Do I even want to be an alternative entrepreneur?
It's a fair question.
I get dozens of messages a week from folk who say "I've invested too much to get where I am to give it up". Yet they're DM-ing me.
You could endure.
You could bank on the world changing somehow.
You could hustle.
Hustling is when we try to game the system: using our skills to get rich ( or help others to do so) with minimum effort. It rests on our belief in our smarts, and the essential manipulability of others. There's a fudamental problem with this that isn't just ethical, and most, the vast most, of those on this path fail ultimately. To paraphrase a wise man: you can't fool all of the people, all of the time, forever.
So what is an alternative entrepreneur?
An alternative entrepreneur consciously explores, uncovers and orientates around four things:
Talents: our innate, gifted abilities, which we have often lost sight of in our pursuit of acquired skills, qualifications; or simply are unaware of because they come so effortlessly to us
Passions: the things we could do for hours at a time, and lose ourselves to. Things that we choose to do when we have 'time off' because we believe that no-one will pay us to pursue our passions.
Values: the things, people and ideas we hold to be important, which we have often suppressed to survive in corporate lifestyles.
Purpose: a desire to change the world for the 'better' according to our personal values; to have a measurable effect on the lives of others rather than to devote time to external metrics such as revenue
The Society of Alternative Entrepreneurs has several workstreams, such as creativity, intentional relationships, ego and identity, which help people to understand their own talents, passions and values better. Discussions talk about impact on communities, individuals and society, rather than business growth metrics or other conventional KPIs (though these are not discarded entirely, merely they are not considered the ultimate determinant of a project's worth).
What is driving the rise in alternative entrepreneurialism?
The disillusionment with corporate life is the result of increasingly exploitative practices, such as:
Hire and fire cultures: the 'lean' org is idolised, else compaies intentionally recruit and mass layoff staff to meet investor targets, demanding loyalty, but not returning it, wreaking havoc on people's lives
Always-on cultures: employers expect staff to be contactable and responsive and responsible for decisions made, for up to 120 hours of a week, increasing staff and harming nervous system regulation with the associated short- and long-term health consequences
Performative cultures: employees are expected to use their own name and own access to media to praise the company and discouraged or punished for speaking on topics which do not meet company approval; effectively equating employment with puppetry
Many of the potential 'solutions' to these problems, including solopreneurship, remain problematic because whilst releasing the employee from the control of the employer, they remain embedded in the same economic system, culture and mindset, which are at odds with an individuals' talents, passions, values and wish to have purpose.
Thus it could be said that alterative entrepreneurialism offers a bridge between:
Strategies to generate income (professional)
Strategies to generate joy (personal)
Ultimately advocating that it is only when we align our work with our passions that we are able to achieve a sense of wholeness and integrity.
That is to say: the path of the alterative entpreneur dismantles the idea of 'work life balance', instead encouraging the practice of a rich and varied 'worklife'.
In place of the modern and harmful separation of:
work contacts (with whom we cannot be our true selves) and friends
a work self and a home self
work (which we do not enjoy and do for money) and play (which we enjoy but we do not get paid for)
Alternative Entrepreneurialism calls for a more authentic, integrated way of living.
What does alternative entrepreneurialism look like in practice?
Creating a new project or venture: many alternative entrepreneurs will set up a business. Whilst these may be conventionally structured, they may also often be co-operatives, collaborative, not-for-profit entities or involve delivering innovative services for payment into the public sector
Working intrapreneurially in the public sector: some alternative entrepreneurs will move into teaching, counselling or health or care services, with a conscious intention and plan to create new initiatives within often heavily managed institutions and work experimentally
Multiple income streams: The Society of Alternative Entrepreneurs encourages an agile and rich approach to worklife, with many members working on multiple projects which may include a portfolio of paid employment and self-employed projects
Re-creating our patterns of spend, relationships and rhythms of life: simply quitting a corporate job to start a venture is unlikely to address underlying issues of a lack of purpose and ease and joy in living. For this reason alternative entrepreneurs consciously and carefully rebuild their relationship to status, money, possessions, nature and fellow humans, to live a life that is mentally ad spiritually joyful. This may include downsizing, radical reworking of work and play, conscious use of communications techologies and slow living practices.
Why become an alterative entrepreneur?
The term 'alternative entrepreneur' has more meaning to some than others. But whilst there is a wonderful rich cariety of ways to practice alternative entreprenuerialism, there is no other term or movement which brings together the core ideas of ethics, ambition and joy in a coherent way.
Alternative entrepreneurs take this path because they believe in:
An end to dissonance: the binary split between work and home identity, made more painful by platforms such as LinkedIn, is harmful. Years spent pretending passion for concepts such as investor ROI rob us of the opportunity to feel and live true passion. Ultimately, acting against our values in return for monetary reward is a poor life choice. The escape from the increasingly limited ad short-termist world of corporate life brings real relief and a sense of freedom.
Healthy Duty: alternative entrepreneurs, conscious of their gifts, and their uniqueness, believe that these gifts should be realised, and that having a positive impact on the world is something all humans should aim to achieve. Alternative entrepreneurs also believe that they have a right to receive payment for their efforts, and that impact can be made in multiple ways: the unheroic is also heroic.
Millionaire mindset: Live your life as if you have won the lottery. By this, we mean centre activities, people and pursuits that you enjoy. Do not let fear or the endless chase for perceived security rob you of the courage to pursue your passions. Do not sacrifice your unique gifts or life experience merely to get money, as there are many and multiple ways to get money which will use your gifts and bring you joy.
The Big Bold Life of Joy: Self-trust enables comfort with risk and turns everyday into an adventure. Alternative entrepreneurs realise that inherited narratives such as "get a good degree in the right subject to get a good job and buy a house" simply are no longer true, if ever they were. Rather than centering their life on revenue or income. and doing things they do not like because it is 'strategic'. alternative entrepreneurs
Key Resources on Alternative Entrepreneurialism
The Alternative Entrepreneurialism Manifesto
The Alternative Entrepreneurialism Manifesto Summary
Alternative Entrepreneurialism: Why we need a manifesto
All discussion and comments now take place on our private members community.