Occupy Wall Street or Occupy a Small Business?

The Occupy Wall Street movement has grown over the past few weeks from a relatively small group in New York City’s financial district to a variety of groups throughout the US and even some foreign countries.  The protestors are angry and they’re voicing their frustration. Opinions vary on what their objectives are and whether all of this activity will have any impact, but I was particularly interested in an article today in Entrepreneur magazine, “Don’t ‘Occupy Wall Street,’ Start a Small Business. The Occupy Wall Street movement has remained adamantly opposed to expressing any cohesive message or specific demands (to their detriment in this writer’s opinion, without goals how can you achieve success?).  However, a central theme seems to be that the US economic system has let them down in one way or another.  Many of the protestor’s have lost their jobs and this is a consistent trigger for people to start their own companies as the Entrepreneur article mentions.  In fact, 15% of the small business leaders Hiscox surveyed earlier this year started their business following a layoff.

So, what has caused all these (un)underemployed people to turn to the streets in protest rather than pounding the pavement to start their own business?  It seems to me the protesters are asking for the chance to be part of the American dream, and there’s nothing that fits that bill quite like starting your own business. Hunter Hoffmann Head of US Communications Hiscox