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Lessons on entrepreneurship from the ‘wisdom generation’

By - 09 Feb 2024 09:15 PM

Entrepreneurs often conjure up images of people who are young. But, in reality, people sometimes also choose to start a business after working for years under somebody. Some even take this path after retirement.While these people may not show the energy of a young person, remember that they offer an unparalleled advantage because of years of expertise and experience. Some companies like WisdomCircle even help people over 55 years — it terms them as part of the “wisdom generation” — find meaningful work opportunities.

Life before entrepreneurship: Srivastava is an experienced marketing, advertising and branding professional with an eye for spotting and developing ideas and concepts. He worked in these areas for 36 years. One of the stints got him a mandate to set up an agency in India where he worked on automotive as well as D2C marketing with multiple initiatives across social and digital media, data analytics.Life as an entrepreneur: Srivastava became an entrepreneur in 2023 when he set up a brand strategy and creative ideas boutique with the aim to make consumer behaviour a part of marketing focus.

Challenges of starting a business late: The biggest challenge is initial inertia. Once you overcome that, the whole prospect of working with a lean team. From an MD’s mindset of presiding and guiding, one has to move to a thinker and doer on-the-fly-kinda persona. Another challenge is to keep the value proposition of the business entity on a par with the competition from the word go.

What did you learn along the way: Persistence pays. One needs to ride through setbacks and delays; take encouragement from one’s track record. Build a committed core team that believes in the venture. Build a young team as they are far more resilient & diligent, and are digital natives.