The third and final installment of the Intuit Future of Small Business Report was released yesterday. This research was a collaborative effort between Emergent Research (this blog's parent), Intuit and the Institute for the Future.
Called The New Artisan Economy , the report identifies a growing barbell-shaped economy with large global players at one end and lots of small "artisan" businesses actively weighing in to balance at the other end. On central stage in the report are artisan businesses:
"The next ten years will see a re-emergence of artisans as an economic force.
Like their medieval predecessors in pre-industrial Europe and Asia, these next-generation artisans will ply their trade outside the walls of big business, making a living with their craftsmanship and knowledge. But there also will be marked differences. In many cases, brains will replace brawn; software and technology will replace hard labor and raw materials, like iron. Yet in many respects, the result will be the same as it was centuries ago: artisans will craft not only their goods, but shape the economy with an effect reaching far beyond their neighborhoods, even their nations."
"...The coming decade will see continuing economic transformation and the emergence of a new artisan economy. Many of the new artisans will be small and personal businesses — merchant-craftsmen and women producing one of a kind or limited runs of specialty goods for an increasingly large pool of customers seeking unique, customized, or niche products. These businesses will attract and retain craftspeople, artists, and engineers looking for the opportunity to build and create new products and markets."
Key message here: Knowledge capital is the critical resource of the 21st century. Using new technology, the internet and and increasingly accessible global market infrastructure, individuals (and small businesses) can compete effectively in the international marketplace.
These knowledge artisans will be responsible for much of the economy's innovation since they are more agile at identifying and meeting market needs. More and more, they will use on-demand production to fulfill consumers' desire for unique, customized products. Their business operations will shift toward variable-costing, which lowers the start-up hurdle and reduces risk of the start-up. These personal and small businesses will partner with larger companies to provide faster turn-around on innovation. They will also use well-established, large-company channels to market and distribute goods. In some cases they will compete; in others, they cooperate. But the playing field will be open and more level.
Last but not least, the New Artisan Economy will be global. Those artisans linked globally through social networking will have an advantage in the marketplace. Those who have transnational cultural "know-how" will have an edge as well. With over two-thirds of US small business exporters selling to only one country, the sky is the limit in terms of tapping growth in additional markets.
What does this mean for Gen Y? Gen Yers are innovators. They are risk-takers. They are entrepreneurial. And, they're born globalists. They will see opportunity and create new market niches that have yet to be conceived. They will innovate on-demand production solutions to fill that new market demand. Their market strategy will be global in nature, optimizing the potential of their business. Their innate comfort with social-networking and cultural diversity will make going global intuitive for this generation.
If you're a Gen Yer with a business (or thoughts of one), now is the time to think globally and act on your ideas. More than any other generation, you've got the technical skills, the global social networks, and the gumption to succeed in the New Artisan Economy.
