At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the UN’s International Labour Organization stated that they believe 195 million jobs could be lost worldwide as a result of the pandemic. In the United States, the unemployment rate is at its highest since the Great Depression, with Andrew Yang stating recently that he expected many of those on furlough schemes to join them before the crisis has run its course.
This huge talent pool prompted Northeastern University’s J.D. LaRock to create a free course to help those people learn about starting a business. The course aims to provide students with the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, and is designed to be completed within a couple of weeks. The course covers market research, refining your business plan, funding a startup, and promoting your business.
“The global pandemic and the resulting employment crisis made me realize that we had something potentially quite impactful to offer people who were becoming unemployed,” says LaRock.
Spurring entrepreneurship
Tapping into this vast talent pool to promote entrepreneurship is also a goal of a new venture by the parent company of one of the world’s largest accelerators. ASPIRE is a new venture by innovation and venture development firm Rainmaking, who run the Startupbootcamp accelerator. It will offer a 20-week virtual program to those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, with the ultimate aim of enabling one million people around the world to launch their own business in the next two years.
“There’s no real support out there at the moment to help people get back onto their feet in a meaningful way, with even outplacement services providing a relatively limited amount of support in areas such as resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn,” Chris Locke, CEO of Rainmaking told me. “For those wanting to start a business, the support is even worse and generally just involves a rudimentary assessment of the idea and nothing else.”
The program operates across three strands, the first of which covers those businesses that we traditionally associate with startups, and who want to go on to be unicorns; the second of which covers more lifestyle businesses for entrepreneurs who wish to do their own thing but have no real ambition to conquer the world; and the final strand for people who wish to work for themselves and make a living out of freelancing.
Each budding entrepreneur receives a dedicated coach to help support them through the process, and a pool of mentors that they can tap into at various stages of the journey.
In addition to the coaching and mentoring, participants will have access to early stage VCs, angel investors and over 100 carefully selected mentors with a wide range of expertise across multiple industries, who can provide hands-on support and valuable introductions. It also offers more than $550K+ in exclusive partner deals from leading technology and wellbeing providers such as Amazon, 7 cups, HubSpot, SendGrid.
The scheme is unique in that it doesn’t provide any of the barriers that exist to other accelerator programs. For instance, it’s not confined to people with particular ideas, or who have a particular educational background. The idea is that the support provided will be consistent across the board.
“We are providing the framework, skills and tools for individuals that have an idea that they want to move from a concept to a revenue-generating business,” Locke says. “We have not put any barriers in place with profiles etc., moreover, the programme will suit idea stage founders that want to work for themselves – which could be a business that they want to scale internationally, or a freelance career etc.”
An uncertain road
The support is undoubtedly welcome, but people should be under no illusions as to the challenges ahead. Research from Yale highlights the difficulties faced by entrepreneurs today, with a growing number pessimistic about their future.
The survey reveals that the lockdown procedures imposed around the world have had a huge impact on small businesses across the United States, with many having already laid off a large number of employees by the time the government offered its relief package. Indeed, it would appear that many of the smallest businesses are unaware of the existence of federal support in the first place. Even among those who are aware of its existence, often hold various misconceptions about the aid package.
“The COVID-19 crisis presents severe challenges for all small businesses, which account for the majority of companies in the United States,” the researchers say. “The data and insights we’ve collected can help policymakers design and implement effective measures to support small businesses in these extremely challenging times.”
An uncertain labor market
The situation is less clear for those leaving school into what is a largely fallow job market. The UK Treasury recently said that the jobs market is 2.5 times more difficult in terms of finding your first job than would ordinarily be the case, and projects like those run by Rainmaker don’t support those entering the workforce for the first time.
For such people, hope is likely to come from schemes such as the traineeship scheme announced by British chancellor Rishi Sunak recently, which would see small business owners paid £2,000 for each 16-24 year old they took on as an unpaid trainee. For those firms that offer training to young people, they will be given cash grants worth £2,000 per youngster, up to a maximum of £10,000 per firm.
Small businesses are disproportionately likely to employ young people, so perhaps the combination of schemes such as that by Rainmaker and the support offered by central government will help to provide a pipeline through which the labor market can regain its vitality.
