Do people tell you to look at your age when you pitch your startup idea? Is Age a Barrier to start your Business or Entrepreneurship Career?
“I was 51 when I started my first business. I wonder if it would be right to call it a start-up. It was small, it was effort-taking, and now, I find it all to be very worth it. I have had a knack for designing ever since my childhood. At the age of 51, after the demise of my husband, the need to earn the bread and butter pushed me. I currently make designer gift hampers in the most traditional style. There were many people, who told me that I should not be thinking of starting a business at least, many suggested job opportunities etc. But I am glad, I managed to pull off this business. Now, I am at least earning a living for myself.” – Bela, 51-year-old businesswoman from Varanasi. Listening to her, we wonder, Is age a barrier to start your business or entrepreneurship Career? Why do people tag it with age then?
We have often heard people saying ‘age is just a number; Right? But when it comes to implying this in life, people often forget this statement, especially when it comes to starting something new. The start-up culture has been certainly been exclusive for young minds, which perhaps should not be the case. Start-up is something that is about a new idea, and that can’t just come from young minds only. While we have examples like Mark Zuckerberg and David Karp as one of the youngest entrepreneurs, we have examples like Jeff Bezos or Bernard Marcus, and Handy Dan who thought of their start-up in the late thirties. In fact, with age, people get a better understanding of life, hence, their ideas are more likely to become successful. Here is what people can get with age –
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A pool of knowledge and experience
There is no substitute for experience and knowledge. These are what empowers a person, and the older you get, the more you see life and people and learn new things. So, when it comes to implementing the startup idea, the experience starts to matter a lot.
Age adds better network
The older you are, the likely you will be to have a better network. And for a start-up, what matters the most is a good network. A person in their 30s or 40s is likely to be in the right space to find the people who could add value to their startup with the experience and sharp sense of judgment that they would have consciously or subconsciously attained. Unlike the newbies, who might not be able to find the like minds, elder people can find their right companions to work with.
Streamlined and diligent towards executing
With experience, knowledge, and a good network, what becomes required is a streamlined idea and a keen eye to execute the idea in the right manner. They can create the right kind of plans with maximum precision, unlike the newbies who might take impulsive actions. They are likely to investest the right way for the business idea too.
But having said that age is just a number, it truly is a number. Every individual has their own experience and relationship with their ideas and what their dream is. Barring someone from dreaming an idea, just because of the age of that person is a scud idea in itself. A person, as young as Zuckerberg can run a platform like Facebook and a person as old as Vera Wang who created her own fashion brand at the age of 40. So, just value dreams and forget the number called ‘age’.
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