Economic Darwinism or Planned Evolution?

We are watching economic Darwinism in our own backyards. In the struggle for survival, only the fittest businesses will survive and the most adaptable employees will stay at the top of the food chain. The tough fact of life is that to stay competitive in a market driven economy big, dependable area companies are closing operations and lives are going to change.

In the last year, a handful of friends have been reorganized out of “good jobs” at “stable companies” where they were set for the future. Now they’re starting over or forced into retraining in their mid 50s and everybody is looking for someone to blame.

There’s no one to blame except the face in the mirror.

At a certain point people have to take responsibility for making sure their skills, talents and knowledge are relevant for a changing economy. Whether change is forced or planned, it’s inevitable and it can be a healthy catalyst.

Also in the last year, I met a different group of people who were downsized, reorganized, laid off, fired or just needed a change. Most worked at big companies and all of them toyed with living the American dream of being their own boss. The difference is, they did more than think about starting a business and started planning for independence.

One man had the idea to turn his genealogy hobby into a business and now does life documentation. My friend turned her passion for neatness into a professional organizing firm and just hired her first employees. Another friend had her dream come true by opening a coffee shop and catering business. Another will open her own hair salon in April—a result of careful planning and making her own opportunity.

Are they making a million? No, but they’re making a living and they’re making a difference. They’re generating business, contributing to a changing economy and providing employment for others.

They are all graduates of the E-seed program offered by Fox Valley Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The program is part of the Venture Center and helps people who have an idea or a dream turn that dream into reality. The Venture Center channels entrepreneurs and developing businesses into classes, networking and coaching to give them the tools they need to succeed.

After getting reorganized or frustrated in their “safe” jobs, these people could very easily have looked for someone to blame. Instead they had a great idea or a personal passion and found the help they needed to do more than dream. Most people who start businesses aren’t experts at running a business—they need help with budgets, inventory management, hiring, pricing and marketing. That’s where the Venture Center fills in the gaps and teaches average people how to learn these skills or find the resources they need.

These new business owners were not independently wealthy, they didn’t have an alphabet soup of post-graduate degrees after their names and they didn’t have an angel investor. They had an idea, put it on paper in a business plan, got help from a bank and took a risk.

Chances are someone you know will lose their job in the near future. When that happens, will you sit on the back porch and passively watch as traditional roles and job descriptions slowly go extinct? Or, will you participate in an economic evolution driven by innovators and entrepreneurs who might be in your own neighborhood?

I know what I’m going to do—I have a hair appointment with a new independent businesswoman who owns her very own salon.

Mary Schmidt