Why Older Entrepreneurs Over 50 Years are Killing It in Business

There is a surprisingly upward trend in the rise of successful over 50 years-old entrepreneurs across the globe. In the US, the highest rate of entrepreneurship is among older adults who are 55 years old and above. The statistics also show that over 55 year-old adults are much more likely to get into entrepreneurship than those in the 20 to 35 age group.

Older adults are determined to earn a fortune through entrepreneurship. Instead of sitting back to enjoy their retirement, over 50 adults get busy running successful business ventures to make sure that they have a luxury retirement that they’ve dreamt of. Their businesses tend to perform better compared to those that are operated by younger persons.

So, why and what is it that makes over 50 years-old entrepreneurs rock?

6 Reasons Entrepreneurs Over 50 Years Rock

Some of the reasons why over 50 years-old adults are doing very, very well in entrepreneurship include:

1. Older adults have established a better credit score and so they attract lenders.

The first reason why the 50+ adult entrepreneurs are killing it is access to credit facilities. With easy access to credit, they are able to expand their businesses. For them, getting credit is actually much easier as compared to the younger adults. Younger adults are considered riskier by lenders and hence face a lot more challenges when it comes to attracting credit.

Over 50 adults are considered better enterprise managers and therefore their startups are more likely to flourish. For the younger generations, they are often over-ambitious and their startups are more likely to fail over the first few years. Lenders also consider that 50+ adult entrepreneurs are experienced, knowledgeable and have more entrepreneurship wisdom. These qualities make them better managers, hence they can be trusted when they apply for loans to start or expand their businesses.

2. Better entrepreneurship acumen makes them qualified.

Experience is regarded as the best teacher. Apparently, this also applies in business decision making. Experienced entrepreneurs are less likely to make costly blunders and business mistakes compared to the young entrepreneurs. Having seen new startups rise and others fail, 50+ adults have garnered not only basic but also more advanced entrepreneurship skills. Some also worked in big companies and have been involved in the strategy aspects of running a business for many years. This makes them better managers when they start operating their own businesses. The young entrepreneurs may lack these basic skills and even though they have learned them in school, they haven’t practiced them in the real world, and so many will fail when they start their new businesses.

3. Over 50 entrepreneurs set up businesses with a focus on building stable retirement income.

Retirees who are happily enjoying their retirement living and those who are almost retiring set up businesses with a larger focus compared to the younger entrepreneurs. As such, they will not want to take big risks because they know the business is their strategic asset and income generator over retirement. Therefore, they tend to give it all when running the business compared to junior entrepreneurs who know that they can be employed and earn a salary to support their business. 50+ adult entrepreneurs know that the profits received from the business will help them for the rest of their lives. For this reason, they apply all the business management skills learned in a multitude of careers and job to make sure their business helps them throughout retirement.

4. Over 50 entrepreneurs are willing and ready to take on new technologies.

Technology is an enabler when it comes to achieving success in entrepreneurship. The 50+ adult entrepreneurs are ready to take on new, cutting-edge technologies. These technologies make it easier for them to monitor their businesses closer than they did in the past years. Together with the accumulated experience and the burning desire to succeed in business, they are able to achieve success.

The perception that older adults and seniors aren’t adept at technology compared to the younger generation is false. Older adults are keen to run their business using modern technology and this helps them achieve the much-needed success when it comes to entrepreneurship. They have the financial ability and so they can invest in modern technologies. They use the technology to ease their business operations and this leads to a reduction of operating cost. As such, they are able to make more profit and grow their business. Through reinvesting the profits and reduced expenses as well as quick repayment of borrowed funds, they can succeed.

5. Senior lifestyle helps 50+ adults in business.

Over 50 years-old adult entrepreneurs are successful because their lifestyle allows them to focus only on business. For the junior entrepreneurs, they have a myriad of day to day activities and more responsibilities, so they tend to spend less time and resources in business management. 50+ adults will reinvest their profits in business expansion while younger generations tend to use some of the profits to finance their lifestyle and complete development projects. 50+ adults often have less responsibility and they make business decisions focusing largely on business growth. This is a major factor that contributes to their business success.

6. Longer life expectancy encourages seniors to invest more resources in their businesses.

According to SeniorLivingHelp.org, while the average life expectancy for senior citizens is currently 80.3 years, a growing percentage of seniors live well beyond that age. This shows that retirees have the hope to live beyond 85 and 90 years provided they eat well and live well. Those that are in business are encouraged to continue working harder so as to achieve success and get a meaningful income from their businesses. With these statistics, older adult entrepreneurs feel re-energized and ready to work for a longer period and this time, focusing on building a business that will finance their retirement well into their 90’s - if they are lucky to live this long.

Bottom line

As more older adults retire as entrepreneurs, the number of successful business owners over fifty will continue to rise. These 50+ entrepreneurs have access to credit, better experience needed to run businesses and also embrace technology when it comes to running their businesses. Younger entrepreneurs should take note and learn from 50+ year-old entrepreneurs who are killing it in business.