The Truth about Starting a Business over 50

SuzanneNoble
Sep 5, 2018 · 3 min read

“I can’t imagine my mother doing what you’re doing,” said the twenty-something as we shared a networking beer.

“What, creating an app? Why not?”

At this point he’d backed himself into a corner. I’d seen it before. But with the sangfroid of young men in tech, he continued.

“It’s just not something people like you do.” I laughed. Inside I wasn’t laughing.

At fifty-six, I was easily the oldest person in the room by at least, oh, probably 30 years.

His response was typical of others I elicited while hawking my new, shiny app, Frugl, amongst the tech community in London. One investor told me, “We don’t usually invest in people like you.”

I know Frugl is a good business idea. I know because I’ve seen and heard hundreds of pitches that were just remakes of something that already existed. I’ve framed it and reframed it over a long period of time to get it right. But there’s one thing missing.

Youth. The narrative around startups is a highly simplistic one. Startup = youth. Like beauty = blonde it’s reductive and myopic.

It wasn’t all bad There were people who were in my corner: the Series A guys — startups that had raised at least £1m or — who were intrigued that a woman over 50, a highly successful ex PR had self-funded her startup. ‘Good on you’ they said. It felt like a pat on the head that I didn’t want.

Where were the other fifty-something entrepreneurs hiding? According to the Office of National Statistics, over 50s comprise 20% of people starting new businesses. A major trend in startups is the participation of those aged over 55. Were they scared to come out in case someone saw them?

At this point I had two choices. I could wallow in the narrative or I could do something about it. So I chose the latter. I already had a website and Facebook group called Advantages of Age to challenge the media narrative around ageing. Just to be clear this wasn’t about being anti-youth or defensive: I was simply pointing out that all the best parties were usually comprised of diverse ages and personalities.

With members increasing every day I pitched my idea of a Business Academy for over 50s. Assisted by a grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation I hired a room to run the course. And I brought one of Frugl’s first investors, Yvonne Fuchs, with me. At 61 with over thirty years of experience as a businesswoman, coach and mentor, Yvonne was the perfect partner.

We devised a monthly programme aimed at teaching aspiring or existing entrepreneurs over 50. We planned the course which covers strategy,business planning, financing and marketing. In November 2017 we had our first intake of around 40 pupils. To date over half of these have created a business and have clients.

The pilot gave us a lot of knowledge for our second course which starts on September 26th in Central London. It’s a brilliant opportunity for new business owners to learn how to build and grow their business but, more importantly, come out of hiding and meet other like-minded people… who just happen to be over 50.

SuzanneNoble

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