Small Business Labs

Generation X and Small Business

Tammy Erickson's blog Across the Ages has a post on generation X being unhappy with corporate life.  The post lists 10 reasons why Gen X is unhappy.  Not surprisingly, Gen Xers are telling Erickson that they plan to move to entrepreneurial ventures or small companies.  Quote from the post:

"Many of you have told me that you are planning to leave corporate life “soon” – to start entrepreneurial ventures or work for smaller companies – options you feel will suite you better than the corporate roles looming ahead."

Not good news for large corporations.  Already facing a baby boomer brain drain and Gen Y corporate skepticism, losing Gen Xers just as they reach prime management years would be a major talent problem. 

Most Middle Class Millionaires are Entrepreneurs

According to the recent book The Middle-Class Millionaire over 80% of middle class millionaires - defined as households with a net worth between $1 - $10 million dollars - either own their own business or are part of professional partnerships.  Also, almost two out three middle-class millionaires consider "obtaining an ownership stake in your work" very important to financial success.

The authors also define this segment as "the working rich" and "the new rich".  They say they make up roughly 8.4 million U.S. households, which is about 7.6% of all households.  While this group has achieved substantial financial success, the surveys and research by the authors show that the vast majority of this group do not feel financially secure enough to stop working.   

The book says that the number of of millionaire families in America "will increase by about half again over the next decade."

I found the attitude descriptions of the new rich quite interesting, especially their attitudes about working where they could tap into "the Flow of Money" and the new rich "Playing to Win." 

Overall the book is quite interesting and well worth reading. The authors have a blog with a post listing the book's reviews. 

Franchisee Demographics

Franchise Business Review - a market research company that focuses on the franchise industry - recently released their 2007 Franchisee Satisfaction Study. They surveyed over 14,000 franchise owners and asked about how satisfied franchise owners are with their business in general as well as details on the support they are getting from their franchise system.  Overall the results say franchise owners are basically satisfied.

I found the franchisee demographics quite interesting if not surprising - they are middle-aged white males.  Key quote:

"Franchisees for the most part are not a very diverse group – typically white, 40-something and male. That said, the “face of franchising” is changing, with more women, minorities and younger people entering the business daily."

The stats from the survey: 87% are white, 76% male and 68% between the ages of 35 and 54.  While other demographic groups are actively starting to invest in and operate franchises, the capital requirements and the franchise selection process favor this cohort.  As with all small business segments, we will see franchisee ownership become more diverse over the next decade.

I saw the reference to study on the Startupnation blog.