Establishing entrepreneurial spirit

Nia Sarinastiti, Senior Manager, Accenture

In the current economic downturn, people have to be more creative in finding ways to survive. But, what happens if the idea is actually to get people to work for free? How many people would be willing to do this?

The reality is, if the going gets tough, the tough get going. So, people are willing to go beyond traditional practices if they see that an idea has a future.

The idea is, "You put your blood, sweat and tears into a start-up company. And then if it works out, you get paid very nicely," said an individual talking about applying his entrepreneurial spirit.

Making business happen is the end goal of start-up companies that have the drive, ideas and plans, but not yet the financial support they need. Thus many of them may have to seek prospective employees who won't haggle over their salaries.

Such a program has been pioneered by the Boulder, Colorado, based CTEK - an organization devoted to new businesses. "With the current unemployment rate, any ideas to get people to work seem good," said CTEK President, Lu Cordova. "Although I know this isn't the only answer to the unemployment rate, this is an answer to how to get these start-up companies unstuck."

Cordova said that investors tend to keep a lid on their coffers until companies gain a track record and revenues. But the companies can't generate revenues until they hire the right people, which they need the investment dollars to do. So, putting the right people in contact with those companies, with the hope of payment down the road, is the answer to this Catch-22 problem. And if you do have an entrepreneurial spirit, the deferred compensation model is a good way of getting motivated. If one of the companies hits the big time, the deferred compensation model -- whether in the form of partial ownership or phantom shares or something else that is a win-win deal -- could make the employees' time well spent.

Of course, in line with the risks of entrepreneurship, the companies could also go to the wall or suffer some other sort of disaster that could render the "compensation" part of deferred compensation an illusion. Nevertheless, with such a different market to that during the boom years of the early 1990s, prospective employees need to be more open-minded than they were a few years ago. For some, it's a better option than having nothing else to do.

What companies actually employ the concept of "do work now, get paid later" for prospective employees? Conduant Corp., which sells streaming media products to researchers and scientists, for example, is looked for a sales person.

The position will start off on a commission basis and then, if sales are good, this will be complemented by share-based compensation. Another company, Air-Grid Networks, which makes multimedia products for live sporting events, is looking to fill a number of positions, including those of network administrator and chief financial officer.

"Were at the point where we need some assistance to grow, but we're not at the point where we can pay the market rates for these," said the founder and CEO of Air Grid. "I just wish that we could find a lot of good people, but we're unfortunate with the current business turbulence."

Such creative ideas to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit are the sort of thing that get new businesses on their feet. So don't hesitate to try it. At least, if the company does crash, the experience you have gained will be a good addition to your resume.