Entrepreneurship Over 40: The Mid-Career Transition from Dreamer to Doer Entrepreneurship is a journey that requires a leap of faith, and while age often comes with more cautious decision-making, it also brings experience and maturity that, matched with a passion and a vision, could provide the key to success.

At any stage of life, starting a business comes with the prospect of multiple risks and rewards. But when you're over 40, with a regular paycheque and family responsibilities, it's the risks that come into much sharper focus. With an established career in the corporate world working with some of the biggest global brands, it might have seemed illogical to suddenly walk away and step into the unknown.

I had always been certain that I wanted to run my own business, but it wasn't until I'd reached my 40s that the time was right to shift from dreaming to doing. Four years in, and I see how that experience and maturity has lent a hand.

Finding your passion
One of the biggest challenges –and perhaps one of the reasons this journey started later in life– was finding something I was truly passionate about. I'd explored franchising opportunities, but I was creative at heart, and that's what I needed to channel in my business. As an experienced professional it's likely that you've had days when you're just present for the paycheque, but this doesn't work as an entrepreneur. For me it was a small project that ignited a huge awakening, for others it could be a question of trying out different things. The key is to find your passion.

Facing your fears

My entrepreneurial journey was born out of the need for a new challenge, to create something original and to gain different skills and experience. Nevertheless, leaving behind a steady job and starting a new venture still brought about a sense of fear and confusion, alongside the excitement. Yet it's the career you're leaving behind that helps in facing those difficult emotions. Managing global campaigns, diverse teams, and big budgets for over 15 years gave me the resilience to develop a thick skin and the experience to navigate the confusion. If I'd have started a business earlier in life, that may not have been the case.

Taking one step at a time
I've seen young entrepreneurs that go all out on a big idea, only to fail or lose interest in the journey. Entrepreneurship is about opting-in to a phase of professional transition; to be successful and sustainable you need to take one step at a time. I liken it to entering a dark forest; you wouldn't run straight through it without fear of obstacles, you would take small careful steps to make sure you reached where you wanted to go. My only goal when I started out was to create my own liveable space, and step-by-step I've come to re-designing luxury properties.

Establishing a clear vision

Knowing your next destination is just as important as the steps you take. When we're younger we're often comfortable to go with the flow; in the startup context, going all out and seeing how it lands. As an employee, you have a team to motivate you and a manager to keep you accountable. As a start-up, it's a clear vision and goal setting that will motivate and measure your progress. Even if things go off course, knowing what you want to do next is important to sustaining your business in the long-term, whether through growth or diversification.

Entrepreneurship is a journey that requires a leap of faith, and while age often comes with more cautious decision-making, it also brings experience and maturity that, matched with a passion and a vision, could provide the key to success.