This is a collaborative post by Ellie Jo with tips on how to start a business later in life.
When we think of entrepreneurs, we often imagine young people who are in their twenties or thirties. But did you know that there are actually a large number of business owners who started their own company in later life? Middle-age entrepreneurship is nothing new and, in actual fact, lots of people are now waiting until after middle age and are setting up businesses in their sixties and even seventies!
How to Start a Business Later in Life
There are lots of reasons why it really is worth waiting until you are slightly older to set up a new company. For instance, you will have a lot of life experience that you could potentially put to good use. But that doesn’t mean it will be a complete walk in the park. However, if you follow these next few tips, they should make starting a business in later life a lot easier for you.
Build On Your Experience
First of all, it’s worth taking all of the experience that you have gained throughout your life and building on this for your business. It’s even worth taking some of your experience and using it as the basis for your business. For instance, if you have previously worked as a teacher, then you might want to set up a company that serves the education industry. Not only will this make for an easy transition, but it will also give you the chance to use your passion for business.
Understand Your Attitude To Risk Taking
It’s always worth reassessing your attitude to risk, especially if you have some personal investments. Our attitudes can change as we go through life and, generally speaking, we often become more conservative with risk. Once you know your level of risk-taking, you will be much better equipped to decide on your type of business. Would you rather play it safe with a guaranteed success or go a bit risky and take a gamble on something that isn’t guaranteed to work but could bring you huge profits if it does become a success?
Learn Some New Skills And Knowledge
It’s never too late to learn new skills and gain more experiences, so you might like the idea of taking an online MBA before you start the process of setting up a new company. This should be a great basis of knowledge if you don’t have any entrepreneurial experience just yet.
Use Your Savings
It could be wise to start saving as soon as you decide to open a new company so that you have plenty of cash in the bank to use as capital. You might find it quite tricky to find any investment as some investors might believe that older entrepreneurs pose a slight risk. At least if you do use your own money, you don’t owe anyone else a single penny!
You will also want some money in savings to use to advertising and promotions. Learn about Facebook Playable ads here and how they can help your business. There are Google adwords agencies that can help as well.
Watch Your Stress Levels
It’s important to put yourself first and keep a check on your stress and health. If your business makes you too stressed out, it could be best to walk away. All that stress could prove to be dangerous later in life.
So, what’s stopping you?!
