Dragons’ Den Judge Arlene Dickinson: “We’re Entering an Entrepreneur Economy”

Despite the unstable economy, speaker Arlene Dickinson isn't afraid to invest in new start-ups—in fact, she thinks that this is the ideal time to do it.

"There’s a widespread sense of how terrible conditions are right now for entrepreneurs,” Dickinson said in an interview with MSN Money. “But I actually think we’re entering an entrepreneur economy. And it’s about to really take off.”

As a judge on the hit business show Dragons’ Den, the CEO of Venture Communications and the author of  Persuasion: A New Approach to Changing Minds, Dickinson has become adept at scouting out the next big opportunity. In the article, she explains that entrepreneurs have the opportunity right now to start a business with a minimal investment. Low start-up costs, reasonable lease rates, cheap overseas manufacturing, and the ability to inexpensively market through the Internet provide all the necessary components to get a business off the ground, she says. Not only are the market conditions perfect for starting a business, she notes, but there are also an increasing number of young people more interested in working for themselves than for others.

“The evidence shows that a growing number of recent graduates and others want more control over their lives and their future,” Dickinson says, “They want the certainty of self-direction.”