“Everyone is a Small Business!” was my answer to the question “What will we be talking about in 2030?” at the most recent Financial Digital Frontiers forum hosted by Biz2X.
AI is not only redefining how we work, but also why we work. With each AI model release pushing the frontiers of reasoning one can surmise that there will be a large shift in “knowledge work” required by large corporations since information now is quickly accessible to everyone in short format. Education will have to change, but so do actual job requirements and number of jobs -since people will be expected to do more with AI support.
This change leads to flattening corporations and fewer entry ladders available to recent college grads. Society will need to bridge the gap between jobs available and people who are actively looking for work, to sustain a robust economy. Small Business, entrepreneurship is the answer.
50% of Gen Z want to start their own small business.
Samsung & Morning Consult Survey
The growth in entrepreneurship is supported by the most recent data, where we see the number of small business upstarts double per year starting in 2021 – totaling almost a half-a million businesses started each month. This is driven not only by the digital and AI revolution enabling entrepreneurs to be a 1-person shop and drive millions of dollars in revenue (and in the future billions of dollars) but also by the redefinition of the purpose of work and people craving flexible time management as well as a need to own their production, especially Gen Z.
In summary, I see three trends that will continue to drive the increase in entrepreneurship:
- AI and the Digital Revolution: one person can run a business easily if educated enough in digital and AI tools on the market.
- Corporations leaning into AI and flattening their organizations, forcing a gap between highly educated people and full-time jobs available.
- Younger generations focus on flexible time management, studies have shown they want to own their time and production – with 50% of Gen Z stating they want to start their own small business.
So how can lenders and the government help support the entrepreneurs?
- Lenders have to expand the view of small business. At Experian we offer non-traditional factors and a willingness to work across industries to help drive small business lending decisions.
- Access to credit has to be grown across communities: One key factor is making sure people understand the importance of business credit and the benefits of keeping it separate from their consumer profile.
- Education, tools, and access to resources that bridge the digital divide need to be provided to small business owners —especially those who do not have a digital background.
In the new world – repetitive work is out, creative work, small business is in.
