Rise of the millennial entrepreneur: Scrappy, side-hustling disrupters are “restarting America”

Millennials are the largest generation in the workforce today. Over a quarter (27 percent) are self-employed, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and a much larger 67 percent say they plan to start their own companies.

While some argue that Gen Y’s entrepreneurial mindset doesn’t necessarily reflect the actual number of young business owners, the desire for flexible schedules, more autonomy, and managerial roles are prevalent trends among young employees across the country, and have many thinking about starting their own businesses.

And there are those who do take the leap. Like 27-year-old Gabrielle Bosche, who started her own consulting company where she helps managers figure out how to hire and retain millennials. Bosche wrote a book on the subject: 5 Millennial Myths, and she just released her second book The Millennial Entrepreneur, to serve as a how-to guide for young people hoping to start their own businesses.

“As someone who started a company at 24, I had no actual experience or training,” Bosche said. “I started asking around and found a lot of people like me who had a passion for something but didn’t know how to turn it into a business.”
She interviewed 25 entrepreneurs under the age of 35 across the country, from stay-at-home moms to internet start-up companies.

She heard from a generation striving for financial independence and personal fulfillment, who are more focused on cooperation than competition, who have dealt with a sparse job market, and have an intense fear of failure.