4 ms·

Small business (or as call it "cottage industry") was the way many people survived in cities before the industrial revolution hit it stride. I don't believe it

Small business (or as call it "cottage industry") was the way many people survived in cities before the industrial revolution hit it stride. I don't believe its beyond the capabilities of mere mortals today to do. What people dislike about entrepreneurship is the search for something to sell to people. On the otherhand, many would prefer working for themselves if it could pay, and they had a clearly defined role to slip into.

jiggy2011 15y ago
The difference between pre-industrial and now is that you now not only have to find a product/service to sell but you have to find something that the large wallmart style corporations can't do quicker, better and cheaper than you can. Even small software companies now have the risk of Apple etc completely removing their distribution channel on a whim or a larger software company (or open source project) just replicating their entire product.
- tmh88j 15y ago
  >a larger software company (or open source project) just replicating their entire product. Agreed for products that are specific service, but if your product is driven by a users(facebook and twitter for example), it's damn near impossible for other companies to push you out of the way and achieve the same results once you reach a large enough user base. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, especially between generations of software, but usually not concurrently. (google+ vs facebook?)
  - jiggy2011 15y ago
    Therein lies roughly the same problem though. It's not really practical for anybody to start a new social network unless you think you can compete with the likes of facebook / google+ etc. It's a go big or go home type game and requires a fair amount of risk. It's not really a career choice in the same way as doing a trade would be.
- true_religion 15y ago
  True, post-industrial society has forced everyone to act like traders and back in the day no one wanted to be a trader because you had to contend with guild monopolies, merchant princes, thieves making off with your goods, wolves in the brush, having your ship sink, having your horse go lame from beneath you, and ofcourse... the excessive taxes leveed against anyone not doing exactly what the extablishment wanted. At least now adays, we don't have to worry about wolves.
kstrauser 15y ago
During the depression, I had a grand-uncle who went from farm to farm offering to squeeze the farmers' dogs' anal glands for a nickel (or some other tiny amount). It wasn't glamorous but it paid for food. There's always some kind of work to be done for those willing and able to identify a market.

jiggy2011 15y ago

The difference between pre-industrial and now is that you now not only have to find a product/service to sell but you have to find something that the large wallmart style corporations can't do quicker, better and cheaper than you can. Even small software companies now have the risk of Apple etc completely removing their distribution channel on a whim or a larger software company (or open source project) just replicating their entire product.

tmh88j 15y ago
>a larger software company (or open source project) just replicating their entire product. Agreed for products that are specific service, but if your product is driven by a users(facebook and twitter for example), it's damn near impossible for other companies to push you out of the way and achieve the same results once you reach a large enough user base. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, especially between generations of software, but usually not concurrently. (google+ vs facebook?)
- jiggy2011 15y ago
  Therein lies roughly the same problem though. It's not really practical for anybody to start a new social network unless you think you can compete with the likes of facebook / google+ etc. It's a go big or go home type game and requires a fair amount of risk. It's not really a career choice in the same way as doing a trade would be.
true_religion 15y ago
True, post-industrial society has forced everyone to act like traders and back in the day no one wanted to be a trader because you had to contend with guild monopolies, merchant princes, thieves making off with your goods, wolves in the brush, having your ship sink, having your horse go lame from beneath you, and ofcourse... the excessive taxes leveed against anyone not doing exactly what the extablishment wanted. At least now adays, we don't have to worry about wolves.

kstrauser 15y ago

During the depression, I had a grand-uncle who went from farm to farm offering to squeeze the farmers' dogs' anal glands for a nickel (or some other tiny amount). It wasn't glamorous but it paid for food. There's always some kind of work to be done for those willing and able to identify a market.