Transitioning from full-time employment to entrepreneurship can be a taunting task. While entrepreneurs enjoy a great deal of undeniable excitement in their respective lines of work, the lack of security doesn’t do wonders for your stress levels, your personal life, or your bank account. However, doing it when your young can set you up for success down the road. But what about older innovators looking to get into the business of starting up? Turns out, they’re doing pretty well too.
According to a study from Syracuse University and Aalto University, senior employees that make the transition into entrepreneurship are seeing a notable increase in quality of life. These late-career individuals, despite being less financially secure, have the social and financial flexibility to improve their happiness in a meaningful way.
“Although some forms of entrepreneurial activity can be restricted to certain times and locations, the autonomy and control to decide when, where, and how to perform work is recognized as the main utility of entrepreneurship compared to full-time organizational employment,” wrote Teemu Kautonen, Ewald Kibler, and Maria Minniti, the authors of the study.
While flexibility for senior entrepreneurs is an understandably attractive perk, it’s not the only one, as the current workforce is not exactly set up to accommodate the needs of older employees. By embarking on the self-employment adventure that is entrepreneurship, older entrepreneurs will be privy to a wide range of benefits that go far beyond simple flexibility.
“An additional advantage of working for oneself compared to working for an employer is that working life is less subject to negative social interference from others (e.g., ageist organizational practices), so allowing people to implement a preferred and personal style of working and to achieve their personal goals,” according to the study.
As the study goes on to explain, the benefits of senior entrepreneurs goes far beyond quality of life for late-career individuals. It also has notable societal implications that could do things like alleviate the pressure on Social Security and improve elder care with more relatable minds in the field of entrepreneurship. And if that’s not an increase in quality of life, I don’t know what is.
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