Too old to be an entrepreneur, a little late in the game at 35? I was sick for long time.

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Hello Fellas,

I’m 35 going on 36 in a few months. Why did it take all this time to think of being an entrepreneur?

Well I have been sick all my life and couldn’t work or go to university until recently. I went threw three years college before in the past , but then the sickness came back and I had to drop out for a long, long time up until now.

Anyway I’m getting better now according to my doctors. I used to have many jobs and I hated them all, hated working for mostly jerks. I had one boss that was nice to me and kind, and guess what? I worked much, much harder for him then those jerks, all because he treated me well like a human and not some machine. I would much rather work for myself. I don’t think I necessarily need an MBA , what do you think? In today’s market do you need a business degree. I also doubt I will ever get into Wall Street because those men go to Ivy League schools and I can’t get into any of those. Even if my grades were perfect I still probably couldn’t get into an Ivy League business school or work on Wall Street. Think I should get my MBA, do I need one to become super-rich?

If you guys have anything to say, any advice, opinions, thoughts, etc. that you think will help me in the right direction then by all means, please feel free.

Nope, no MBA needed. First Create something... then find a banker, an attorney and a CPA to handle the BS; focus on your "product." Grow it and sell it and possibly sell out!

 

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[GuestUser3010h]

Bless the people of this forum for the patience they have with newbies, patience I could never have.

Anyways, I sometimes think you guys have way too much time on your hands, but then I remember some of the most active people on here are rich so I just keep reading.

Indeed. Thank you all for your valuable insights.

 

[Guest3722A]

I also doubt I will ever get into Wall Street because

Curious as to why you mentioned Wall Street. Do the markets interest you?

 

[GuestUser3010h]

Curious as to why you mentioned Wall Street. Do the markets interest you?

I LOVE THE MARKETS! I dabble in penny stocks only because I’m not that rich, yet ;-) Penny stocks are all I really know, but I do watch the markets carefully and I know quite a bit about trading and stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.

I only mentioned Wall Street because even if I got my MBA, it would only be from a non-Ivy League, and that’s basically all they hire. That, plus my age (35) are reasons they would not put me on.

 

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[Guest3722A]

I LOVE THE MARKETS! I dabble in penny stocks only because I’m not that rich, yet ;-) Penny stocks are all I really know, but I do watch the markets carefully and I know quite a bit about trading and stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.

I only mentioned Wall Street because even if I got my MBA, it would only be from a non-Ivy League, and that’s basically all they hire. That, plus my age (35) are reasons they would not put me on.

If that's who you are at the core, then why not obsess in it? Why not find one instrument to trade and watch it day in and day out. All day and all night. Learn how it reacts to economic events and world news. Get to know it like a family member. Then paper trade it until you're consistently profitable then do this for at least 3 months. 12-16 hours a day. Head down and trade. When you're ready, you'll know.

 

[Late Bloomer]

I LOVE THE MARKETS! I dabble in penny stocks only because I’m not that rich, yet ;-) Penny stocks are all I really know, but I do watch the markets carefully and I know quite a bit about trading and stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.

Man you are fortunate that what you love and study for free, is what many people get paid to deal with. You have got to get yourself into an environment where these topics are the focus of conversation throughout the work day!

Every medium size town has companies that deal with this, plus financial departments in larger companies (and in government) that administer the organization's own financial instruments and manage their portfolios. You don't have to move to Wall Street to find jobs that deal with tickers, quotes, charts, asset allocations.

You might be able to be a volunteer member of the financial committee for a worthy local nonprofit. You know how many community minded do-gooders there are, who are totally lost when it comes to the numbers?? Another option, you could join Toastmasters and give a series of ten minute talks about how to understand different types of financial products. You could go to Startup Clubs and say you don't have a product idea but you love learning all about stocks and bonds and options. You know how many inventive founders would love to have someone who can help them with the numbers?? Become a Reg D and crowdfunding hero in your hometown!

I only mentioned Wall Street because even if I got my MBA, it would only be from a non-Ivy League, and that’s basically all they hire. That, plus my age (35) are reasons they would not put me on.

I don't have the link right now, but there's a guy with a web site full of his articles about breaking into Wall Street. He has a lot of free content, and sells further info on the subject. He talks some about so called second tier firms and cities that don't need the impressive pedigree. Oh I found it, here we go:
Articles - M&I
Most of his stuff is for people deciding about college or graduate school at the typical age. But he has some case studies and tips about people who transitioned into a financial career at a later age.

