The goal of this trip is to write
a new book entitled, “Living the Dream on Main Street America” and to create
case studies and teaching materials to share what they learn.
This isn’t the first time they’ve
interviewed small business owners to learn about what makes them tick and what
makes them successful, either. Glauser has been in the trenches talking to
small business owners for roughly 20 years and regularly shares the insight he
gains with his students at Utah State University.
Glauser referenced a 2013 study
done by researchers at Oxford University that looked at 702 occupations and
determined that 47 percent were at “high risk” for being replaced by computers
and machines.
“My colleagues and I have noticed
that graduating students looking for jobs have fewer interviews than they have
had in the past,” said Glauser. “In every industry, employees are being
replaced by technology. The U.S. economy is becoming more efficient, enabling
companies to generate more revenue with fewer employees.”
Despite what he sees
as a decline in new jobs, he sees great opportunity in entrepreneurism, and
encourages his students to think about starting a small business. We read a lot
about new high-tech businesses all the time, but Glauser is talking about the
kinds of businesses that you and I can relate to along Main Street. Businesses
like merchants, small manufacturers, and restaurants.
In an effort to
determine what makes these small business owners successful, they’re
interviewing entrepreneurs who have been in business for five or more years.
They wanted to know what helped them beat the odds. He’s been doing this for
long enough I doubt he was expecting any surprises, but he’s had a few.
Traveling across the heartland of America has put him on the doorstep of a
number of small business owners who share similar motivations for owning their
own small businesses and what they think makes their businesses successful:
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