Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin
Email
Scrapbook
Covid-19 Sparks a ‘Generation of Entrepreneurs’
The rise of micro-entrepreneurship has been flagged as a key consumer career trend for 2021 by Pinterest and McKinsey. We look at how the economic recession and rising unemployment have ignited a surge of new small business applications – and reveal how brands can support the needs of the new micro-CEO.
- The Micro Gets Macro: The pandemic has ushered in a “generation of entrepreneurs”, according to McKinsey’s January-published report, The Next Normal Arries.
- The global consulting firm found that in Q3 2020, more than 1.5 million new-business applications were made in the US —that’s almost double the figure for the same period in 2019. And the number of new businesses registered in the UK rose by 30% in Q3 2020 compared to 2019, which is the largest increase since 2012.
- Brands should consider how they can meet their consumers’ rising entrepreneurial spirit. For example, smart banking apps are providing support for the self-employed.
- Meet the Micropreneur: Consumers building their brand want to get motivated, feel inspired and learn new skills, according to recent Pinterest Business findings. The visual inspiration platform’s search data revealed a 90% search increase for ‘small business ideas’, a 150% increase in ‘accounting basics’ searches, and a doubling of enquiries for ‘entrepreneur motivation’ year-on-year from October 2018 to September 2020.
- Brands that offer support to consumers as they make life-changing shifts in their careers are sure to secure loyalty. Take a leaf from Holly Tucker, founder of UK-based small business online marketplace Not on the High Street. Her forthcoming book Do What You Love, Love What You Do: The Empowering Secrets to Turn Your Passion into Profit (publishing in May 2021) offers mentorship for consumers looking to turn their ideas into businesses.
- For more on the pandemic’s unique disruptions to work, see Work Rewired.
