Is there an ideal age to becoming an entrepreneur? There are n number of discussions and debates amongst the online and the offline communities regarding this matter.
A lot of people want to become a businessperson, but keep putting it off till what they perceive is the best age to forming a limited company!
Then when they reach their conceived ideal age, they regret not starting the process sooner!
Then, what is the best age to start a business?
Age is Just a Number
Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs are names that everyone world over recognizes.
They were all in their 20s when they started their businesses!
Alternatively, Vera Wang, Ray Kroc, Henry Ford, and Arianna Huffington, are just a few examples of entrepreneurs who began their enterprising journey when they were well over 40!
Advantages of being Young
People in their 20s are considered to be inexperienced in the business language, unsure about their career choices, and generally debt-ridden! But what if you suddenly decided to start a pest control business? Or a cafe? Would you have the time that you have in your 20’s when you are 30 something? Why not you say?
And 30s are for bearing responsibilities. Starting a family, buying mortgages, and the likes.
Benefits of starting early are:
- Reaping potential long-term gains. It is a given, the more time you spend being an entrepreneur, the more returns you will witness over time!
- Ability to handle risks. Starting a company means you will be investing a lot of personal capital, small business capital, time, and resources into it. With fewer commitments and responsibilities, you will be better able to tolerate the hiccups along the way.
- Motivation and energy. Generally, young professionals have a lot of enthusiasm to succeed and prove their detractors wrong!
- The younger generation is more accepting and adapting to the volatile technological and economic market.
- An umbrella corporation. Starting young gives you an opportunity to branch out if you want to add to your domain.
- Knowledge. It is very likely that you will have strong knowledge of what people are looking for in a business, as well as what products are popular on the market at that time. For example, if candles are popular, you will know that wholesale suppliers like Abound have a wide selection of candles that you can go on to sell in your store. This type of knowledge could prove to be very helpful in the world of business.
There is a reason why Forbes comes out with their top 30 entrepreneurs under 30 lists yearly!
Why it is better to be Old
As per 2013 US Report by GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), people who start their businesses in the latter part of their 30s have a better chance of succeeding!
The survey claims that the best age to start a company is between 35 and 44 because that is when the person is most confident in his abilities!
Advantages of starting late are:
- Controlled arrogance. A bloated ego causes friction with employees, vendors, and investors making for a fractured working relationships and leads to bad business decisions.
- More experience. Older businessmen have hopefully learned their lessons from their failures.
- Established network. You have an already existing circle of trust on the basis of which you can begin your entrepreneurial journey.
- Better focus. The older you get, the less distracted you are towards your end goals.
The Closing Argument
Basically, age is not a factor that should be considered when one is planning to start a business.
In Fact, it is the idea, and the determination to carry it through that should be the most important characteristic!
If you want to give age importance, then consider the age when you see an opportunity, grab it and work hard in an emerging industry, and the age when you are ready to grow with a rising trend or succeed in an existing industry!