Can You be Too Old for Entrepreneurship and an Online Business?

If you are too old for entrepreneurship, it’s like being too old to do what you love.

To be too old for entrepreneurship is something that most people above 50+ put on their question list.

How often do you hear somebody say that you are never too old? Quite seldom, correct? But how frequently do people insinuate that you are too old for something you have in mind?

Our society is configured in a certain way, and we tend to group people of different ages into different categories. This applies to everything from how we dress to how we “should” behave.

Many people feel comfortable belonging to a specific category and act accordingly. They will never feel too old or too young within their segment. It’s a ready-made comfort zone where nobody will criticize what you’re doing.

All new challenges in life require some skill development. Many people go wrong when they believe that skill development is age-sensitive.

If instead of saying, “You are too old for entrepreneurship,” change a few words and say, “You are never too old for entrepreneurship,” it gets a different approach.

In an earlier article, I wrote:

“You can’t escape time, but you can choose to embrace it as an asset and just start your life over again.”

Do you see the pattern? You decide what to do and when to do it. You are never too old, as your willingness to do something isn’t age-related.

Never Too Old for Entrepreneurship and Then What?

If we can agree that age isn’t a reason to avoid doing things, then your question might be:

“What do I need to do?”

There are plenty of articles out there writing about the same topic, but the serious ones always include the following points:

Never stop learning

When they reach senior age, most people feel they have learned everything worth learning. There is not much more to find on the plate of the unknown.

Nothing can be more wrong!

Psychologically, mental aging is very much about entering into a sort of stall mode when it comes to education. In today’s fast-moving Internet-based world, things are changing every day.

When you get older, you don’t have any difficulty learning. Your brain gets a little bit slower. It’s like your hard disk. What happens when your memory is almost up to its limit? It gets slower. The same thing happens to your brain. You get a bit slower because you know more.

Do not view learning as something you miss and have to catch up. Education is part of today’s environment. Call it development, evolution, or whatever you want, but always be open to learning new skills.

Technology is playing your game

People in the industry early understood that if the Internet and all technology should be something for every citizen, it was necessary to develop user-friendly systems. It should be a system that every single person could easily use.

Bill Gates’ Microsoft Windows was probably the first software to be launched that required no professional programming skills. Their mission statement reflects making Windows available to everyone.

From being a data industry limited to professional programmers and system engineers, the entire population suddenly became the target group. Developing all social platforms without these easy-to-use systems wouldn’t be possible.

Today, it’s rare to find a person without a smartphone. In fact, people aged 60+ are the fastest-growing group of smartphone owners.

As seniors, we often refuse to dive into the “new” Internet world because of the unfamiliar terminology. Learn the meaning of these new words, and that’s it.

You are much more disciplined than you can imagine

Remember when you were a teenager and compare how you did things. You will probably notice that your discipline has changed in your favor over time. With life experience, responsibilities, and extended skill sets, your discipline to achieve things continually grows.

No matter your goal, the more ambitious they are, the more discipline is required to reach them. Use that talent you have got!

Take advantage of your mistakes

Life is a never-ending journey of trial and error. The good thing about all mistakes is that they give you a bank of experiences when starting new projects.

By nature, younger people have less experience, and in many cases, the “errors” are still waiting ahead. You have done that and can avoid failures only because of your age. You are never too old for entrepreneurship; in this case, your age is to your advantage.

I’ll Show You That You Are Not Too Old for Entrepreneurship

At the age of 55, I started training for my first marathon. See my previous article. I was not driven to enter this challenge by my age but by something much more significant, which isn’t tied to any age at all.

Passion!

It all starts with the challenge, as you can’t be passionate about something you’ve never tried. On the other hand, the challenge triggered me to prepare myself as much as possible, learning everything about running, particularly marathon running.

I’ll never forget lining up for my first marathon in December 2009. It was one year of hard training, a lot of fun, successes and failures. Nothing was missing.

Thanks to the disciplined training, my confidence was at the highest level, and I could run the first marathon. Although I had to hit the famous “wall” we all must do when running a marathon, my first race transformed the challenge into a passion.

Since then, I have run two or three marathons per year, and at 68, my marathon number 25 will occur within six months. You are never too old if you have a true passion for what you are doing.

Online Marketing

The same pattern as my passion for marathons happened with my online marketing business.

After more than 35 years in the corporate world, something happened.

It was not the job. I held various management positions, had a good income, and climbed the so-called career ladder. As an expat, I was positioned in different countries and had the opportunity to learn various languages and immerse myself in different cultures.

However, there was one piece missing:

Running your own business!

Understand me right here. To be the boss can never be a goal as such. But to run your own business means that you’re doing all for yourself. You are doing it for your company, family, well-being, and welfare.

Owning your own company and business involves risks, of course, but also many opportunities.

I was lucky to hit the correct button when surfing the Internet, among all the shiny, false “get-rich-quick” schemes. Since 2014, I’ve been into online marketing.

In my spare time, I figured out how to get it working, and it didn’t take more than a couple of months before I was ready to go all in.

Another challenge is now another passion for me.

The system I’m connected to is simple and highly automated, making it possible to quickly get your online business up and running.

In addition, you will receive all the necessary training and tutorials, so you will never feel lost or unable to find a solution.

As a member of the large baby boomer group, I was always on alert to see if this was something for my age group. As senior citizens, we are always impressed by the younger generation handling all IT-related stuff, and you can quickly build up a false barrier that doing business online is only for younger people.

Wrong again!

You are never too old for entrepreneurship if you’re willing to take the challenge. Your challenge will likely turn into a lifelong passion.