It’s never too late for untapped potential, and in the world of entrepreneurship, this has never been truer. With age can come broad knowledge, management experience, and numerous professional contacts. Many successful business people have begun their entrepreneurial careers after age 50. Some of them include Chris And Susan Beesley (online business education website), Michael Grottola (consulting firm), Angie Higa (Sky Dreams manufacturing company, Olive Lynch (composting company) and Cinde Dolphin (winemakers’ public relations firm). Starting a business is scary especially if it is likely to operate online. For example, over 50s might feel less confident finding the best VPNs to keep their business safe. Fear not, there is plenty of support to put your concerns to rest.
Age is but a number, say business experts, and it’s all about the vision when developing success at the entrepreneurial stage. Older adults have unique advantages. For instance, there are more first-time entrepreneurs over the age of 45 (51-percent) than those under the age of 45 (48-percent).
Older folks understand money better, are not silly to take on crazy wild risks and realize how the structure of capital works. The founders of the McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Kentucky Fried Chicken empires were all over 50 when they launched their businesses, so there is no excuse. Business owners don’t even have to come up with innovative products, they could just consider selling popular products that people will always need. For example, supplements and skincare products will always be in high demand, so it might be worth contacting a Supplement Contract Manufacturer to see if they have any stock that could be purchased and rebranded for older people to sell.
Working for a large organization also contributes greatly to the mature first-time entrepreneur. The general management skills and security gained at this level are seen as excellent preparation for building a start-up on the ground up and becoming their ultimate boss.
An older person possesses more innovation potential for keeping the customer happy. Emotions drive transactions, and successful enterprises are those that make a lot of people happy and better off. Understanding the customer and solving their problem is a key part of the industry.
Many say “age is just a number.” That means most activities and actions are not affected by it. The same thing goes with entrepreneurship, as according to the latest entrepreneurship stats, most US entrepreneurs are 40 or older, while 30% of them belong to the 30–40 age group. (Statista)
The mature business person can lean on the deeper network they have attained through years of experience in drawing potential customers and maintain the happiness of their employees. Being active in one’s community also leads to stronger ties with investors, employees, mentors, etc. A younger entrepreneur usually lacks such a diverse base to work with. However, the younger generation does have a better understanding of modern marketing, which a mature business person can learn to incorporate. It is known that online marketing or digital marketing can help entrepreneurs build their brand awareness. And many new companies are now hiring reputed agencies like SERP Co (a chicago seo company) to grow their business.
While working with their employees remotely might pose to be a problem for the older generation, it is seen that they have an innate will to learn. They could keep their employees engaged with the help of virtual team building activities like online puzzles, ice-breaking sessions, etc over video conferencing applications. This could help them bond with their employees and other members of the team and further their relationship.
The older a business person is, the more likely they are to fear failure, but business experts say this is a good thing. No one wants to see their venture go under and fail, especially when they’ve had much success in their past business history. The mature entrepreneur is more likely to try harder when the going gets tough. Fear of failure is an excellent motivator; once they jump in, that fear keeps them going.
