Durban - A recent browse through the internet led to an article that described millennials as “entitled, lazy, narcissistic and addicted to social media”.
Being a millennial, I disagreed.
Yes, there are other people in my generation who do fit the stereotype, but that’s just what it is – a stereotype.
Looking at my circle of friends I can safely say that each of us does not fit bill - other than the fact that we were all born within the time frame (1980s-90s). We are far from lazy or narcissistic, and social media is just another communication platform.
Most of my friends have fully operational, profitable businesses, and others, including myself, are on our way to opening businesses in the next month or two.
I spoke to Nicola Cooper, a lifestyle, pop and youth culture trend analyst at Flux Trends who shared my sentiments.
“While millennials are characterised as narcissistic, self-entitled and absorbed by social media, there are exceptions to the rule. ‘Liberal millennials’ are redefining their heritage, breaking stereotypes,” she said.
“A lot of countries characterise millennials in their own way, depending on the state of their country. I like to localise these characteristics to suit our specific country and its needs.
“South Africa is a fairly young democratic country. Our youth have a different set of issues compared to America or London. We are in a different time. We face different challenges and have different thought processes, so our millennials think differently,” said Cooper.
There was a time when I felt that because I’d done 12 years of school plus four years of tertiary education I was entitled to a job. I almost expected a handout, not realising there were more than a million others in the same position. I had to make a change. I had to be different from my generation.
Cooper says, millennials know how they’re categorised and so make a conscious decision to be active and change these stereotypes.
“They are no longer apathetic. They’ve started to fight a little harder and are challenging the stereotypes,” she said.
I was also keen to know if millennials were becoming more business-orientated.
Gugu Mjadu, executive general manager for marketing at Business Partners, said although she did not fully agree with my statement, she did believe millennials had certain key characteristics.
“Millennials are wildly optimistic, creative and self-assured and this can work well for youth entrepreneurship in South Africa in the future.
“While millennials are innovative and e-commerce presents opportunities for youth, this is not adequate. The Global Entrepreneurship Report: Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs states that of the 70 percent of businesses surveyed, South Africa had the highest number of young entrepreneurs who said that their products or services were new to all customers – highlighting that the country’s young entrepreneurs are innovative,” she said.
But while South Africa has the potential to be more entrepreneurial than youth in other parts of the world, we still seem to be lagging our sub- Saharan counterparts.
“Key reasons for this are the environment, which does not celebrate entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs, the education system, which does not necessarily encourage entrepreneurship, and the availability and cost of technological access in the country making it difficult to start a business,” said Mjadu.
But all is not doom and gloom for South African youth, as with the rise of e-commerce and with more consumers purchasing goods online, it is now simpler and easier to start and run a businesss.
Mjadu says that as the internet and technology evolve, so will the business possibilities and hopefully this will lead to the rise of South Africa’s young entrepreneurs.
She said even with the South African economy experiencing low growth, there were always opportunities for entrepreneurs and key among these were opportunities in the technology and green economy/energy efficiency sectors.
She suggested that for millennials to be successful, financiers, especially government agencies, needed to come to the party and support them, especially with finance, because many millennials do not have sufficient capital to start a business.
She advised that millennials who have businesses or who plan to open a business use the following guidelines.
* Find your passion and hone your skills. Work out what you love and identify opportunities linked to that passion.
* Then work hard to find ways of improving your skills in your area of passion/business.
* Before launching a venture, do your homework. Get to grips with what the business concept is all about, then do research.
“A good starting point for your research would be to test the offering with others you trust and with your target market.
“Another valuable research source is the internet. And do not be afraid to ask for help. Approach a mentor or even an experienced local business owner to get guidance,” said Mjadu.
Sunday Tribune