“Then you realise it does take a bit of time, and you turn into a cog in the machine. Entrepreneurship for me is trying to find something where I feel quite important and do something important.”
Genc, 27, took a sabbatical earlier this year to launch Eudii, a t-shirt brand that works with charities to raise awareness of their causes and donate 15% of profits from each sale. He used his savings to start the business.
“I was looking for something more fulfilling. I definitely would have been pretty miserable in the next couple of years if I hadn’t stopped,” he says.
Genc makes it sound like an obvious decision. Financially it was anything but. “I’m not making anything right now… maybe that will come later.”
Not everyone can afford to work for free, but sidestepping financial barriers is a common theme among Gen Z entrepreneurs. Wannabe businesspeople are starting their own projects alongside their existing jobs. According to Visa, nearly half of Gen Z have a side hustle, with extra projects boosting incomes by an average of 22%.
Bella Fletcher-Lomas, 24, quit her office job and returned to working in hospitality while launching a digital media management business on the side. “I was not built for the nine-to-five lifestyle. I hated working in an office, I hated working for other people,” she explains. “Having both my hospitality job and my own business has meant that I’ve got more flexibility, and I’ve also got more money coming in as I’ve got two incomes.”
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Disliking the monotony of office life is nothing new, but Fletcher-Lomas thinks the cutthroat nature of the current job market has made people more ruthless. “It’s not feasible to have a job in the same company for the next 60 years… Roles are changing and the job market is dire at the moment. People are trying out a job, getting treated like shit and not getting paid enough, so they’re not sticking with it. They’d rather see what else is out there.”
Fletcher-Lomas is far from alone. Gen Z are the first smartphone-native generation, so have a natural head start in digital skills previous age groups had to learn from scratch.
“Young people don’t have a lot of money for billboards, or for putting on big events, so we’re using the tools that are at our fingertips,” says Emma Redfern, 27-year-old founder of personal branding agency Studio Self-Made.
For Redfern, whose agency helps young people from underrepresented backgrounds break into the creative industries, social impact is a big motivation. “I’m really proactive at putting myself out there and trying to be my biggest champion because if I’m able to raise my voice I’m able to raise other people’s as well.”
All three entrepreneurs stress that the lifestyle isn’t for everyone. The dearth of colleagues, need to self-motivate and friends’ lack of understanding are common struggles. So what advice do they have for businesspeople just starting out?
“Having mentors and taking part in [support and grant funding] programmes helped me surround myself with people I can share problems with,” says Redfern.”
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Learning how to run a business “is basically exposure therapy, which is quite scary”, says Genc, “so it’s important to look after yourself.”
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