail to get started.

1. Parental Control: Most millennial's have been programmed from birth to "do the safe thing" and to "never trust anyone." Since birth what we eat, who we play with, where we sleep and where we work has been printed on a nice little "life card."

That kid's father did 2 months in prison 20 years ago for stealing sneakers? YOU'RE BANNED FROM HIS HOUSE!

Those cookies over there killed a little child in Arkansas 15 years ago? YOU'RE BANNED FROM EATING THEM!

Your friend's house is next door to a gay, non church going, Buddhist worshipping, Prius driving, hummus eating couple? YOU'RE BANNED FROM SLEEPING OVER!

A lot of us grew up without being able to make choices for ourselves which reflects in our adult decision making.

2. The KARDASHIAN Effect: Most millennial's worship the celebrity, the athlete, the musician. They see this life of luxury on television and the internet and love it. That's not a good thing. They see the ease these people live life and end up thinking wealth is easy to obtain.

That lamborghini Mayweather just bought? I'll have one like that but in red!

That private jet Beyonce and Jay Z uses to travel the world? That's my future!

But they'll never get it because they're stuck daydreaming about a life of awesome, and have no idea how to take action.

The ones that do take action realize it's hard work to even gain a $1000 so they give up and go back to day dreaming..

This generation is the slowlane generation. I was fortunate enough to have parents that allowed me to discover life on my own and formulate my own direction. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you look at it) business creation in this generation will be very low.

 

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[Journey2Million$]

It's better to believe that it's easy to make money than to believe it's hard to make money,
as long as you don't believe that you can make money without taking action.

 

[ZCP]

One big reason is the 'crowdsourcing' of what they should think and do. From what shoes to wear to school to the countless 'what business should I start' threads on this site. They are incapable of buying without reading online reviews that all say it is awesome and are incapable of taking risks because 7 of the 32 people they asked thought it was a bad idea. Herd mentality is strong in this group.

 

[jlwilliams]

I don't know. My daughter is 23, and some of her generation that I have met leave me with limited hope. Then there are the other ones, who are doing incredible things.

Look at the "baby boomers" for a minute. Never has there been a more self centered generation. Their parents made it through the depression and WWII and wanted to give their kids everything. The spoiled little brats "rebelled" against normalcy and did their best to tear down society (look at SDS and The Weathermen etc) They smoked as much dope as they could, they drank, screwed and snorted everything in their path. The end result being the first generation where single parent households was the norm (and still is, thanks, boomers.) As adults, as they came into their own, they became the "yuppies" of the 1980s. The fictional Gordon Gecko was a Baby Boomer arch-type and only he himself was fictional. He was based on real people and typified the mores of many of his peers. Now, they are the old people who run things. They have successfully repainted the '60s as a time of social growth, not their failed attempt to tip over the apple cart. They collectively have more wealth that any other age bracket, and still collect more benefits. they WILL bankrupt social security. Neither I nor you who are younger than me will get one thin dime of that (I'm 43.) Yet still, their generation has it's successes. They have built things. Not all of them burned their draft cards, many served. Not all OD'd on heroine. Many raised their families and live productive lives. The fact is, their generation had as much to show them in a poor light as the "millennials" do; arguably more but they didn't collectively stumble and fall. All the predictions that they would do so turned out to be crap.

Sure, there are some worthless millennials. So what? Predictions that the sky will fall are nothing new. Pay no heed to that crap. Just keep pushing the ball forward. Be productive. Create value. Studiously ignore the nay-sayers. They create no value by claiming that this generation or that one isn't creating enough value.

Moving on.......

 

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[S&P]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your contributions to this thread. It has been a pleasure to read.

 

[Avus]

As a millennial with millennial friends, there's two reasons I see why some fail to get started.

1. Parental Control: Most millennial's have been programmed from birth to "do the safe thing" and to "never trust anyone." Since birth what we eat, who we play with, where we sleep and where we work has been printed on a nice little "life card."

I hate to say it, but IMO this is the most detrimental thing to tell your kid. It crushes dreams and hopes from when we were kids.

I grew up under constant fear. I'm glad that I got out of that situation, but I can see how damaging it could be.

 

[FeaRxUnLeAsHeD]

Man I feel that article hit close to home as far as having the fear of failure, and SEEING PEOPLE go for the corporate route instead of dreaming big.

Fortunately for me I have been faced with a lot of hardship in business and taking risk and dreaming big to which I was never just given a trophy for 'giving it a shot' - if I failed, I failed and if I succeeded, I succeeded.

I have a bulletin board and an entire shelf space in my dorm room right now. On the bulletin board above the shelf space, I have a print out of all of the many failures i've experienced along the way. Denied from this trip. Denied from this. Not able to participate in that. Below it on the shelf space, is the piles of paper after paper, certificates and awards that validate all the blood, sweat, and tears from my grinding for the past couple of years. (Mostly academic related but some are personal accomplishments as well)

I feel as if I've hit a wall recently, where having my bank account slowly declining, having all sorts of expenses as a student and no income (I also don't have the luxury of mommy daddy helping me out, as i' pay my own way 100%), student loans and some compounding.. and then the fear of failure sinks in. If I start a company and go balls out and it fails, i may be left homeless, with an empty bank account, and a college degree to which i don't even WANT to go work for someone else anyways. I went to college to learn and take the time to develop relationships and business skills to dare and dare greatly, so that I can achieve great things. I feel that fear though and all I know is, that fear can either cripple you or drive you.. There is no absence of fear.

With seeing people going corporate, it's really a shame. We have this one F*cking shot. Really these short lived moments where we can take chances and really go after it and dream big, and yet 99% of people in college want to drink smoke party and let mommy daddy pay for their dime, and they're okay with it because "i'll have a nice safe secure job when i graduate" - The 99% don't want to dream big. They don't even get it.

It's a real shame. Before you have a mortgage and credit card bills and a car payment and a wife and kids and the whole shabag, do humanity a favor and just *GO FOR IT*

Myself included in that statement..

 

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[Waisec]

I have no problem seeing people my age having jobs and day dreaming or being timid

Less competition and easier to crush

 

[Charnell]

I'm a bit unfamiliar with these generational terms, but I believe I fall into the "millennial" gap (24 years old).

The biggest I see as a problem is a lack of grit. No one wants to do anything for themselves, get a bit dirty, learn a thing or two.

My best friend and his little brother were both excellent football players when we used to play in HS. Tough, smash mouth kids. My best friend went on to college and play ball, I joined the Marines. 6 years later they're both still at home living with their parents at 21 and 23 years old.

That's not so much a problem, I don't care, but their mom does everything for them. We drove across the state for a wedding and their mom packed their bags for them. Then we get there and the younger one calls her up complaining that she packed cargo pants instead of slacks. I was so bewildered, means I've been away from home since 18, that people could rely so heavily on their parents after 18.

Moral of the story is we need to bring back bullying. Get a lil toughness in us. A lil grit.