Millenials lazy, uninspired? New studies find the opposite

Being a millenial often means being associated with some negative terms: lazy, uninspired, reckless, and the most common of all, “lost”.  Recent data suggests otherwise, especially when it comes to venturing into the risky world of startups.

A survey, conducted by Buzz Marketing group, polled 1623 millenials and found that even though they have a great passion for starting their own businesses, there weren’t many resources available. Even so, millenials continued to conquer their difficulties.

According to the BNP Paribas Global entrepreneurs Report for 2016, millenials “stand out by creating an increased number of companies, both in the new economy and traditional sectors”.

The report added that they launched about eight companies on average, compared to 3.5 for elders and “have a turnover of more than 43% that of the baby boomer generation”.

Read more: 4 ways aspiring millenial entrepreneurs can break barriers

The above statistics say a lot about the current generation of entrepreneurs. All the credit can’t be due to millenials alone – it was thanks to previous “millenials” (now baby boomers) that incredible opportunities exist for young entrepreneurs.

Millenials are changing the face of industry one step at a time, preferring interpersonal communication over email, the possible end of nine to five working hours and introducing more flexible working hours to be more productive. That alone speaks to the balanced life a millenial seeks, according to the Bentley University report.

Millenials are also more loyal than people generally expect them to be, according to the same report. It found that 80% of the 1031 millenials surveyed said they’d stay with four or fewer companies in their entire career.

Millenials were always portrayed as reckless with youthful ambitions – slowly but surely though the world is realising the potential that lies within its youth.

“Millenials see chaos and distrust of management, breaking of contracts and bad news associated with business,” says Bentley University director of Entrepreneurial Studies Fred Tuffile. “They’ve watched their relatives get fired and their peers sit in cubicles and they think ‘there has to be a better way’,” he continues.

Read more: Here’s what young entrepreneurs need to know about managing older employees

There are many great examples for millenials to follow within the startup world. Take Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, the founders of Snapchat, for example (Forbes estimated the app to have a net worth of US$1.5 billion).

Tuffile stated in the findings that “millenials starting a company even if it crashes or burns, teaches them more in two years than sitting in a cubicle for 20 years”. This is due to the fact that millenials aren’t afraid to fail and start again.

However, if it’s one thing that millenial and babyboomer entrepreneurs agree with its that the work ethic of millenials could be better.

“While older generations think of their job as a large part of who they are, millenials see their work as a piece of their life, but not everything,” says assistant dean and director of academic support services at Bentley University, Leslie Doolittle. “This is a group that really believes in community and really wants to make a difference in the world.”

The BNP Paribas Global entrepreneurs Report for 2016 also found that instead of millenials worried about breaking even and future profits, they first thought about the social impact that they could make.

Either way you look at it, millenials aren’t uninspired, reckless, lost or lazy. we’ve just found a different way to do things. The future of enterprise remains in good hands, it seems.

Featured image: ITU Pictures  via Flickr