You can be successful at 50+

When looking over the history of entrepreneurship and the innovations to industry that have emanated from it, you would need to recognize that some of the greater innovations have come from what could be termed senior entrepreneurs. History is littered with amazing inventions, platforms and devices that have come from older and some may say wiser heads. For instance,

·     At 51 Gordon Bowker started Starbucks

·     At 52 Ray Croc started McDonalds as we know it

·     At 55 Arianna Huffington started Huffington Post

·     At 60 Amadeo Giannini started Bank of America

·     At 62 Charles Flint started IBM and the list goes on including Col. Harland Sanders who was rejected so many times, the average person would have crawled into a shell and not looked at business again.

If people have followed the ‘normal’ path of go to school, get good grades, go to university, get the diploma, get a good job at a big company or the government, then many of them are looking back over their lives and realizing that ‘normal’ is not necessarily the best path. They are lamenting a life of struggle just to pay the bills and a life of quiet desperation. Most have not saved enough for their retirement and with prolonged lifespans, are wondering how they are going to fund the next 20-30 years. 

Becoming an entrepreneur at 50 or over is a wonderful way to bring new energy into your life. You become immersed in a project or invention and your whole outlook improves. Yes, there are tough times and hard times and times when you want to give up, but these are only blips on the scale and pale into insignificance when compared with the overall feeling of accomplishment and freedom that come from success. It is fun and satisfying and will change your life. If you can find a project that will not only bring you success but will help other people, then you will get to experience true fulfilment.

A wise man called Jim Rohn once said that formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune. One of the true benefits of entrepreneurship, at any age, is that you will become a better person. You will find skills and strengths that you never thought you had. You will move in different circles, make new friends and develop a zest for life that most will never experience.

One of the reasons that older people will become entrepreneurs is to fund their later years. They have experience, networks, skills, emotional intelligence and many other attributes. Why waste them just existing until you die? Entrepreneurship will usually turn into a business and one of the subset purposes of a business is to create an asset that will give you a good return thus funding your later years.

So, if we say that $100,000 per year would be a good passive income, then we would need to create an asset of about $2,000,000 returning 5%. Many reading this will believe that it would be impossible to create such an asset at an advanced age. Henry Ford said, “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right”. There are ways to create the asset using the skills and experience you have gained from a lifetime of work. You just need to be shown how or you need to create a product or device that people really want. Personally, I preferred to follow the path of others who have been successful. It is easier than re-inventing the wheel. I wrote a book about business start-ups and it might just help you over the hump of finding out how to be successful in business. It is called The 3 Secrets of Business Success

Some reading this post will be looking to do something to bolster their later income. The book will give you clarity and a path to success. Older entrepreneurs have that wealth of experience and skill. All you need is the right advice on how to get started and how to make it successful from the kick-off. At $14.95 plus GST, it is an investment in your future. Buy it here now at The 3 Secrets of Business Success

I have been in business for over 30 years, having had 3 retail franchise businesses, 2 start-up IT ventures and a consultancy business. I started a global distribution business at 51, work from home, found freedom and report to no one. Please feel free to share this post or connect with me here.

John Gardiner