Starting a business at 50: is it too late?.
Starting a business at 50 is not too late. In the full US data, success rates look fairly flat from the mid-forties into the sixties, and the fastest-growing firms had founders who averaged 45.
What the evidence says.
This is one of the few places where the research is comfortable rather than hedged. Azoulay and colleagues matched every US business to its founder's age through tax records. The founders of the fastest-growing firms averaged forty-five. Moreover, success rates stayed fairly level well past fifty.
However, above the sixties, the data runs thin. Saying so is more honest than pretending otherwise.
Why starting a business at 50 can be an advantage.
The age itself does not help. Instead, what tends to come with it does: some savings, a trade in your hands, and a clear view of one specific opportunity. In addition, industry experience was the strongest predictor of success in the same study.
What to watch for.
So be strict about the kind of years you have. Years close to the work count more than years spent above it. Also, if your experience is all in a large company, you may know the customers well but never have sent an invoice.
Finally, do not read the study as permission to wait. Different people started at different ages, and nobody followed the same person over time. Therefore the clock does not work for you; the work does.
Starting a business at 50: list your unfair advantages.
Write down three things your years in one industry taught you that a younger competitor could not learn quickly.
Then write the one gap you would need to fill, such as invoicing, sales or hiring.
From the book.
No, and this is the one place where the evidence is comfortable rather than hedged, because success rates look fairly flat from the mid-forties into the sixties. Above that the data runs thin, and saying so is more honest than the alternative.
I Want to Start a Business but I Can't Quit My Job, chapter 2: The forty-five-year-old founder
Questions about starting a business at 50.
Is 50 too old to start a business?
No. Success rates in the US data look fairly flat from the mid-forties into the sixties.
Is starting a business at 50 riskier than at 30?
The data does not show that. What changes is your situation: savings, debts, health cover and family. The book's later chapters price those.
What business should I start at 50?
Start from the trade you know best. Industry experience was the strongest predictor of success, not education or general business skills.
Read the whole chapter.
This lesson covers one section of chapter 2, “The forty-five-year-old founder”. The book goes further, with the full evidence, the stories and every exercise.
