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• Entrepreneurship in the US has seen mixed trends over the past 5 years. New businesses, as a percentage of overall business, dropped to 29% in 2018 despite sitting at 38% in 1982, data collected by the Congressional Budget Office suggests
• However, US entrepreneurship has been experiencing a revival since the COVID-19 pandemic, sparked by mass layoffs creating a need for many to make their own job; this led to over 4.3 million applications for new businesses in 2020
• As entrepreneurship in the US experienced this expansion until 2022, the role of top advisors such as Nick Ayala is paramount in acting as a source of wisdom in this new state of business.

2023 Starts with a great deal of uncertainty but also optimism. Indeed if we look back, the year 2022 has been filled with discussion regarding the economic status of the US. The word ‘recession’ has been utilized frequently. However, this has not been confirmed, and it is evident that areas of the US market are still performing well.

The Conference Board forecasts that, “economic weakness will intensify and spread more broadly throughout the US economy in the second half of 2022, and expects a recession to begin before the end of the year. This outlook is associated with persistent inflation and rising hawkishness by the Federal Reserve.”

The words “war and pandemic” have no doubt affected sentiment and fundamentals. Little has remained untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic that has taken place over the last couple of years. One of the areas of our lives that has borne the effects of the pandemic more discernably than others is our working livelihood. The US suffered record levels of unemployment during this period as a result of abundant layoffs on a national scale; almost no industry was left unaffected.

The result was millions of Americans in need of work. This, combined with the increased prevalence of remote working in almost all careers, coalesced at an opportune time to create a landscape perfectly conducive for a greater number of people to pursue entrepreneurship as a career choice. Motivated by a lack of work, as well as secondary bases such as enhanced flexibility, work-life balance, and greater fulfillment, entrepreneurship surged.

In the two years following the pandemic, the United States Census Bureau has reported record levels of applications for the creation of new businesses that support this monumental shift in the working economy. In this new “state of the business,” the role of top entrepreneurs such as Nick Ayala is now more important than ever to guide these many fresh entrants around the world of enterprise.

Nick Ayala

Nicholas Ayala studied for a bachelor’s degree in business and finance at Florida State University, which naturally transitioned into a promising career in finance – specifically the insurance industry. Although he pursued professional golf as his career initially, Nick came to terms with the fact that his true passion was for business and that that was his vocation in this life.

Over the course of Nick’s distinguished career in business and finance over the past 15 years, he has been the driving force behind three extremely successful ventures: Point America 365, Align Capital Ventures, and Priority Life Insurance Group. On balance, he has stewarded each of these projects shrewdly, gradually developing a reputation for himself in the industry due to his innovative approach to leadership, alongside his philanthropic work.

Nick currently works as the founder and CEO of his digital advertising agency, Point America 365, while also concurrently handling the duties of his position as a managing partner of Integrity Marketing Group, a large firm that acquired Priority Life Insurance Group after only three years due to his effective steering of the companies efforts.

With regards to insurance, Nick’s experience ranges from ACA insurance to health insurance, Medicare and Life Insurance, in addition to others such as income planning for retirees. This goes hand-in-hand with Nick’s experience in entrepreneurship, and both play a large role in his ability to transform Priority Life Insurance Group into one of the fastest-growing insurance companies in the world.

Nick’s Innovative Approach

Nick was named one of the top entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur 360 in 2017 – a commendable achievement that accurately reflects his ability as a businessman. The well-renowned online publication mentioned two of Nick’s qualities in particular that it deemed as crucial to his success in business: his natural talent for leadership and his unique mentality.

Nick has commented on both of these qualities individually as well, stating in an interview just how important he believed “solid professional relationships” to be, and the essential ability of leadership plays in unlocking them. He frequently refers to a “rowboat in strong tides” as an analogy to illustrate these two concepts and states that in order to get the most out of his teams, he had to ameliorate his leadership capabilities.

Despite the hectic work life derived from his involvement with not just one but several extremely successful business ventures, Nick still makes time to provide guidance to up-and-coming agents. What’s more, Nick is able to do so in both Spanish and English – which only further facilitates him to help others in reaching their own potential (irrespective of their madre lengua).

Arguably uncharacteristically of most successful businessmen, Nick is a firm believer in humility and maintains that we open the door to facilitate shared success for all as long as we control our egos and do not allow them to overshadow future opportunities.

As mentioned earlier, Nick actively engages in philanthropic activities and enjoys sharing his success with the community alongside his wife, Adriana. The couple assists many charities with their humanitarian efforts, but particularly enjoy supporting Habitat for Humanity and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. On top of all of this, both Nick and his wife Adriana are chairmen for the benevolent Make a Wish foundation.

Conclusion

There are few silver linings to the COVID-19 pandemic, but one of these few is the resurgence of entrepreneurial activity the United States has been experiencing as a result of mass layoffs. As these fresh entrants look to learn how to encourage the development of their businesses, top entrepreneurs such as Nick Ayala will become even more useful to the economy.

There are a number of concepts new business owners can learn from key consultants, such as Nick and a plethora of experts. These can be applied to their own working lives in order to see some improvement. Chiefly, the importance of leadership and a persevering attitude cannot be understated, and will largely dictate a business’s ability to thrive. If you are interested in finding out more about Nick Ayala, please feel free to refer to his Instagram, which has been linked accordingly.