When it comes to participating in the workforce, we either work for entrepreneurs, are entrepreneurs or we work for the government. There's not much to it. We're either employers or employees.

Entrepreneurs

Although entrepreneurs make up just 11.5 percent of the population, ("Entrepreneurs: Beating the Odds") their ideas and abilities to take risks to form new ventures are the mechanisms behind job creation. If you're an employee, your paycheck is the result of someone recognizing an opportunity and taking a calculated risk to profit from it. If you're an employer, your drive and willingness to create a business helped put food one someone's table and a roof over their head.

The Jobs Entrepreneurs Create

According to the Kauffman Foundation, firms that are a year old create approximately 1 million jobs, while firms that have been in existence for 10 years create about 300,000 new jobs. Historically, from 1980 to 2005 almost all new net jobs came from companies that were less than five years old. These companies also innovate more new products than their older counterparts, which is a substantial benefit to consumers.

The Role of Future Job Growth and Entrepreneurs

The Kauffman Foundation also found that high-growth start ups like Groupon and Facebook are the most beneficial to both job creation and the economy overall. High-growth start ups not only invent new products that had not been largely commercialized, but they are rife with job opportunities. In less than 1.5 years, Groupon added some 350 people to its payroll.

Unfortunately, there are only about 15 high-growth start ups a year. At this rate, the GDP will double in about 24 years. If 45-75 high-growth start ups were formed each year, doubling the GDP rate would decrease to 18 years, according to Kauffman.

Training More Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs don't just emerge out of thin air. Even if you are an employee and wake up the next day, quit your job and start working on your idea and business plan, it's likely that you have years of workplace experience and skill set development behind you. Even then you may lack the knowledge and experience to actually run your own business.

Andrew Mason, the founder of Groupon, didn't just spring out of bed one morning, develop software and market it to the masses, despite his seemingly short rise to business success. Mason started on his entrepreneurial journey at age 15 when he opened up his food delivery business. The idea for Groupon didn't start out as a bargain, daily deal website either. The initial idea was to gather people to voice and fund relevant causes. And it was Eric Lefkofsky, the serial entrepreneur Mason worked for, who saw the monetary potential in Mason's ideas.

Having an entrepreneurial mindset can be taught, but it's this training that the majority of kids won't get in school. In order to increase entrepreneurial activity in the US, there needs to be training, formal and informal, and the earlier the better. It's those kids who are in the midst of their primary education who will determine whether the economy and job growth will flourish in decades to come. Grooming entrepreneurs and instilling the entrepreneurial mindset is the key to continued prosperity and success.

Success to you!

Melissa

Biz in a Boxx