Over 50 and over the hill, or Over 50 and ready to startup your business?

Going into business for yourself isn’t just for the young, although being young at heart helps, it’s the older head on experienced shoulders that delivers a successful business.

More 55+ entrepreneurs than ever before are leveraging their life experience to startup a successful business. The silver economy is thriving because maturity brings with it many of the skills and qualities that will serve you well as a new business owner.

1. As a mature entrepreneur you’re likely to have a wide network of useful contacts and supplier networks. If your startup is in an industry you already have experience in you’ll have a ready-made network to call on as potential clients and customers.
2. You’ve accumulated a lot of worldy-wise experience and know when to ask for help.
3. Senior entrepreneurs are typically more focused and less distracted.
4. You may well have more money accumulated to invest or to get you going.
5. You’ve probably gained a lot of understanding of relevant markets, particular niches, and industry knowledge either from your previous professional life or other interests you may be able to build on.
6. Many older startup founders will have raised a family and managed a home with potentially a career on top – skills that can be redeployed. Life experiences that means the much sort after foundational skills of balancing and budgeting are already in place.
7. Experience brings with it an understanding of the difference between having great ideas and making them real.
8. Older business founders make the most use of cross-generational input.

The 50 plus population is the largest talent pool in history and globally they now represent the largest number of new entrepreneurs. Given the experience and resource, our third-age entrepreneurs bring with them, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the businesses they start are working and working well!

If you don’t fancy the idea of retirement, you’re in good company. According to a Merrill Lynch study people, much like you, who didn’t think much of retirement were three times more likely to be entrepreneurs and small business founders than young people.

✦ The over 50’s are almost twice as likely to be the founders of a successful business than their younger counterparts aged 20 and 34. GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor)
✦ It’s not just getting started either, five years after startup, 70% of ventures established by senior entrepreneurs are still in operation compared to just 28% of enterprises launched by younger entrepreneurs. GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor)
✦ A 60-year-old founder is 3 times as likely to launch a successful startup as a 30-year-old startup founder –and it’s 1.7 times as likely to wind up in the top 0.1 percent of all companies.

Despite this phenomenal success rate the Global Institute for Experienced Entrepreneurship report that many 50+ entrepreneurs hold back from launching their dream business citing “Fear, lack of information and guidance as the #1 factor”

The good news is there’s no magical entrepreneurial gene that some have and some don’t. We can all harness our ideas, talent, drive, skills, and creativity to join the silver economy. Being older means you can bring to the mix the experience, connections and expertise that comes with age. Sprinkle in some grit and determination and a willingness to hard work and you have the raw ingredients to startup a successful business. All you need now is a recipe to guide you and a big dollop of belief in YOU!!

Experience is a currency – how do you plan to spend yours?

WHAT STAGE IS YOUR BUSINESS AT?