Monday, June 16, 2014

Testing "The Economy of You"

The "economy of you" is self-employment, side-gigs, moonlighting, freelancing, consulting, homesteading or whatever you want to call small-scale entrepreneuring. It is an economy driven by a desire for autonomy and self-determination more than profit, and a response to the insecurity that pervades today's workplace.

Driven by rapacious corporations and a breakdown in traditional business models, the alternative lifestyle of working for yourself and starting your own business has become mainstream and, for many, the most promising opportunity.

This book is based on dozens of interviews with and profiles of entrepreneurs who share the stories of their enterprises. The author, a magazine editor and blogger, groups their experiences in chapters on planning, financing, networking, and surviving this new economy. An appendix lists 50 side-gigs to consider, from disc jockey and florist to marketing consultant and yoga teacher.

Many of the "side-giggers" interviewed said that running a side-gig felt like an obvious and necessary choice, just as getting a nine-to-five job for life might have to their grandfathers. But if the night job becomes as necessary as the day job, and neither is sufficient by itself, then the "economy of you" is an economy of 80-hour work weeks and burned out prospects.

Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur and Recession-Proof Your Life
by Kimberly Palmer
AMACOM, 2014

The Economy of You
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