The Biggest Change To Our Workforce You’re Probably Not Aware Of

It’s happening all around you and chances are you haven’t even noticed.  Don’t feel bad, you’re not the only one that may have missed it.  There’s a lot of attention being drawn to a specific area of our domestic workplace which stands to change much of what we know about working for corporate America in the very near term.

​Meet the Solopreneur! 

A Solopreneur, we’ll call them ‘Bob’ for purposes of this article, is someone who owns a business, yet has no formal employees. (W2 employees)

Bob represents a fast growing portion of the US economy and he’s got a lot of friends interested to learn more about what Bob does, how he did it and how they can get in on a piece of the action.  According to the SBA Bob’s makes up an estimated 70% of all small businesses across the country.  Furthermore, Intuit released a study that estimates 40% of ALL businesses in the country will be like Bob by 2020. 

What does a Bob look like?

As mentioned a moment ago it’s someone who is in business and is the sole employee of that business.  They’re owner, operator and doer all in one.  They come in all shapes and sizes and their most popular amongst Baby Boomer and Millennial generations.  In years past our Solopreneur Bob has had more traditional titles like Consultant, Contractor or even Gig Economy.  They all represent the same thing which is someone who does work on behalf of others through their own means – and this type of work is growing quickly.

If we follow the laws of supply & demand we find that when there is demand for something the market typically reacts, responding with a solution.  Why is it then there is such a demand for Bob?  The uptick in Bob’s is caused by three major factors:

1. Our workforces’ desire for work life balance and flexibility in their jobs.

2. Company’s desires to reduce overhead costs associated with hiring full-time employees, especially as the cost of having employees continues to rise.

3. Company’s desires to continue to find more efficient means of getting work done.

With all these Bob’s running about its only natural to wonder how this might impact the overall workforce as we know it.  Here are the top 7 workforce impacts that we could experience as a result of the Bob’s.

​1. As more people move towards the Solopreneur career it becomes harder for companies to control their internal culture and keep their employees motivated amongst the constantly changing faces in the office.

2. The old thought process which said “to build a great company we must hire great employees” quickly diminishes as companies are hiring Bob’s who are experts in specialized areas to produce quicker than normal results.  Efficiency is the driver of many of our decisions in the business world.

3. Companies become more agile as they use flexible resources allowing to bob and weave with the economic punches. (pun intended)

4. It’s possible our workforce could become fractured as Bob’s risk alienating themselves due to the isolation that comes with being on their own

5. The need for excellent leadership increases dramatically.  We’re already at a deficit now with good leaders in our country but with a larger portion of our country working independently it will be crucial for companies to have exceptional leaders which are capable of meeting objectives while successfully motivating both internal and external resources

6. People who choose to go the Bob route and do so successfully may find much more enjoyment in their careers as they are making both a difference in their respective industries as well as an internal drive to truly be independent

7. Being a Bob isn’t always easy.  The fact is that in order to be a successful Bob you have to know how to sell and market yourself and your services.  If you’ve never done that before allow me to be the first to tell you selling and marketing a service is not easy nor for the faint of heart as rejection is common place in the Bob business.  As a result it is likely many would enter into a Bob career to only sputter out in a year or two after they’ve realized it’s more demanding than a normal 8-5.

Whether you’re a fan or not of the Solopreneur, Bob phenomenon, the fact stands that it’s a growing need in our workforce.  What does the Bob-life mean for you?

By the by, I happen to be a Bob myself!