Young entrepreneurs have an advantage entering the corporate world

Corporations seek innovations from young entrepreneurs’ concepts

By: Nikki Gill, Staff Writer

The landscape of corporate culture in North America is experiencing a major shift to favour entrepreneurial skills in the workplace. Following companies such as Google, Apple and Facebook, companies are adopting “entrepreneurial cultures” where employees are provided with increased benefits to create a work-life balance that incorporates the company’s success as a top priority.

This shift is taking place at a time when the economy has created fierce competition within Generation Y young adults who are fighting hard to land full-time employment.

“In the last little while, the economy has become more open to entrepreneurs. It’s a big trend for companies now to hire entrepreneurs in the corporate environment,” said Amos Tayts, CEO of ResumeTarget.com. Tayts started his company Resume Target ten years ago, where he leveraged the skills he used in his career as a successful executive recruiter to provide resume writing and job search strategy advice to job seekers across North America.

He has consulted extensively with entrepreneurs seeking full-time corporate careers and states that entrepreneurs have advantages, as well as disadvantages when entering the corporate workplace.

“Depending on the opportunity available, some will have an advantage in younger companies that are still corporate but have creative freedom. But in bigger corporations, entrepreneurs could be stagnant; it just depends on the opportunity and what it really calls for,” said Tayts.

The paradox between entrepreneurship and corporate culture is created because established routines, structure and systems are components that are vital to a company’s success, but act as obstacles to entrepreneurs.

“They won’t follow protocol or policy. They won’t be inclined to follow rules because they didn’t work in a framework where they had to ask permission. They are rule breakers and that’s what they do. They break rules because they don’t like the status quo,” said Tayts.

He explains that entrepreneurs are constantly in a mindset to improve the way things are currently done. They identify challenges, create a concept, deliver the solution to the marketplace and find a way to make money through it all.

This mindset is what corporations are looking for when choosing to hire entrepreneurs. They want to bring these innovators into their company in order to spur new business development, create additional revenue streams, and improve existing processes.

“Most entrepreneurs feel a sense of ownership in what they do and don’t have a 9 to 5 clock in their minds. They have a vision on how they can help the company because they will own their role and go out of their way to explore new opportunities,” said Tayts.

The competitive edge that young entrepreneurs have in the corporate workplace is that they can see the big picture said Tayts. They have worn at least ten different hats while running their own business, so when they are faced with a challenge in the corporate workplace, they have the knowledge and ability to envision solutions from ten different perspectives before arriving at the most effective one.

In order to have a chance at finding the next “new thing”, companies need entrepreneurial-minded people in the lower- to middle-management ranks pushing the boundaries and challenging the organization.

Another option companies are opting for is to bring young entrepreneurs in as consultants on a short-term basis to help develop new products or solve critical problems.

Other companies are adopting a new term altogether called “intrapreneurship.” Similar to entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship focuses on ways corporations can act “entrepreneurially” from within established organizations. Companies who are willing to offer increased creative freedom to their employees will be the most successful in introducing intrapreneurship.

However, Tayts warns “it is also risky to give an entrepreneur too much freedom to roam.” The risk comes into play because although the entrepreneur has the right intentions, their ideas and innovations can either work out for the best or for the worst. That is why Tayts says it is important for the hiring manager to have a discussion with the entrepreneur ahead of time to clearly outline the creative freedom they will have to ensure they don’t cross any lines.

Tayts also offers advice to young entrepreneurs who are looking to make this transition.

“Don’t talk about how you want to be an entrepreneur, but say you want to utilize your skills in the corporate environment. Position yourself as a member of the company, and don’t scare them off by saying what you want to do in your career. Instead, focus on what you can do for them. Be yourself, and don’t give red flags that you will break rules, and follow the rules for at least the first six months.”

Nikki got her first taste of journalism as a teenager working for The Mississauga News. Since then, she’s graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism and also travelled to the United Kingdom to intern for the London Daily Express. She now works and freelances in the online world.

Photo courtesy to thenewstribe.com & under30ceo.com