The lessons of the great resignation

As the world began to emerge from the pandemic, so did the Great Resignation. People started quitting their jobs and making the decision to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. Whether it's necessity or adversity to be the mother of invention, one thing is certain – many people find the push they need to reinvent themselves during tough times.

A study and report by VistaCreate expertly outlines the cause and continuing trend of the Great Resignation. The study highlights the following points from the survey:

Find opportunities Workplace safety is always a priority Choose an industry try something new Lack of money Follow their dream and a better work-life balance The biggest difficulty is finding customers The role of social media

With millions of people starting small businesses each year, what can new entrepreneurs and established businesses learn from this study?

Anthony Klotz, professor of management at the School of Management at University College London, proposed the term in May 2021. According to Klotz, "when there is uncertainty, people tend to stay on place, so there are pent-up quits that haven't happened in the past year."

His assessment of the situation is supported by data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some 71.6 million people quit their jobs between April 2021 and April 2022. This represented an average of 3.98 million people who quit each month, peaking at 4.5 million in November 2021.

> Find opportunities

The difficulties faced by individuals and businesses during COVID-19 were not conducive to starting a business. However, more than half of respondents decided to participate in the Great Resignation by starting a side business (68%) or a new business (53%).

The report also indicates that many people have taken up new hobbies, started learning new skills, started finding more time to spend on social media, and adopted healthier habits.

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According to one small business owner, "The whole industry of remote work, learning, etc. really exploded during the pandemic. Every day you would hear about a new person starting their own business or ideas for the market and was quickly succeeding."

Workplace safety is always a priority

Even though more people ventured into starting their own business during the Great Resignation, many kept their jobs full-time (24%) or worked part-time (27%).

For new entrepreneurs, having an income they can rely on until the business starts is a great idea. After all, capital is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome when starting a new business.

Choose an industry

There are a lot of people in the workforce who work in a particular industry because it pays well, not because that's what they want to do.

The report finds that the business and finance sector (13%) has the highest quit rate. In contrast, arts and design (15%) and creative industry recorded the largest positive gains.

try something new

Whether it was the pandemic or something else, people were more eager to start afresh.

In the survey, 47% said they always wanted to try something new. On the other hand, 34% said starting their own business has always been a dream. For 27% of them, the main driver of change was the loss of interest in the previous industry.

Lack of money

Even when the desire to quit your job or start a new business was there, the biggest obstacle to doing it sooner was:

Lack of money (45%) Fear of taking risks (39%) Not knowing where to start (37%) Following a Dream and Work-Life Balance

Being free from the daily grind of a 9am to 5pm job was an important consideration for many respondents.

Nearly half (47%) said they wanted a better work-life balance. Additionally, 49% said they also leave their jobs with ideas they had during the pandemic or pursue ideas they already had in mind (51%).

The biggest difficulty is finding customers

Finding customers is hard for any business, but it's even harder for startups. The main challenges for these new entrepreneurs are:

Find customers (48%)