A report developed by Frank Velázquez and Marisol García for Entrepreneur shows three cases of successful entrepreneurs older than 50 years old.

Population ages. That is a fact. According to the United Nations (UN), people who are 55 years old or older, currently represent 17% of the global population. As regards countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), this percentage is expected to increase to 50% by 2050.

By 2050, Mexico will have 6.3 million inhabitants who will be 80 years old or older, which is 4.4 million more than it currently has. People living longer is good news. However, population ageing poses new challenges in terms of healthcare, social security and the economy.

“There is a strong desire among elderly adults to go back into the labor market”, says Julio Garza Hoth, founder of Entrecanos, an initiative that seeks to encourage the elderly to get back into the labor market, as employees or as entrepreneurs.

There are two causes for this desire: the first is an economic factor, as retirement pensions tend to be insufficient to cover the needs of everyday life. The second, is an emotional factor, “that is usually more important”, says the entrepreneur, “we want to feel useful”.

It is even therapeutic. “Getting older people involved with work could improve their physical and mental health, helping them to remain active and mentally stimulated”, states PwC’s Golden Age Index 2017.

The report also points out that encouraging older people to remain active for longer could also increase the GDP, as well as consumers’ purchasing power, and tax recollection levels.

“If OECD member countries would raise their 55 to 69 years old employment rate to make it match the high performance of Switzerland, they could increase their GDP in around USD 2 billion in the long term”, states the report.

Entrepreneurship is usually associated with youth instead than with corporate experience, but the reason for that is not clear, particularly when considering that age is becoming into a major factor when it comes to business success.

“We are starting to understand that, today, business are made in a different way than they used to, and that it is not too late to make the most of the knowledge acquired through years of professional experience to start a project on our own”, says Ángeles Toledo, director of Innovation and New Projects at Gallástegui Armella Franchises and mentor at Startup Mexico.

It is a global trend. In countries such as England, 70% of businesses developed by people over 50 years old get to survive for over 5 years, unlike business developed by young people, which’s survival rate is only about 28%. In Mexico, youth entrepreneurship is favored, even though young entrepreneurs tend to abandon their projects due to lack of experience or because their priorities change, says Toledo. “When you are 50 years old, you already know the business world, and have higher levels of resilience to face challenges”. You might also have more financial freedom and you probably know your own strengths and weaknesses.

Globally, the number of self-employed elderly adults beats the number of self-employed young adults. Around 18% of people aged 50 to 64 years old and 13% of people aged 65 to 80 years old work on their own, against just 11% of adults aged 18 to 29 years old. This suggest that people who are 50 years old or older have a key role to play in every economy of the world, and for those who aim at stimulating economic activity, helping these ignored entrepreneurs could prove to be useful.

“If elderly adults become competent in generating their own income through self-employment, they might contribute to the economy and generate tax incomes” explains the report.

BusinessSenior was created to stimulate entrepreneurship among elderly adults. It is a program of BusinessKids, a pioneer brand of childhood entrepreneurship in Mexico that, by using mental exercises, dynamics, games, concepts’ transmission sessions, and use of new technologies, help elderly adults to develop their ideas while using their experience and knowledge to become entrepreneurs.

Mary Carmen Cabrera Cisneros, the person who created this course, says that it enables elderly adults to reconnect with themselves, with their dreams and passions, with their ability to do, achieve and show that they can create whatever they want. She claims that “entrepreneurship has no age limits. Far from disappearing over the years, ideas feed from experience and, no matter when you discover it, vocation is a call”.

Three success stories:

CASE ONE

Harvesting success

Nine years ago, María Elena Chargoy and Pablo Hernández, decided to start a new life with their kids, away from Mexico City. They moved to Guanajuato in order to gain life quality, bought a semi-desert piece of land in the community called Rancho Bonito, they planted prickly pear and olive trees to start their own food business.

The project became Dehesa San Isidro, an artisanal producer that uses organic crops to prepare green prickly pear juice, dehydrated olives, black olives tapenade, olives salt, jam, and sweets. Currently, their products are sold in City Market, Soriana, City Club, La Comer and in small local stores.

María was 42 years old and Pablo 49 when they came up with the idea of becoming a team to start their own business. Today, Maria is responsible for the industrial and commercial processes, while Pablo runs agriculture activities. Together, they have faced well-known brands by producing innovative products, innocuous food, sustainability, and a social project that employs poor women from the community.

Maria states that it has not been easy. Being 51 years old she says there is little room to make mistakes, but she suggests entrepreneurs to make such mistake quickly to get better and better. She believes that a mature age is the best time to start your own project and use the experience and knowledge gained through life.

Dehesa San Isidro’s production is limited for the time being, but this couple of entrepreneurs have ambitious plans for the future. Pablo says that they will keep on promoting olives consumption with the support of Olivicultores de Guanajuato, an association he has recently founded. In addition, in the months to come they will include nuts and olive oil to their products supply, aim at expanding their commercial reach and plan to conquer the US and Canada markets.

CASE TWO

Ecological innovation

Back in 1982, Basilio Capetillo used to sell coffee at IMSS clinics, the ISSSTE and even at different government institutions, using vending machines he had rented and that worked through hydraulic connections. This business enabled him to get to know the industry, and he even was a supplier of water treatment equipment in two companies.

Basilio currently has his own business: Industrias Makech, a leader brand in the production and commercialization of ecological urinals, toilets, sinks and bathroom accessories, sold through distributors in Mexico, Spain, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Guatemala. During the 20 years he has been in the market, he managed to add clients such as Sears, Coca-Cola, the Mexican Stock Exchange, or the Secretariat of Healthcare.

Basilio requested a $ 50.000 loan from the bank to start this company when he was 50 years old, after seeing a urinal that did not use water and encouraged by the ecologist Ron Sawyer to invent a way to prevent urine from polluting with other liquids. So, he created his own ecological 100% dry urinal, which saves up to 250,000 liters of water per year, the star product of Industrias Makech.

Today, being 71 years old, Basilio’s goal is to have distributors and representatives all over the country, and he claims that he will soon release a new system that is already being developed.

CASE THREE 

Pro-health marathon

Luis Chávez was 52 years old and Jesús Rodríguez 49 when they decided to start their adventure. They met in Mexico, after leaving Venezuela. Jesús had endured facial paralysis, and needed to undergo rehabilitation at home, but when he realized how hard it was to find specialized physiotherapists, he decided to create a fast and simple way to contact them.

Kuidisalud was born. It is a digital platform that was started with a B2B concept were doctors recommend the tool to their patients in order to hire a physiotherapist. Nowadays, anyone can request the service of a professional specialized in 12 areas, such as nursing, traumatology, dentist, or physiotherapy, at home, using just an app or a website, and having the chance of requesting urgent attention in case of an emergency.

Currently, the platform works as a market place with healthcare services and medical equipment can be directly bought form the supplier. Kuidisalud is also a window of opportunities for professionals to access the labor market, and earn a certificate from different universities. The site currently has agreements with IPETH, Unitec, UVM, CMUCH, and FIMPES, but the goal is to get to 399 schools.

Even though entrepreneurs say the ecosystem is focused young people, they are willing to keep on running this marathon. They have expansion plans in Latin America and Spain, and they expect to carry on an investment round. Their passion for sports is the same they have for their business, and every medal they have won in the past reminds them that they must be prepared and persevere to reach the goal: creating a real healthcare ecosystem.

Source: Entrepreneur