What is a slash entrepreneur? And why do new generations find this important become one?

#entrepreneur #timetrepreneur #slash #slashentrepreneur

Article by Aion Law, Timetrepreneur

What does it mean to be a slash entrepreneur/individual? This means that you have more than one job/career/business. This is relatively new, because before in the older generation most people just do one job, and most likely stay in one company for a very long time. Nowadays, the new generation tend to become a hybrid - dentist / tutor ; coach / copy writer ; admin / violin teacher This is particularly true when I attended a workshop at Bridgeway, that I find a lot of people there have multiple jobs/income streams!

pic 1 : took a photo with a well reknown and respected Dr. Edwin Lee 李根興 Founder & CEO of Bridgeway Prime Shop Fund Management Ltd [if you are looking for shops to rent or invest in a shop fund in Hong Kong, you must find him!]

Pic 2 : me and some workshop participants [ I am at the back! ] there were multiple industries - clothing, retail, personal coach, medical doctors, dentists, wine, rock climbing - too many! In this workshop I learnt a lot on leadership, I will definitely share more with you all on what I've learnt, stay tuned! so back to SLASH!

How do traditional employers look at SLASH-ER?

To some traditional employers, people with slash careers may seem not able to be fully committed to their jobs and may turn them down/ It's true because most likely Slashers will continue to pursue higher levels and keep on polishing themselves in their fields. But this doesn't mean they can't do their job well! Instead we will do time management well to be able to cater to both our daily professions/jobs and do our side hustle at the same time. This should be how modern employers should look as Slashers!

Any obstacles in being a SLASH entrepreneur? 1) Time

2) Energy

It is very difficult to balance between multiple companies/jobs on a weekly/daily basis. I find out from my own experience that most of us can only do 2 jobs at once, if completely different fields. Sometimes even if Time issue is solved by decreasing travel time or using digital work process, it is still very difficult.

Hence I do a regular review every 3 months to look at how to redistribute time and energy between my companies and jobs.

Why this generation after 2020 is the best time to Embrace a ‘Slash’ Career? also it is very important!

1) enjoy a diversified life - different friends/colleagues/skillset

2) lower chance of burn out - be able to look forward to different environments, lower chance of burning out from repetitive work all the time

3) life-long learning - personal growth - source of happiness

4) future proof yourself - becoming relevant in different fields, can give you more opportunities in different careers especially in such a disruptive area

5) increase chance of success - maybe you will be able to identify a big opportunity in one of the careers you are working in, that may become your first golden egg!

6) multiple income stream - goes with saying =]

Should employers hire people with slash careers?

definite YES

CAN'T SAY IT FOR ALL

but you may find most of clash entrepreneurs to be ->

- motivated

- equipped with different skill sets

- good communication skills

- (maybe) innovative [super high level!]

but most likely, don't expect them to work with you for a very long time, unless your company will have growth opportunities or very good economic security to allow them to pursue their side hustle with a good side income flow - still the value they can bring to you on a part time basis could be massive!