Does Age Matter When Building A Successful Business?

The data shows that average age of a successful entrepreneur, when they started business is 42 years!

That might surprise many because early 40's is considered very late in the Internet world. I recently met an IIT-Bombay student who's already running his profitable company right out of college.

There's a big gap in starting a business and running a successful, profitable business. It's become easy to start a business. Anyone can register a private limited company and officially start a business.

However, it takes years of hard work to build a sustainable and profitable business.

This mostly applies to the traditional businesses. In the digital world, however, the barrier to entry is minimal.

All you need is an Internet connection and a device to start your successful business. Anyone with basic skills sets like -

• Building a website
• SEO, SEM
• Basic programming knowledge
• UI / UX / Design Skills
• Affiliate marketing

can start an online business from their bedroom and generate a steady income within a short time.

No wonder the age to build a successful business is coming down.

Experience comes with age and it matters in building business

I've realised that there are few things in life and business that can only be learned over a period of time; through experience. These can't be learned in a college or through books or video courses.

The maturity to handle failure, knowledge of market, product-market fit, team management, risk management et al can only be learned through experience.

In summary, age does not matter when building a successful business. However, the average age when most people are 'successful' in the eyes of society will continue to be late 30s or early 40s. I'm open to ideas on this topic.

This is an interesting discussion. I think age does not matter; in the sense that several entrepreneurs started their businesses very late. Following are few of the entrepreneurs who started business late but became very successful -

Ray Kroc: He was 52 when he started expanding McDonald's into the global fast-food empire we know today. Before that, he was a struggling milkshake machine salesman.

Arianna Huffington: At 55, Arianna launched the Huffington Post, which became one of the most popular news and opinion websites and blogs. It was later sold to AOL for $315 million.

Reid Hoffman: The co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid was 43 when he launched the professional networking site, which went on to be acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion.

Harland Sanders (Colonel Sanders): The founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) started his venture at the age of 65.

Today, KFC is an internationally recognized brand with thousands of outlets worldwide.

One of the key advantages of starting late is the wealth of experience that an entrepreneur gets. With age, comes the wisdom to make better and well-informed decisions.

It also helps minimize the risks and improve the chances of success.

A study conducted by the Census Bureau and two MIT professors in 2018 found that a 50-year-old startup founder is 2.2 times more likely to found a successful startup as a 30-year-old.

Furthermore, a 40-year-old founder is 2.1 times more likely to establish a top 0.1% growth startup than a 25-year-old founder.

These statistics clearly indicate that age is not a barrier, but rather an advantage in the entrepreneurial world.

I think age should not be seen as a hindrance to building a successful business.

As the examples and statistics provided demonstrate, older entrepreneurs bring valuable experience to their ventures, which can help them make better decisions and minimize the chances of failure.