The media is full of success stories of young entrepreneurs that managed to ‘make it’ even with little or no work experience, little knowledge, and some luck. Young people want to be like them; older people admire their skills.

But although such news is everywhere, the truth is that some of the most successful entrepreneurs are much older than you think.

Names such as Harland David Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken), or Carol Gardner (Zelda) reached their highest success after the age of fifty. If you check their biographies, you might think that they were not the definition of people who had it all to succeed.

If you are a person who is in their best years (fifty or more), then you already have bigger chances to succeed in starting your business. You don’t have to quit your job, or even dedicate full-time if you are retired. You can start your side business and make it a success with a few things that are under your belt.

• Experience – It gives you the advantage to know where you stand, what you can do, and what you want to do. Experience is sparing you from wandering around and trying to figure out what you are good at.
• Education and knowledge – With or without college, at the age of fifty or so, you have dedicated a good amount of time to reading and educating yourself in areas you had interest for.
• Entrepreneurial spirit – Not every young person has it, but once you spend half of your life working, you strengthen your skills and (in case you have entrepreneurial spirit since forever) now you can feel that you can channel it in the right direction. Truth to be told, you can even start your business younger, but in a large number of cases, the entrepreneurial peak is reached around middle age.

So, are you ready to ditch that narrative that you ought to be ultra-young to start your business, even if it’s just a side business?