If you want to work for yourself or start a business but haven’t made any progress, then what’s stopping you?
Concerned about your age?
If you’re worried about your age, you should know that your chances of success are significantly higher if you are aged 50+[1] because of the valuable skills, experience, and contacts you have gained during your lifetime and career.
What about your personality?
I’ve been reading up on the essential attributes of successful entrepreneurs and employees and there’s a lot of overlap. For example (deep breath): adaptable, ambitious, communicator, conflict resolver, eager to learn, innovative, open minded, people skills, positive, proactive, problem solver, resilient etc. These attributes are common to successful people and we all have the potential to be successful.
Entrepreneurs (including business owners who employ others and those who only employ themselves) seem to have additional attributes such as: calculated risk-taker, comfortable with failure, confident, financial understanding, intuitive, passionate, robust work ethic, etc.
How important are these characteristics and how do you know whether you have them or could gain them? Let’s explore these terms.
Calculated risk taker
The clue is in the word ‘calculated.’ Yes, you need to consider risk when you are deciding whether to start up a business or go self-employed. But I’ve never known a successful entrepreneur who was a gambler, on the contrary, they don’t squander money. They’re just good at making decisions about risk, using as much information they can to inform their decisions. They also have a plan B and a financial foundation to fall back on.
Starting a business doesn’t need to be a leap of faith. If you can find evidence there is an attractive market for your idea at a price that lets you make a profit, plan your launch carefully, perhaps take some pre-launch orders to help you get a head start or keep your job (if you have one) until your new business can support you, then the risk of actually starting up is greatly reduced. You’ll need to work very hard, but it will be worth it.
I read this on LinkedIn: ‘According to a study on entrepreneurship by the Halle Institute for Economic Research, people who start a business are no more risk-tolerant than others, but they can become more comfortable with risk over time.[2]’ You can become more comfortable with risk over time too.
Accessing the support available in the UK for startups will also really help. Why not find out what support you could get in your area? Just look online, or read my blog post Can Networking Help Your Business?
Intuitive
The successful entrepreneurs I’ve known trust their gut. I’ve seen this so many times and think of it as subconscious decision-making, meaning that decisions are made very quickly without conscious explanation, but over time prove to be mostly (but not always) correct. Of course, these entrepreneurs have expertise and years of experience.
I read this in Psychology Today: ‘It is possible to hone your powers of intuition. To some degree, intuition stems from expertise, which relies on tacit knowledge. Strengthening intuition requires making use of feedback, comparing the real-life outcomes of situations with the intuitive decisions you made.[3].’
You do have intuition, but you may not have learned to trust your instincts and this should not be a barrier to starting up. You can strengthen your intuition (just Google how to do this 😊) while you gain experience and confidence.
Comfortable with failure
No one likes to fail, but if you can learn from your mistakes and move on quickly, then you are more likely to make better decisions and succeed in the future. It’s not only the fearless who become entrepreneurs.
‘Our research shows that fear of failure remains omnipresent as a new business develops. There is no escape. This is the paradox of the fear of failure: it can inhibit and motivate. Rather than simply stopping people from being entrepreneurial, fear of failure can also motivate greater striving for success; you are always nearer by not keeping still.’ [4]
You can learn how to manage your fear by reading articles and books or engaging a coach who will help you gain perspective and transform your negative fear of failure into positive motivation to move forward.
Confident
Your confidence can grow over time. I wrote a blog post about this topic ‘Self Confidence and Starting a Business,’ which you may like to read. To quote myself: ‘Success in business requires you to adapt, make changes and sometimes take risks, but the more you succeed, the more you believe that you can.’
Financial understanding
Most people have experience of managing their finances by the age of 50. Even if it’s not connected to work, everyone has experience of budgeting, paying bills, getting quotes etc. You can increase your business understanding by signing up for a course at your local Chamber of Commerce or Growth Hub, searching online for help or getting advice from an accountant or bookkeeper.
Robust work ethic
If you want to start a business, then to be successful you do need a strong work ethic.
‘Having a good work ethic generally means you commit yourself to doing the best job possible at all times. It can mean you possess dedication, responsibility, and a positive attitude towards everything your work requires. Doing your job diligently with a strong work ethic can help you perform tasks better, form stronger relationships with colleagues and develop a positive image for the business.’[5] You need to be the person that others would like to do business with or work for.
But what if you have a disability or health condition?
The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE) has a very informative article entitled Freelancing and Self-employment with a Chronic Illness ‘…it's likely that at least 1 in 4 freelancers may be affected in some way from chronic or long term illness, which may impact their capability to work.’ [6] The article defines chronic illness, describes the advantages and challenges of self-employment to people with chronic illness, lists the benefits and grants available, offers advice on how to manage a self-employed career with a chronic illness and provides a comprehensive list of support and other resources in the UK.
I hope you do not rule out self-employment. To give you an example, my sister Caroline has had MS for more than 30 years. Despite this she has been working as a life coach for over 12 years and her business continues to do well. She told me, ‘My practice fits my life. I can manage my workload so that I don’t get too tired, and having gained confidence through years of experience, I don’t get too stressed.’
Passionate
Business writers are almost unanimous in agreeing that having passion for what you do and/or a passion for business is crucial to being successful. ‘Passion is the fuel that entrepreneurs need to keep going. You don’t need a passion to start a business, but it does become a necessary component to keep the business running.’[7]
More wise words: ‘Money alone will not give you the life you want and also passion alone will not make a successful business…Combining your skills and passion with a basic understanding of business is the best way to form a profitable venture that you can enjoy for years to come.’[8]
So, do you have what it takes?
You have many years’ experience of life and work. If you’ve ever made decisions involving risk that proved to be right; followed your intuition and benefitted from it; failed at something only to pick yourself up and dust yourself off; managed your finances effectively; succeeded at something even if you didn’t feel confident; worked assiduously on an assignment, project or job and made yourself proud; and felt passionate about something that spurred you on, then you probably do. You can build on this experience.
But you also need a promising idea that you believe will work, a willingness to learn how to transform it into a business and deal with the inevitable challenges, and a strong desire to do your best to make it successful. There is lots of help available to you, why not take your first step?
Best wishes
Viv 🙂
[1] Statistics vary. Research from Aston University finds that 48% of the over fifties succeeded after 5 years in business compared to only 29% of those aged 18–49 years old. Research by S Herman (2017) and cited in a paper by Birkbeck, University of London states that 70% of the over 50s succeed compared to 28% of 18–49-year-olds[2].
[2] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-entrepreneurs-need-take-risks-succeed-neil-petch/
[3] https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/intuition
[4] https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/four-ways-entrepreneurs-cope-with-the-fear-of-failure/
[5] https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/work-ethic
[6] https://www.ipse.co.uk/member-benefits/ipse-advice/physical-wellbeing-advice/self-employment-with-a-chronic-illness.html
[7] https://medium.com/swlh/how-do-you-become-an-entrepreneur-without-a-passion-e538cb3d6e08
[8] https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/martin-800/turning-your-passion-into-a-business_b_9494328.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=aHR0cHM6Ly9wbHVtcy1rdW1xdWF0LWI1bWouc3F1YXJlc3BhY2UuY29tL2NvbmZpZy9wYWdlcw&guce_referrer_cs=wPf03PGdoXuxwMm9YmtaTA