Why After 40 Is The Perfect Age To Start A Business
Millenials may be the most vocal and busy on Social Media talking about their business dreams and new launches, but did you know that the average age of a female entrepreneur is actually 48 in the UK (40 in the US)? In fact, this statistic is one of the reasons I created The Impact Club. There are so many women over 40 launching buisnesses that it's time we had a supportive community of our own.
If you think about it our forties really are the perfect time to go into business for oursleves, if that's something we dream of, because we have several advantages over our younger sisters.
Most of us have made a ton of mistakes and learnt a whole lot from them, including resilience, greater self-awareness and tenacity.
Many of us have already taken time out of the workforce for having children so no longer need to factor in pregnancy etc. and are already well aware of the demands required of us for childcare. In fact many of us now actually have more available time as our chilren are already at school (or even leaving home).
We're generally more financially stable, and in a better financial position to start our own business and invest in the help and support we need.
We're usually more aware of our own skills and shortcomings, meaning we know what our strengths are and where we need to ask for help.
And on that, the older we get the better we are at actually asking for help, we have learnt (sometimes the hard way) that we don't have to do it all alone, that there is no gold star for pretending we are the expert in everything, that we don't have to be in competition with everyone else, and that suppporting and collaborating with others is actually a far more rewarding experience. Plus we are better at leaving our ego out of things so don't mind putting our hand up and saying when we don't understand, the fear of looking silly is no longer such a big deal now we're older.
We often have a wealth of work experience behind us to draw on and a good network of friends and contacts to support us.
When we start a business in our forties we generally have a much clearer idea of what we want, why we want it and what we're willing to do to get it. We understand hard work, are often more focused than in our younger years, and (my two favourite gifts of getting older) are enjoying more self-confidence and the increasing ability to say 'no'.
Whatever age you are starting your own business requires self-belief, consistency and hard work. But it is one hell of a ride if you’re up for it!
