In fact, statistically the majority of those who have become successful in business in one form or another are middle aged and older! This is often surprising since many people have a visual image of an entrepreneur as an up and coming youngster just cutting his teeth in the world of business. Older people that are in their forties or beyond have a great deal of life experience upon which to draw on. This experience helps in their journey and allows them to make better, more calculated decisions.



It may well be that the nature of the business is not directly associated with previous career or work experience, but in terms of dealing with people, managing money and planning for the longer term, age definitely helps. Understanding that current events and circumstances may be similar to past experiences, from which possible solutions can be drawn, makes it that much easier to make the right decisions.

A surprising proportion of people feel either undervalued at work, bored, under trained or simply stuck in a dead end job with no real prospects and no foreseeable changes possible. This is a dreadful situation to be in, since if you are unhappy with work, you are unhappy with a significant proportion of your life.

You sleep for about eight hours a day. Since you spend so much of your time in bed, you have probably made sure that the bed is comfortable, clean and warm. If it is uncomfortable so that you spend the whole night tossing and turning, looking forward to the alarm going off so that you can get up, then you're not getting proper rest, and life will feel pretty unbearable.

The same is true for work, since you probably spend about eight hours a day at work. If all you can think about is the end of the day and getting away, or the weekend when you can forget work completely, then you are throwing away a huge chunk of your life. Perhaps launching your own enterprise could offer you a much-needed exciting alternative.

Just imagine taking the eight-hour example above a little further. Imagine looking forward to work like you look forward to going to bed, or imagine wanting to spend that few minutes extra at work in the same way that you probably enjoy those extra few minutes in bed you sometimes manage to get away with? If you can even glimpse such a prospect, then you're already a step nearer understanding how enjoyable life can become when you are truly independent.

The feeling of satisfaction, enjoyment, achievement and general happiness is something that most entrepreneurs would say is their single biggest driving force. The freedom and independence from taking orders, filing reports and clock watching is something that can very quickly become the normal way of life once you have managed to successfully launch your business.

Having said that, the internet has allowed for an explosion in entrepreneurs, with the anonymity and faceless nature of online business allowing many people to trade and work in ways that are entirely accepted, yet would be questioned if attempted on the high street. Most people don't even think about the business owner when they place an online order, but perhaps some people would be a little more doubting if they saw a teenager running a retail store, or even a retired couple selling mobile phones from their living room. Yet, sometimes this is what is actually going on!

Many people have questioned whether entrepreneurialism is about instinct or about knowledge. The answer is that both are needed when it comes to the cut and thrust of the business world. What of those just starting out, perhaps embarking on a new path with little life experience behind them? In many of these cases, it is instinct alone which is governing many of the decisions they make. However, when young people fail, this often proves to be the best education that they have had! They have plenty of time to change tactics and try something different that might work better in the future.

Whether based on instinct or experience, research or gut reaction, it is certainly the case that age, sex, class and race have become utterly meaningless within the world of business. Not only has entrepreneurialism brought job satisfaction and success to many, if has helped to break down barriers in ways that have proven impossible in almost every other walk of life.