IO: Editor's Note

t 24, one would think Dineh Mohajer would be spending her post-college years in an entry-level position in her chosen field, waiting for the big payoff in title and salary sometime in the future.

Instead, she sits at the helm of the $10 million cosmetics company she founded two years ago, while still a student at the University of Southern California.

Contrary to the public perception of the twentysomething crowd as being somewhat less than ambitious, this generation is actually more entrepreneurial than ever. According to a 1997 study conducted jointly by the National Federation of Independent Business and Wells Fargo Bank, 47 percent of new businesses in 1996 were started by people under the age of 35, with the highest growth in that year occurring in the under-25 segment.

Having witnessed their parents devote their entire careers to a single corporation, only to be laid off at an age when they often are unable to find a comparable position or salary, many Generation Xers have decided to forgo the corporate fast track to create their own job security and satisfaction.

Whereas the younger entrepreneurs of a decade ago were more likely to see entrepreneurship as the road to wealth, today's young business owners view it as a way to preserve their independence and pursue their own passions. In fact, according to a study recently released by the Young Entrepreneurs Network in Boston, most young owners take out just enough money to survive, with one-fifth taking a salary of less than $15,000.

Perhaps this conservatism comes from the fact that the majority of young entrepreneurs (66 percent) use their own savings to start their businesses and 75 percent spend an average of seven to eight months researching their ventures first.

Whatever the reason, this personal investment in both time and money is paying off. According to the survey, younger entrepreneurs are highly successful, employing an average of 18.5 full-time workers and 9.6 part-time workers, and generating revenues of $742,000 a year, a 27 percent increase from 1995. Mohajer, for one, employs 40 full-time workers and expects revenues to more than double to $25 million by the end of the year.

Far from being slackers, the younger generation simply isn't content to put their faith or their future in the hands of a corporate bureaucracy. They want to call their own shots, make their own hours and set their own goals. For them, the future is now.

Linda Molnar
Editor-In-Chief