Is it in the first flush of youth or as you get older and wiser?
Hmm… Well lets have a look shall we?
There’s much to be said for starting a business when you are younger. You have the energy to be working 24/7 plus as well you may not yet have a family so your focus could easily be on longer working days. That said, would you have the necessary skills to set up your business? Probably not.
You may never have had to sack anyone before or hire anyone. You may not be particularly savvy as to what a bank looks for in a business proposal. The fact remains that you may have built up little personal security such as a property against which to secure a bank loan. Your network of contacts may not be very well developed.
Anyway, enough of the down cast talking! On the upside, you will have bags of enthusiasm. You will probably have that all important “can do” attitude. Your dreams will seem totally achievable. Small problems will be just that – small and you will be able to get over them. You may have more of a disposable income with little to tie you down if you need to move to a different part of the country (or even a different country!) to start up the business.
One thing is for sure too – you won’t have any of the “baggage” that comes with old age. You know the, “Well it didn’t work out for my mate Jim when he went into business for himself, so I don’t think I’ll succeed either. I’m not even going to try it!”
Of course, on the flip side, with age does come that experience. You know what you are letting yourself in for and will be prepared to go it alone. You’ll have a clearer understanding of life in general, knowing that life never works out as planned and therefore you’ll probably be more cautious in your attitude of going self employed. You will have a clearer understanding of how a business should and shouldn’t work – probably having worked in commerce for a number of years longer than your junior counterparts. Banks and other institutions are probably going to be more comfortable lending money to a more mature person, plus you will have had time to build up some savings to fund your venture.
So what’s the perfect age to go it alone in business? Well there’s certainly advantages to both being young and old when you start up, but my money would be on being young enough to have the fire in your belly to do it, but old enough to know better whilst still being prepared to do it anyway! 🙂
Hi,
Being young means you have a lot of energy under your belt but you lack the necessary experience to make the business a success.
Being old means you have all the necessary requirements to make the business a success but the enthusiasm is not there anymore.
So its better to start a business in between. Not too young and not too old for you to have both, enthusiasm and experience.
duuuh.. that’s a bit like kicking in an open door right? what’s your point and what’s the value of an article like this?
here’s 2 minutes of my life i’ll never get back.
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You make mention of having experience as an older entrepreneur, but as a younger entrepreneur you have all the room to gain that experience along with not have past experience in the way preventing you from doing something innovative.
If you have an idea and your passionate about it and you really believe it can bring something to the community you will find funding. You will make mistakes and you will learn and gain experience from those mistakes. This will happen no matter what age you might be.
I think if people are interested in starting their own business, they should start as young as possible. The more practice the better they will be.
I think young entrepreneurs have much more innovative business ideas than the older generation (especially when it comes to the Internet and Web 2.0 boom).
It’s just sad that society places so little value on young entrepreneurship.
cheers
Nathan
YEuth.org – Non-Profit Young Entrepreneur Organization
i think more than age its the expertise that matters for a young entrepreneur..authority over his field and that is the biggest drawback for people starting young, its hard to convince many that you can do better than people perhaps twice your age
anyway the question being what is the right age.. 21 i guess.. thats when i started 🙂
Age really doesn’t factor into it. Some people see starting a business young is the way to go but how many focused 16 year olds do you know? When you are 30 perhaps you are busy building a family, is that the right time? When you are 45 you become really concerned about retiring one day.
So to answer the question/idea posed the only thing that matters is finding the time to start it and go for it… regardless of age that is the biggest factor… that and having a sound business idea and getting out there to test it!
I agree with Luc. If you really look hard at it and analyze everything, it’s never a great time to start a business. Entrepreneurs come in any age group – it’s the dream and passion that counts. I’ve talked to some pretty savy 16 year olds and some late bloomers too. If the idea is a great one – throw up that shingle and go for it. If you wait until all your ducks are in a row, you’ll always be trying to add one more. Visionaries are risk takers, if you’re looking for the right time, you’re probably someone who shouldn’t be starting a business.
Hi all,
Thanks for the comments and yes I think Ed sums it up well at the end in that if you aren’t a risk taker in some small way then being in business on a self employed basis very probably isn’t for you at all. 🙂
Generally it would seem the younger the better…forget the experience as that will come with time and I do tend to agree…afterall I was in my 20’s when I started up in business on my own.
Oh and Kikker…by leaving your totally dull and uninspiring comment there you actually wasted something like 4 minutes of your life in total… Duuuh right back atcha sunshine! :-p
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I agree that age doesn’t come into it. The famous Richard Branson (of Virgin fame) started his business life while still at school.
If the person is motivated, has the desire to succeed and the knowledge, that is the most important thing.
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