You've let entrepreneurship remain in your dreams all these
years. But maybe now that the kids are grown and you've spent
20 years or more as someone else's employee, your dreams are
roaring to the surface. You're in your 40s, 50s or 60s, and
you're feeling the undeniable pull of the entrepreneurial life.
"Since 9/11, people in general are not waiting to realize
certain dreams," says Kris Zeile, business coach and president
and founder of The Coaching Consortium in Barrington, Illinois.
"People in their 40s and 50s are motivated to try something
new because they realize they don't have unlimited
time."
Many entrepreneurs over 40 have already embraced the "no
time like the present" mentality. To hear these entrepreneurs
tell it, starting a business later in life was the best thing that
ever happened to them. It was a blessing in disguise to Ron Meritt,
founder of Meritt Electronics, when he was laid off from his
corporate job at the age of 44. In his former career, he saw a
pattern forming. Meritt would get hired by companies to set up
service and management processes. Once he'd get the processes
up and running--which generally took about three and a half to five
years--he'd get laid off. "I worked myself out of a
job," says Meritt, now 49. After cycling through the hire/work
hard/layoff process this last time, Meritt had an epiphany. He
didn't want to find himself in his mid-50s and laid off again.
"I thought, 'I'd better take that leap of faith
now.'"
The benefits of starting a business at middle age or older are
numerous, says Mel Chasen, author of Entrepreneurship Made E-Z. "After
having done so many things, you're able to use everything
you've learned," he says. All your life experiences, both
good and bad, can be harnessed into starting your business.
You've amassed experience, contacts and perhaps even a good
savings account.
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It was certainly perfect timing for Meritt when he started his
San Luis Obispo, California, business in 1998. He carried with him
the knowledge of the mistakes and triumphs of his former bosses and
colleagues in the corporate world. "Most of the bosses I saw
who failed did so because they became more obsessed with company
politics," he recalls.
Freeing himself from the worry of that kind of politicking,
Meritt focused on his passion: designing and manufacturing portable
video and DVD units for automobiles. He got the idea while
traveling with his children--he envisioned a simple, all-in-one
unit that could be plugged into the car AV outlet. Meritt
bankrolled the $100,000 start-up costs himself and has built the
company to over $40 million in projected 2003 sales.
While he confesses to having had some serious anxiety about
starting out on his own, Meritt notes that not trying to do
everything himself helped allay his fears during the start-up
phase. "Align yourself with other people and do your
homework," he says. "Get coaching from other
people--including your attorney--to cover your bases."
Originally published in the issue of Entrepreneur's StartUps
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