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		ABOUT TRENDTRACKER uses input from the online community to track the major trends affecting the small business market. Anita Campbell Editor Read more about me at the main Small Business Trends site ... (more) TREND LIST Follow the major trends we are tracking: More Small Businesses Small Businesses Go Virtual Small Businesses Pick Niches Freelance Economy Business Ecosystems Proliferate Technology Levels the Playing Field Small Businesses Change Hands Small Business Market Goes Global Graying of Small Business SMALL BUSINESS RESOURCES Entrepreneurship Journal US Association of Small Business Small Business Administration SCORE IRS Small Business Small Business Service - U.K. Canada One Small Business Australia European Union Small Business Small Business CEO Selling to Small Businesses				RESOURCES Trend: Freelance Economy Self-employment, contracting, and consulting have changed the nature of work. As the book Free Agent Nation suggests, the U.S. is truly becoming a nation of people freelancing their skills and talents. Consultant used to be code for "just killing time between jobs." That's still true for some. But consulting has become a real business for millions of former corporate warriors who wouldn't take a "real" job if Beelzebub's home turf turned into tundra. Large corporations want to be leaner and meaner. Rather than staff up, they'll outsource functions. As large firms respond to tighter times by restructuring, they'll continue to replace employees with contract workers. Often those workers will be the same people who used to be on the payroll. When the person doing the work is not on payroll it's easier to change your workforce to meet changing needs. Impact: Companies love it when the freelance market is a buyers market. That love can turn to fear when there is a shortage of good people. Anybody who had to hire IT professionals during the height of the dotcom boom is well aware of the corporate downside to a freelance market. Every change creates new market niches. As larger companies rely on contract workers and outside consultants, look for small businesses to develop and change to fill those needs. The old-line "temp" industry has already begun to morph into something new. Just what that something will become remains to be seen. But one thing is sure, it will have service and product needs of its own. And that's what we call a new market. For more on this trend, see: If All Entrepreneurs Were Laid End to End U.S. Economy Becoming More Entrepreneurial Home Offices Exploding Seasoned Executives Become Entrepreneurs The New Entrepreneurial Economy Micro-Businesses on the Rise Roving Informationistas Link to this article ...posted by Anita Campbell | More news... more trends... more insight... TREND LIST: select a trend More Small Businesses Small Businesses Go Virtual Small Businesses Pick Niches Freelance Economy Business Ecosystems Proliferate Technology Levels the Playing Field Small Businesses Change Hands Small Business Market Goes Global Graying of Small Business Home | Small Business Trends
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