Over-40s wrongly believe they are too old to start businesses

Summarised from BristolLive's report · Updated 9 Oct, 18:25 · Archive

More than four million British over-40s are shelving business ideas because they think they are too old, research finds.

BristolLive reports that research of 2,000 adults found more than four million over-40s are shelving business plans. Among those sitting on an unpursued idea, 38% believe they are now too old to start a business, while 21% fear it will not succeed. If the average sole trader turns over £90,000 annually, the lost revenue from these stalled ideas could amount to £391 billion.

The research was commissioned by small business insurer Simply Business to launch the Second Act Entrepreneur Fund, which is giving away £50,000 in grants and coaching to five entrepreneurs aged 40 and over. Levi Roots, who was 48 when he pitched Reggae Reggae Sauce on Dragons' Den in 2007, said: 'Ideas don't have a use-by date, and neither do you.' He noted there is 'a huge amount of talent in this generation that's just waiting to be acted on'.

Read the report

• Over-40s think they're 'too old' to start a business, new study findsBritain could be missing out on more than £391 billion of entrepreneurial potential as more than four million over-40s put their business plans on hold, research findsBristolLive · 9 Oct, 16:04

In this story: Britain · Simply Business · Levi Roots · Reggae Reggae Sauce · Dragons' Den

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