Forget slowing down and wasting away after 50. Unsurprisingly, people are increasingly turning to entrepreneurship to broaden their horizons well into, and past, retirement.
Did you know that research shows 55-year-olds have more innovation potential than 25-year-olds? That’s right, and the proof is in the pudding, or perhaps the soda or fried chicken.
Why? Because the founders of McDonald’s, Coca Cola, and Kentucky Fried Chicken were all over the age of 50 when they created their businesses. Today they are some of the largest, well-known businesses of our day.
Still, the fact is, many of these folks were just ordinary people like everybody else. They just decided to ditch the typical retirement life or say goodbye to their boring, unfulfilling office jobs in an attempt to be their own boss.
Age should never be viewed as a deterrent. Consider that Ray Croc started McDonald’s with Richard James McDonald when he was 52. Even Momofuku Ando, the inventor of ramen noodles, didn’t think up that delicious Japanese noodle soup until he was 48, with the pre-cooked noodles not fully taking off until well into his 50′s.
Always remember that experience matters, and you’ve got a lot of it. By 50, most people are well aware of their strengths and limitations. When it comes to collaboration and creativity, you’re in a sweet spot.
Gene Zaino, who built MBO Partner up from the bottom, has sage advise on what success after 50 means in saying that “you’re at a point in your life where you need to be protective of what you have,” and yet he points to growth as the primary motivating factor.
In the end, as with anything else, you are in control of your own success. Just don’t let your age limit you much like other successful entrepreneurs did before you.
