Turner Little looks at a recent Telegraph article suggesting maturity can provide people with the life experience required to establish a successful company.
Ambition begins at 45?
The article cited a ground-breaking study to introduce its argument. This research, which polled over 2,000 people, found that 45 is the average age at which people feel truly ready to start their own venture. The survey discovered that this is the point in many people’s lives where they lose passion for their careers and feel ready to try something new.
The Amway Global Entrepreneurship Report, which is conducted by independent business specialists Amway, discovered that people feel most ready to set up their own business at 40 years old. The survey found that 80% of people of all ages were tired of their day jobs and would like to start their own company. The research suggested that fear of failure holds people back from pursuing this course of action when they’re in their twenties and thirties, but these anxieties start to disappear at the age 40.
Economic potential
The Telegraph cited figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to indicate that this would be beneficial for the UK’s economy. ONS data suggests that there are 1.8 million people in the UK who are both over 50 years of age and self-employed, higher than any other age range. Furthermore, the proportion of the UK’s population that’s over the age of 65 is only set to grow; there are currently 10 million who fall into this age bracket; this will expand to an estimated 19 million by 2050.
Therefore the piece suggested that as the UK’s population ages, it will become more likely that the next big business success story could be initiated by someone over the age of 40. It added that this will spur an interesting shift in the way start-up founders are perceived. Therefore, the public narrative that surrounds business creation – that it’s the province of the younger generation, will begin to change.
Benefits of business creation
Also, the Telegraph cited data from The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (Prime), which helps over-50s launch new companies, to show there are real benefits to setting up a business later in life. Prime found that 95% of its members were still trading a year after they established their company, significantly more than the national average of only 66%.
John Allan, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which represents small companies around the UK, was quoted talking about the benefits of starting a firm later in life. He said: “Our latest member survey found that well over a tenth our members were over 65 and nearly 10% of those owned business under five years old. For those aged between 55 and 64, nearly 20% ran businesses under five years old. We are seeing a growing trend for older entrepreneurs as people choose to take greater control of their work in later life.”
Turner Little
In conclusion, the Telegraph’s article makes a strong case to suggest that the maturity which comes with age can provide you with the passion, confidence and life experience to set up a successful business. If you wish to establish your own firm, utilise Turner Little’s UK company formation services, so you receive the support and experience necessary to develop a lucrative venture.
Turner Little was founded in 1998 and it has since become a well-established UK based professional Company Registration Agents, Registered Bank Intermediaries and Business Consultants, as well as Trust providers.