At What Age Is It Too Late To Start A Business?

If you are wondering if you should start a business and if the main questions holding you back are: Are you too old, or Is it too late to start? The answer is NO; you are definitely not too old! Nor is it too late. Luckily there is lots of research to prove that it is never too late to start a business.

The biggest thing that always keeps me going in my business and some aspects of my personal life is that time will always pass no matter what. If you want to start something but fear it will take too much time to get it going. It would be best if you put that fear aside.

Say you have an idea for a product you want to produce and sell, but it will take time to make, ship, advertise, etc. Say it will take one to two years before you really get going. That can be daunting.

But, where will you be in one to two years if you don’t get started?

You most likely will be in the same place you are right now. Same home, same job, etc. But, you will be thinking that if you had started your business a year ago, you would be making progress. It’s never too late to start.

If you watch Sharktank, you will always see the Sharks asking how long the entrepreneur has been in business and what their sales are for the current year compared with the previous year. Hearing these entrepreneurs’ answers is always so varied.

Some have been working their business for several years, but only half-heartedly. Others have been pouring their heart and soul into their business every day. They are working more than 12 hours a day and forgoing a lot of personal time just to get their business going.

The ages of these entrepreneurs vary. It does not matter how old you are; it just matters that you have an idea and run with it. They knew it was never too late to start a business.

At different ages, you have different life experiences that lead you to other career ideas, different goals, and different business ideas.

Entrenaupers are always asked what leads them to this business idea, and it’s usually so, something that makes a difference in their lives. Something that makes their life easier, a recipe that gets sold out at county fairs, a product that saves time doing something, or a business that helps others.

Ray Kroc was 52 when he started McDonald’s. It has grown into a massive franchise. The same with KFC, Harlan sanders was 65 when he started his restaurant.

Start your business at any age

If you are in your over 30 and want to start a business, you are in really good company. Here is are some people who started in their 30’s, 40’s. and 50’s

• Tory Burch, clothing designer, 38
• Evan Williams ,Twitter, 34
• Reid Hoffman, Linkedin, 36
• Tim Westergren, Pandora, 35
• Milton Hershey, Hershey, 35
• Gordon Moore, Intel, 38
• Jan Koum, WhatsApp, 37
• Jack Ma, Alibaba, 35

• Sam Walton, Walmart, 44
• Vera Wang, Vera Wang, 40
• Henrey Ford, Ford Motors, 45
• Chip Wilson, Lululemon, 42
• Martha Stewart, Cookbook, 40
• Herbert Boyer, Genentech, 40
• Jeffrey Brotman, Costco, 40

• Martha Stewart, Catering, 56
• Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post, 55
• Julia Childs, Cookbook author, 50
• Leo Goodwin, Geico, 50
• Bernie Marcus, Home Depot, 50

It’s Never Too Late To Start

For most people who have a business, their first idea did not go so well. Don’t think of past business failures as a shortcoming within yourself. Think of it as lessons learned.

With everything you do, you are learning something, and you grow on that lesson. Starting a business is a huge learning experience. It’s never too late to start learning.

I’ve tried a few different ways to make money from home. I run my own business on retail platforms online. But, it did take me a while to find which one worked for me and which products work for my business model.

I’ve never looked at any way of doing business as a failure. It’s all been a learning experience.

Think of starting a business in the same thought as going to college. It takes four or more years to earn your degree. Less if you are really motivated and more if you have other life demands.

Never Give Up

I’m sure you plan to be on this planet for a long time to come. You have lots of time ahead of you to make your dream happen.

You may start with an idea for a business and that may morph into several different ideas. Keep going and keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities.