16 Reasons to start a business in your 20s & Young – Aspiring to be an entrepreneur?
Haven’t found the brilliant bright idea yet? A friend came by with a simple idea to sell something, should you take it up? Or maybe you should sit around and wait till you find the “Perfect” idea that can take over the world only to find out that someone in the UK, China or Japan has already started something similar.
My take on this topic is your should take up opportunity that comes you way and evaluate it on the way.
One of the best times to start your business is in your 20s (young in terms of human age but old enough to make good decisions) and we will like to share on this topic below base on some personal experience and also based off the experience of many who have became successful business man and entrepreneurs.
There are definitely many benefits and possibilities when you start your business young and in your 20s.
Waiting did not make the world greatest Entrepreneurs, starting early did. If you are someone who has a dream to be a successful business person, read on. Let us now share on the article on “Reasons to start a business in your 20s & Young”.
1. University College degrees aren’t worth as much as in the past
In the 21st Century, the use of a degree has fell so much it doesn’t really matter anymore if you have a degree. Unless you are trying to get a job role that will require specialized skills such as those of a lawyer or a doctor, you will still see the value in a College education.
But for those that do not require a certificate, for example those in the business related niche, marketing or business degrees do not hold that much weight anymore. Fact is someone who has self taught yourself marketing skill sets online and practice them as an intern or taking on freelance jobs might end up a better marketer than someone who has studied the 4 Ps and had not had a chance to actually put them into real world usage.
College degrees have basically became an entry ticket into your first job and the job experience and also what roles you have covered in your first job places much more importance than the actual degree or grades you achieved. For those with degrees from very common schools such as accounting or business or marketing, you might find your degree not worth as much as those that require more hands on experiences that are harder to come by.
Gone are the days when you will definitely make it big with a degree.
2. Risk Levels are much lower in your 20s
This is definitely one of the key things that i as a 31 year old will share with you that i do not regret starting in my 20s. As you age and as your start a family and elderly parents get on with age, comes responsibilities.
The fact is that some people may have had the idea of starting a business when they are young but they put it off for safety and the comfort of employment. When they realize that this is something they don’t want to do forever, it might be hard for them to leave employment.
The first few things that will stop you is probably the bills you have to pay. For those in their 30s or their 40s, the likelihood of owning a house on mortgage or a car on loan is high. For those with children and many mouths to feed, it makes it even tougher than before to even think of trying anything new at all.
This means that you will have to make enough income every month before you could even consider quitting a full time job.
This stops 90% of people in their 30s or 40s from ever starting a new business and embarking on entrepreneurship at all.
3. Energy Level is much higher
No one ever shares with you how tiring entrepreneurship can be.
There are many things that you have to take care of, such as the marketing, the accounting, the sales and also the hiring.
Someone who has no experience will have to learn on the job and learn everything from scratch.
When you reach the age of say 30 or 40s and you have children. Do you think you will have the same energy level of a 20 years old to pick up all this skills and at the same time caring for your 5 year old child?
Energy level also decline as you age and the older you are, the easier you will get tired from working long hours or having to socialize more to get more leads for your business.
Energy level also affects how long you can last in getting your business up to track. If you are tired and wear out by the constant working and entertaining, you will end up giving up much earlier than you should.
To keep yourself going on and on for your business, your youth is extremely important and this is something that we will take close attention to.
For someone in their 50s or 60s, your body may not be able to handle the long hours and the outdoor time anymore.
4. Motivation Level is much higher
Almost every other day an entrepreneur gives up the fight and heads back to employment.
The fact is entrepreneurship is not for everyone. And for those who do not have the means of staying long enough in something, you will want to give up real soon. Motivation to keep going can separate a failure from a success.
Sometimes, certain products or services just need to take time to hit the volume where it will actually work out.
Motivations to keep going on will fall as more responsibilities pile up and people have higher expectations for you as you age.
Also when you are young, more people around you will try to keep your going and motivate you. But when everyone is settled down, your friends may tell you to quit and stop trying!
5. More time to bounce back to employment
Everyone likes a good back up plan. Not all businesses succeed and not everyone is meant to be a business person.
If you start your new business young and you fail young, you still have time to head back to find a job with your college degree.
For some businesses, they might look at your resume as more of a gap year where you figure yourself out and will not treat it as much.
But if you are starting late in your age and try to find a job after, you might find it hard to get back.
Also, you know that when all else fails, you will not have problems finding a job as a young person.
Also going back to employment, after getting more experience and funds, you could even try again!
One of the few good reasons why you should be starting your new business when you are young in your 20s.
6. Safety nets are still somewhat in place
Safety nets are really what will allow you to even start a business in the first place. Starting your own business when you are young gives you an extra safety.
If your parents or elder siblings are still around and making good income, they might be able to still keep you in their house and paying for your utilities while you try to figure your way around your new business.
For those who have rent to pay and car payments to look after, they might not have this safety net to let them start their businesses in peace.
When you are older, your parents are also much older and more concerned about retirement and may dissuade you on pursuing your business dreams.
Even The Rock Dwayne Johnson moved back home when he was younger because he failed. Right now he is the leading actor and also a Serial Entrepreneur.
7. Timing to start a business will never be perfect
“I want to wait till i think up the most awesome idea”. Sound familiar? I’ve heard this line at least a hundred times. Trust me, they all end up not starting something.
There will never be a perfect time to start a business and never a perfect idea. You jump into it and start putting out fire from day one.
