The Disruptive Force Part 2
According to a survey commissioned by SUCCESS and conducted online by Harris Poll in May among more than 2,000 adults, one-third (33 percent) of U.S. adults have earned income in the YouEconomy in the past 12 months.1 For a majority (71 percent) of adults working in the YouEconomy these earnings are a supplemental source of income.
Take Eric Johnson* as a perfect case study. Johnson used to work for a respected company. He worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., got two weeks’ annual vacation and earned a discount on his health insurance. He sat in a cubicle all day. He was told when he could eat, how he could dress and what he could work on.
But Johnson dreamed of freedom. He dreamed of being fulfilled by his work. He dreamed of being in control of his time, money and talents. Then one day, he was.
How? Johnson joined the YouEconomy.
It didn’t happen all at once, although Johnson now knows people who jumped into the YouEconomy with both feet and never looked back. For Johnson the transition to freedom was slow and steady, based on research and solid proof that what he was doing differently would work. It made him nervous as he prepared to make the leap. He worried. This was his professional future at stake. He’s had no regrets ever since.
Much like a secret society that’s finally out in the open, the YouEconomy has been around for a while. But as with any secret, when the timing is right and the means of communication are available, the secret gets out.
Entrepreneurship has existed for thousands of years, and the idea of part-time work to supplement a primary income isn’t new. But these ingredients alone weren’t enough to spur the revolution that is the YouEconomy. It has taken a specific mix of technology, timing and economic evolution to create the right environment for the YouEconomy to thrive and, in doing so, come out of the shadows. And consumers are responding to the rise of the peer-to-peer business model. The SUCCESS survey found that about four in 10 U.S. adults (42 percent) have used, hired, rented or purchased at least one YouEconomy service in the past 12 months—and those U.S. adults working in the YouEconomy are significantly more likely to do so than those not working in the YouEconomy (64 percent vs. 32 percent, respectively).
