Are you a mature business owner, or wannabe business owner or entrepreneur? Have you found that as a more mature person in online business that most organisations/membership groups (especially those aimed at women) also seem to be run by what we’ll call, glamorous young things?
Do you find yourself thinking, that’s not for me because they are so pretty or handsome and young, they don’t have wrinkles, they’re so well put-together, they look like they’ve got their act together, etc etc etc?
Can you Make it as a Female Mature Business Owner?
It can be hard starting out when you’re a little older than all the ‘bossbabe’ types out there but we’re here to say, please don’t let that stop you. You have skills and experience that younger people just don’t have (more on this later) so your age can work to your advantage.
For us, as women over 50 (Nikki) and 60 (Gill), we definitely consider ourselves ‘maturepreneurs’. (We’re not adverse to a funky label! Let’s make it a thing, if it’s not already.) Traditionally, there were many more men in the online business world – thankfully, that began to change over recent years. The past decade has been peppered with ambitious women making their own rules and creating ultra-successful businesses.
We witnessed young women starting their own online companies – women in their 20s and 30s – and obviously we were inspired. But we also knew that there were plenty of middle-aged* (ugh we hate that term!) and older women starting, or wanting to start, new businesses and in the process, discover a new way of living and earning.
The Middle-aged Pioneers
So many people think that “people over 60” are old-aged pensioners who can’t use technology. 😱 This is nonsense!
As a now-63 year-old, Gill was using a mainframe computer back in the 70s. We’d love to see some of the younger generation handling one of those MFs haha!😁 Waiting for dial-up connections that could take a lonnnng time, then having to start all over again when the connection was lost. Or sending messages out into the ether almost a couple of decades before the WWW really became a thing. Connecting with other branches of an organisation without picking up the phone was a thing of total wonder in those days! The list goes on.
Never forget that the 60+ group in particular were at the forefront of technology 4 decades ago. We were the first ones to ever have mobiles, obviously fondly known as bricks before the smaller phones came along. We bought the Amstrads and the Spectrums, and spent many an hour inputting code to play simple games online. Gill’s mother, who is 90 this year, uses her laptop on a daily basis; she was also using a computer of sorts in the 1970s, in her job in the insurance industry.
Yes, technology has moved on – but so have we! And while we’re not saying every single ‘oldie’ can use the latest apps and gadgets, the rest of us shouldn’t be written off just because we aren’t millennials, either.
For those of us who aren’t up-to-date with modern technology, there’s more than enough help available online, especially on YouTube. And plenty of ‘older’ people on there teaching it, too. We have lots of information on our site, but if there’s anything in particular you want to read about, please do let us know.
So What Can a Mature Person Bring to the Table?
Firstly, the benefit of experience. You have the gift of knowledge. You also hopefully have the gift of being past the stage of not giving a sh*t! Because quite honestly, worrying is for young’uns and as we age, we don’t care quite so much what other people think of us anymore.
We also have patience and tenacity, both things that are essential when starting out in business (or any other venture). Perhaps we’ve had a long and successful career, which means years of creating and managing systems, processes, marketing, and people. Or we’ve been raising children and managing a home, itself involving a myriad of useful skills and knowledge: budgeting and finances, time management, people management, career and life advice, interior design, etc.
And we have maturity. There are many mature-thinking young people around, but ageing enables us to bring even more wisdom to the table.
When you really look at your life and what you’ve achieved, you’ll see that you have an awful lot to offer the world.
Ready to Start your Own Mature Entrepreneurial Journey?
We’d love to hear where you are right now. Are you just starting out, or have you been in business for a while? Do you struggle, or have you found making your living online a total breeze? (This is possible by the way, depending on one’s personality.) If you’d like to be featured here, just give us a shout.
Join us here at EasyPeasySuccess, the place for mature entrepreneurs to hang out, and let’s share your success story with the world. We’re cheering for you all!
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And Finally
*Back in the 60s and 70s, middle-aged was classed as people over 35. Can you imagine that nowadays? We suspect that mid-age range is now at least 45-70, but more likely 50-75. Have you seen how many trendy 60 and 70-year-olds there are these days? If you haven’t, take a look around on social media, the evidence is there. 😁
There is a woman on an insurance advert (UK TV) who says she’s 50, yet she looks around 75-80. This says a lot about how the advertising agency the company has used actually views older people! (And yes, that advert really, really annoys us. Do you recognise it? Just out of curiosity, let us know if it annoys you as well.) 😁