[MUSIC] Over the series of lessons that we've had up to this this point we've establish the fact that having the right mindset plays a critical role in successfully starting and maintaining a business. We want to make the case that the time to change your mindset and route to starting your business is right now. At the end of this lesson, you will be able to apply five reasons why now is a good time to start your mindset transition from thinking to doing. The reasons we will cover are as follows. Economic conditions that create a favorable environment for business startups. The increasing availability of resources and support networks to help in starting a business. The democratizing of the startup environment, making starting a business much easier. And much more accessible to a wider variety of people. The increasing importance of entrepreneurial thinking with respect to not only being in business for yourself but being a successful employee for someone else. And finally, we'll point out the strong foundation your current stage in the startup process has for starting and continuing now. Just as the old saying that rising tides lifts all boats in the harbor. Improving economic conditions create a more favorable environment for business start-ups to thrive. Resources are more available, markets are more responsive, and the business ecosystems are much more responsive and supportive. On the other hand, there's also an old saying, that as the tide recedes it leaves behind bright seashells on the sand. Thus even in declining economic conditions, one can find opportunities that might have otherwise going unrecognized. The bottom line is this, that one should not necessary look for a right time economically to start a business. But rather, look for the right business for any given economic time frame. Currently, though, the tide seems to be rising. The second quarterly poll this year of senior managers carried out for the economists in the Financial Times show that the balance of respondents who thought business conditions were improving, rose 22 percentage points from the previous quarter. The Global Startup Ecosystem's report produced by Compass, also stated that there had never been a better time to be a tech entrepreneur. And finally, the World Bank's 2016 Doing Business report, which documents the ease of doing business around the world, found that it is generally much easier to do business across the globe. The results of these favorable conditions are reflected in the performance data for startup businesses. The Global Entrepreneur's Indicators recent report shows that globally employment, revenue and profits are all increasing significantly. And as a result 82% of those expressing a desire to start a business are willing to do so. The data is even more impressive as we see here for the US. Motivated by the belief that small businesses is the greatest source of jobs, productivity improvements and innovation. Government agencies across the globe and entrepreneurial focus institutions have consistently increased their efforts to create a vibrant supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem. The World Economic Forum produced a study on entrepreneurial ecosystems. It identified eight pillars of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, eight things an environment had to have to help entrepreneurs thrive and prosper. This consisted of an accessible market, adequate human capital or workforce. Available funding and financing, support systems, mentors. The regulatory environment. Education and training and in consistent with this having a major university in the area as a catalyst and generally cultural, environmental and social support. As government entities and other public institutions work to improve their entrepreneurial ecosystem, for other factors outside the control of any particular government or institution. Have also served to create a very favorable environment for starting a business. The Internet and digital marketing, globalization, crowdfunding, and other new sources of capital, as well as new technologies, such as 3D printing. All of these have served to make market and funds much more accessible, as we said, to a much broader audience of potential business owners. In addition, startups have become less dependent on skilled labor, traditional distribution outlets less limited by barriers to entry, and much better able to compete against large, entrenched, global competitors. Daniel Priestly, in his best-selling book The Entrepreneurial Revolution, documented the transition developed economies went through from the agricultural age to the industrial age, to the information age and now to what he refers to as the entrepreneurial age. At each one of these points, at each one of these transitions, the rules and requirements for commercial or economic success changed. In the hunter/gatherer age success depended upon access and control of labor. The agricultural age was characterized by success resulting not only from control of labor but also control of land and resources. It was control of capital and labor in the industrial age. And in the information age knowledge and information trumped the traditional factors of land, labor, and capital. Finally, in what Priestly referred to as the entrepreneurial age we see that knowledge and information which fuel the information age gets accelerated in its effectiveness by having an entrepreneurial mindset. By having individuals capable of identifying and exploring opportunities in the midst of chaos and rapid change. As a result of all of us existing in this entrepreneurial revolution, having an entrepreneurial mindset, having a business oriented mindset, is no longer the by-product of your career choice to be an entrepreneur or to start a business. But it has become a critical life skill required for success across the board. Similar to having a great work ethic or being a great communicator or being a good analytical thinker. So we come back to the original question of this lesson. Why should you start your business, and why should you start it now? Well, here's our surprise revelation. Technically, to start simply means to go from a stationary state to movement towards some charted or defined destination or goal. So technically you've already started. It's not time for the grand opening yet but you are on your way. The pace doesn't matter, only that you have started and committed not to stop. So we started this module asking the question, what's your mindset? And this dealt with the assumption as regarding various situational circumstances. That was associated with your current mindset in terms of starting a business. We then had two lessons, that addressed the question, why not? Those lessons dealt with believes and perceptions. Again, that perhaps bound you to your current mindset, with respect to starting a business. We then ask, why you, and here in this lesson, why now? Those two lessons address assumptions of feelings about the environmental conditions associated with making the decision to start your business. So specifically over these set of lessons we validated that economic conditions are favorable. That it's highly likely wherever you might reside there is an increasingly supportive network within an entrepreneurial ecosystem. The required resources for starting a business is lower than ever before. And in all likelihood, there are going to be favorable social and cultural environmental trends to support the starting of your business. And finally, we've established the fact that having the skills to start and maintain a business is becoming critical, whether you intend to actually start a business or whether you are looking to be successful working in someone else's business. And at this point, the question is not if or when you're going to start your business. The real question at this point is whether or not you're going to stop. You've already started, we just want to push that process even further. [MUSIC]
