Millennials and Risk Takin

BY: Taylor Farmon

Millennials are known for many things such as being civic-oriented, conscious, and the largest, most diverse generation in history. But analysts say this generation is missing one thing, their willingness to take risks.

To some, this is seen as a problem. Studies show that our youth puts us in the best position to take risks but we look for security instead. Economically, millennials struggle and cannot afford to risk it all on uncertainty. However, risk avoidance and cautiousness does not help stimulate the economy, innovate technology, or produce many entrepreneurs.

According to a survey by Babson College, 41% of 25 to 34 year olds state that their biggest roadblock to starting a business is the "fear of failure." In today's business world, most would say to "embrace failure" rather than seeing it as a fear but not to millennials. Studies show we prefer to get it right the first time rather than stumbling and starting again.

Check out Barbara Corcoran's speech at Entrepreneur's Growth conference. Although it's fairly long, I encourage you to choose at random five minutes to watch and you'll want to watch more. Her words are both inspirational and motivational and she encourages people to put themselves into situations where they might fail and then learn how to bounce back.

2 min clip of speech

Whole Speech