Unforgiving job market

The days of working for a company from graduation until to retirement are long gone, as more and more college students are becoming acutely aware of the highly competitive and seemingly unforgiving job market. The lack of high-paying positions has led many of them to tread the off-beaten, entrepreneurial path, in hopes that they can carve out their own success story and leave the corporate world behind.

This is precisely the kind of spirit and drive that we need in today’s economy. Despite the overwhelming challenges faced by new start-ups, a growing self-employed workforce is essential for new job creation, healthy cash flow, and many of the other things that make corporate America strong.

And who better to head this new entrepreneurial front than the millennials, a generation of young, motivated, and highly educated people men and women who firmly believe they are worth more than what employers are offering to pay them?! While most of them may not achieve Mark Zuckerberg status, there is no doubting the motivation these individuals have to succeed, and that is definitely worthy of praise.

Therefore, it hardly comes as a surprise that more than 1/3 of millennials are self-employed at least on the side, and that nearly ¾ of them have thought about quitting their day jobs to take a chance on the solo market. If you are strongly considering going the self-employed route, be sure to exercise caution and know exactly what you are getting into. You will need a lot more than hard work and due diligence to get by out there!

If we had to rank the most important factor for being successful as an entrepreneur, it would be knowing how to network. Always be on the lookout for new professional connections (which oftentimes result from personal friendships) and never stop marketing your brand. Expand opportunities whenever possible and keep your doors open, because you never know what come your way! Running a business takes sound financial planning and debt management skills, so get a game plan in order before you decide to take the leap.