The parking industry has seen its fair share of entrepreneurial-minded professionals. From college kids with a new idea for a parking app to seasoned industry mavens launching new ventures, parking is a breeding ground for those who have innovative ideas to solve long-standing annoyances and problems.
Traditionally, those who can stomach risky business ideas were banished from enterprises and stable small companies to make a go of a great idea on their own. However, this practice has led some of the most talented and forward-thinking professionals to leave their employer to make a go of it, which may or may not turn into the next big thing.
Entrepreneurship is not glamorous
Some will find that entrepreneurship is not all that it is cracked up to be. While being your own boss may seem like you can finally take full control of your destiny, the
realities of launching and running your own business require an endless number of sacrifices – your time, your sanity and pretty much your entire life.
Even if you think you have thought of all the little nuances that will impact your quality of living as an entrepreneur, you really have no idea what you are getting into until you are elbows deep in it.
While parking needs entrepreneurs and small-business growth to remain responsive, adaptive and customer-focused, there are many a talented individual in the industry who might not make the best entrepreneur or be in the best position to venture out on his or her own. It’s these very individuals who might have the next great innovation needed to solve the next generation of parking problems.
‘Intrapreneurs’ move business forward
Which leads us to the rise of the intrapreneur. Intrapreneurship borrows from the principles of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs are those who spearhead their own new business endeavor, while intrapreneurs spearhead new programs, products, services and policies
an organization.
Don’t you have to be tasked with a new project by your boss or your boss’ boss? Not anymore! Well, not when you work for a company that wants to remain competitive, that is.
The rise of the intrapreneur is driven in part by the millennials who are eager to make a real impact with their careers. For every millennial who sets out to be an entrepreneur, there are dozens of like-minded, talented individuals who want to make the same impact, driving change from their current home where funding and infrastructure already exist to support new ideas.
Startups have an astonishing 90% failure rate. This statistic alone can quickly put a damper on any starry-eyed entrepreneur’s illusions of grandeur. But letting your ambitious and bright talent flounder in your organization’s rigid ways of doing things only puts you at a disadvantage.
Companies all too often are stuck in the mentality that “This is the way things have always been done.” Or worse yet, the company culture is one of fear of failure, discouraging any sort of risk-taking required for successful intrapreneurship.
For intrapreneurs to be successful at bringing innovation to your organization, they must have the independence to analyze and understand trends to help plan for the company’s future and determine the best methods for staying ahead of competitors.
Investing in your intrapreneurs doesn’t just set them up to take their ideas and then go out on their own. Intrapreneurs are your organization’s next great leaders. They move business forward and often rise to the top as they have a strong understanding of your business from all aspects and levels.
Companies that don’t listen to their employees’ ideas or suggestions might not make it in the era of innovation. After all, the future belongs to companies and professionals who embrace the entrepreneurial spirit, be it within or outside a company.
