Four Traits Entrepreneurs Need for Success

Is there such a thing as an “old” entrepreneur? We always hear stories about some 20-year old who starts a company in their parents’ basement only to sell it for $10 billion in a few years to some multi-national company.

But according to an 2018 MIT study, the average age of successful founders who’ve started a company with at least one employee is 45.

That’s great news for those of us who may be starting down the entrepreneurial path later in life like these people:

• Colonel Harland Sanders, the man behind Kentucky Fried Chicken, or KFC as it’s now known, was 62 when he started selling his special recipe. With only a 6th grade education and a $105 monthly social security check, he set out to find restaurants that wanted to use his recipe and pay him four cents for every chicken sold. By 1964 he’d built a franchise base of 600 eateries and sold the company for a cool $2 million dollars at the young age of 74.
• Ray Kroc was 52 and selling milk shake machines when he happened upon a restaurant in Arcadia, CA called McDonald’s Hamburgers. Two brothers ran the business and Kroc convinced them to let him sell franchise rights to the brand. After seven years of expansion, Kroc bought out the brothers for $2.7 million and spent the next 16 years running the company that was worth $500 million when he died in 1984. 
• Everyone knows the GEICO gecko, but few know it was 52-year old Leo Goodwin and his wife who founded the Government Employees Insurance Company. The Goodwin’s disrupted the insurance industry, during the Great Depression no less, by targeting federal employees directly and bypassing salespeople and commissions. They worked 12-hour days and retired in 1958 when their company was worth $40 million.

Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook at age 19 famously said, “Young people are just smarter.” But the MIT research shows of the 2.7 million who started their businesses between 2007 - 2014, the average age was 42. And prior experience in the business you start matters with a vastly higher rate of success for those who had a background in the school of hard knocks. 

Other interesting facts they found include:

• A 40-year-old is two times more likely to found a successful startup than a 25-year-old.
• A 50-year-old is 2.8 times more likely to found a successful startup than a 25-year-old.
• And a 60-year-old is three times as likely to found a successful startup than a 30-year-old. 

Whether you’re young or old, starting a new business takes a lot of hard work, capital, and time. Here are four of the traits you need to be a successful entrepreneur: 

1. Belief in Yourself. Only 25% of businesses survive more than 10 years. A steadfast belief in yourself and what you are doing will help you survive the trying times and struggles you’re bound to face. You alone determine your success or failure, and all the choices you make daily must reinforce that belief. Expect frustrations, setbacks, and failures, and then use them to make your beliefs even stronger. 
2. Experience. It’s rare for younger people to have the experience needed for long-term success. Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and others are exceptions to this rule, but the majority of us struggle when we’re young to gain experience through success and failure. There is really no substitute for the school of hard knocks, and you’ll find many of the situations you struggled through are exactly what you need to start a successful business later in life.
3. Always be Learning. Many people believe once they finish college their learning days are over. Without exception, those who succeed over the long haul are those who are continuously learning. Become a prolific reader, watch videos, take online courses or classes at your local college. In the world today, if you aren’t constantly learning new skills, you’ll become obsolete in a very short time. As Jim Rohn, the American entrepreneur and speaker notes, “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” Always be learning.
4. Stay connected with Your Network. It’s impossible to be successful without the help of others. Throughout life we’re constantly meeting new people and making connections that may be mutually beneficial at some point. As an entrepreneur, it’s vital we stay in touch with those in our network be they friends, co-workers, or customers. Stay connected with phone calls, Zoom or Teams calls or FaceTime. Email and texts are okay, but hearing a voice or seeing a face makes for much stronger connections and words that can’t be misconstrued. 

As an older entrepreneur, you’ll likely get strange looks from many who assume only youth should attempt such things. Don’t let them get you down, and remember to keep challenging yourself and push your boundaries every day. The odds are in your favor. 

Mark Twain, one of my favorite writers and humorists, brings it all home with this quote: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” And good luck as you pursue that which most will never even dare to seek.