The New Economy is a Global One

To say that things will never be the same could very well be the understatement of the new millenium as we forge ahead in this new global economy. The internet has forever changed the way we all connect, and as a result, we can never again simply rely on our local economies for comfort or relief. But that is also a good thing, and I, for one, am excited for this prospect.

It used to be a given that if one wanted to set up a small business for their community, they had to at least have a service that was somewhat perennial in demand, and that the competition was minimal enough such that they could command a fairly steady income from their local pool of customers.

With the advent of the internet, the prospects for who are your local market and who might have need and use of your services are blown wide open and the possibilities are endless. Even competition is a different game, as the loyalty factor is wide open for grabs, and people will move around from vendor to vendor depending upon such factors as price, color choice of the website, ease of transacting business, referral by a friend, or a hundred other factors.

This means that imagination now plays an ever bigger role in the success of the small business owner, and yet it also evens the playing field, because try as they might, the conglomerates and big corporations now have no advantage and no threat factor to scare off or push out the little guys. The playing field is more level than it has been ever in the history of the world, and while fear still keeps many from joining the game, I have seen more young people than in my whole lifetime prior, diving into the small business game, now that the internet makes it something just about anybody can do.

I too have been forced into a corner with the IT job market drying up. I just ran into a friend the other day who is moving to Utah in a week because that is where he could find a job. I was faced with having to either start a much lower paying job by lowering my scope of what I am willing to do, or start selling my experience in my field over the internet. I have discovered by looking at eLance.com for example that many of the jobs have moved from W2 contract types to the free floating 1099 type, probably because in the long run, there is less idle time for companies to pay for, in between work assignments.

It is high time that we in America caught on to the fact that the world is changing, and that we cannot afford the time or energy that so many people devote to trying to hang on to out-dated jobs and industries and start finding out what this new world needs done and either learn to do it, or do what we do well in a different and better way that fills current needs. The Obama Administration will bring with it much change as is already so evident in so many ways, and so we must look around at the kinds of things that will change and try to see the new work that will rise from those changes. So many of us will simply train for a new job, and that is fine.

I am using this time of change to finally make the needed transition I have so long avoided to join the ranks of the self-employed and business owners. Robert Kiyosaki points out with his cashflow quadrants that until you are either a business owner or an investor, you will always work for your money, but once you master the B and I side of the equation, your money will be working for you. That is how I intend to spend the next 50 years of my life. Join me.