After multiple weeks or years of putting out fire, you might find yourself at the top of the game or pressing the restart button.
Fact is you might change your ideas or start new ideas along the way as you learn more about your industry or learn more about new ideas out there in the highly innovative world.
Pivoting like what many founders will like to call it is better than never founding. Procrastination will be your biggest regret in life if you do not take the leap early.
If you want to start something on your own and have always dreamed of being a boss. Its now or never, never wait and never ever go for second best.
8. Being young and new is great for innovation
Being new to the game is a great thing. You can challenge the norm and start new things and try new things that your older counterparts have not tried.
The young are usually more likely to push new barriers and get into newer way of doing things and this is great for business.
Innovation that improves your processing time and cuts cost will always give you the advantage over others in this entrepreneurship game in the long term.
For those who have done things in a certain way and see its benefit might find it hard to change.
Change is the only constant and we should always look towards making chances in life where we will improve either the productivity or a better standard of living.
9. Failing forward and Failing better
Most people seem to think that familiar is the most sinister thing one can experience. Most do not understand that with each failure, the founder learns something (unless of course you are someone who likes to commit mistakes over and over again.
Failing can be a very sobering thing and a great learning opportunity. Especially if you are someone who will sit down and analyze why you failed in the first place.
For those who fail forward, they will not make the same mistake the next round. Starting your business in your 20s gives you more time to fail forward and fail better.
This leads to a more successful business venture later in your life and better success in your entrepreneurship.
10. Older entrepreneurs like to support young entrepreneurs
Ask any business owner in their 50s and they will say they will love to support you as a young chap trying to get on your feet.
They have been there and done the same thing and they know how tough it is to be running a business when you are young.
For someone who is running a business in their 20s, you have no contacts and no experience, things are really tough and the older business owners will actually be very supportive of your plight.
They will prefer to work closely with you to give you this chance.
But do not squander it for yourself or others, they might end up not trusting you people if you fail them.
11. Momentum, Momentum, Momentum
Nothing stops people from getting things done than the very heavy I word, Inertia.
The fact is that someone who starts young have a much bigger momentum in place to keep going and to keep going upwards.
For someone who has not founded anything when they are young, the inertia to start will be so great that taking a nap might seem more appealing than being the next potential Billionaire!
When you think about momentum, when it comes to even stock trading, it takes compounding to get more money.
Same for you, your experiences, your contacts and your funds will compound with time as it builds up momentum!
Momentum keeps things going and it makes it hard to stop. This is one of the good reasons to keep going and start moving!
12. Easier to find mentors to guide and help you
Back to point 10, older entrepreneurs are more likely to want to work with a young person who doesn’t really have a fixed mindset yet.
The problem with many people as they age is not that they are not willing to learn but how hard it is to unlearn something they have already been doing for many years.
Habits are hard to break and this is something mentors will look out for, this is not the key to getting a mentor but youthfulness helps!
Mentors can make or break someone who is doing well. If you have someone who can teach you what to look out for and what to avoid, you can get there much faster than others.
One of the definite best reasons to start your business young in your 20s
13. There’s no “perfect” idea
The fact is that almost all different form of problems and ideas to solve it has come up once or twice or ready.
You cannot exactly rework the wheel and say that you solved an age old problem unless you are someone who is sitting in labs and testing new ways of cracking the Covid-19 virus.
But as someone who is based at home and trying to think up of great new ideas for a start-up business, i can assure you, you are not the first to think up of an app that is use SOLELY for this particular purpose and think that it’s going to make you a millionaire or the next Mark Zuckerberg.
Don’t wait, if you think the idea makes some sense, or you are offered an opportunity on a brick and mortar business, take it up!
Make your first pot of gold first then maybe looking into something that might revolutionize things.
Those who are always waiting for the perfect idea, just move on from them, it will never happen!
14. You figure out what you are good at and what you are not
The fact that you are young. You think you are good at everything.
The pride and the ego of youth makes you feel like you are a great person at marketing, you are great at leading a team.
You also think you are great at sales.
But the fact is you will eventually find out that you are only good at just that one or two things.
Others will have to step in to assist you where you have weaknesses and this is how it works!
15. You figure out what type of Business & Life Partner you need
Starting alone means you can move fast.
But if you really want to move far, you need to have good business partners to cover your weaknesses.
Along the way, you find out who is your perfect business partner and will do better with them.
Along the way as you date more people, you will also figure out, as an entrepreneur, who is suitable for you.
Understanding and kind is what an entrepreneur needs.
For you will have to burn many nights to bring your business to where it deserves to be.
16. Your Business Network will be much wider and stronger
When you start your business young, you get to meet more people through networking events.
As you age and as you grow your business, your fellow young business owners also grow with you.
As a business owner, you will also network and meet more people along the way.
This will allow you to amass a huge group of friends in the business field.
And as a business owner, you need to know that your network is your networth.
This article was previously featured on our sister company, K Cloud Accounting.
Koh Management is a Singapore based accounting services firm using Xero Accounting Software.
We provide monthly accounting services for SMEs and also Corporate Secretarial Services for Singapore Firms.
Our monthly bookkeeping services Singapore packages also include Taxation services as well as Compilation of Financial Reporting Services.
If you require a partner to get your business going in Singapore, you can speak to us at Koh Management.
Thank you for reading our article on “Reasons to start a business in your 20s & Young”. We will strongly encourage you to start your business young and in your 20s.
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