Visit local meetups dealing with investing. Let them know you are starting to research a potential career change into something in the financial investments field, have they ever heard of a job that provides a foot in the door without needing an MBA from a top 10 school? You can also build your network on this forum, CaliforniaCPA is the kind of person you should reach out to.

 

[biophase]

This is the most difficult part, because every product or service has already been filled...right on down to even the most infinitesimal niche market. Wouldn’t you say?

Not quite, you see there 8,7,6,5,4,3,2 and 1 minute abs. But nobody has made 30 second abs yet!

 

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[biophase]

It's never too late, and 35 is still pretty young. I was reading about entrepreneurs who failed forward until their 30s or 40s, some starting successful businesses to go bankrupt later, and some failing until they figured one thing out.

I was 36 when I started my first business.

 

[Late Bloomer]

Not quite, you see there 8,7,6,5,4,3,2 and 1 minute abs. But nobody has made 30 second abs yet!

Rollin' on the floor here, gettin' my abs done right in 30 seconds...

 

[ALC]

Unlearn what you've learn and learn what need to be learned > Focus on how our fellow fastlaners on this forum has successfully started a business / build an empire.

Read the books as much as needed to understand what you need to do in order to find a business idea.

Don't read any books on recommandations on Amazon.com, it's just a trap to get you addicted to self help, just focus on TMF /USTed.

They're ideas everywhere, you could build a blue ocean business where's nobody has ever tried to, you could improve a damn water pistol for kids and it would make a fortune with the right strategy, you could copy a business/service someone is already doing and it would work, you could look at other countries and see which business is not on your country yet and use this advantage..

It's simple, but it's hard. And it's different for any of us, you could have your fastlane idea in 5/10/20 years from now, you don't know, but keep looking for it.

 

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[Counter]

The best thing about entrepreneurship is that anybody can do it at any age. It doesn't matter whether you wasted the best part of life, but don't lose hope. Remember Colonel Sanders, he made which is now a multi-billion dollar at the age of retirement.

 

[MitchM]

Being an entrepreneur requires enough intelligence to learn valuable skills and enough patience, deligence, and consistency to grow a business without a lot of upfront payoff.

Based on your post - as you are right now it’s not going to work out for you. And that’s not me being an a**hole, that’s me being kind because you need to know that you’ve got to improve. But if you’ve brought yourself here then that’s already the first step - and a much larger one than many will ever take.

Right now, Your mindset is completely F*cked. Read MJ’s books immediately - then come back and get ready to do more growing and learning.

 

[David4431]

Hi @Makip - I went to one of these MBA programs that you've brought up so I'll give you my perspective and hopefully it helps you. You absolutely do not need to attend a top MBA program to be successful as an entrepreneur. What you learn in school is mainly for managing and working with large companies. The skills you need as an entrepreneur are small business skills. I think the skills which you need as an entrepreneur are much more intangible... such as discipline, time management, ability to hustle, drive, ability to take risks, problem solving, etc. Knowing how to build a financial model or trade credit products does not help much.

I think you need to sit down and really think about what you want and how you can get there. You mention your interest in entrepreneurship on one hand and then you talk about Wall Street and day trading in your next breath. These are pretty different pursuits. If you're saying that you want a job on Wall Street then a top MBA program is definitely a good way to go about achieving it. I'm not going to push you one way or the other - both entrepreneurship and a corporate / Wall Street career are viable paths. Which one makes sense for you depends on your goals and personal preference. It takes longer (in my limited experience) to see any return from entrepreneurship but I think it works out better in the long run. A corporate / Wall Street career will give you returns right away but its a lot of work getting there and maintaining it. That being said some of my classmates on Wall Street will make more than most entrepreneurs will ever make. But then the same can be said of some entrepreneurs making more than most people on Wall Street / in a corporate job. I know this was a little long winded but I hope this gives you some perspective. I often get asked by people considering an MBA whether they should pursue it and the answer is that it depends on your goals. So take the time to figure out your goals and what kind of life you want to live and work backwards from there. Good luck to you!

 

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[GuestU56895]

Good Lord... There is a lot of talk on here for this. I thought we were supposed to read the book before we were involved on this forum. I just finished reading The Millionaire Fastlane . All of the answers are in there. I just got sucked in like everyone else on this thread, I wrote a big reply and thought "What am I doing?!?!" and deleted it.

My time is too precious for that...(also in the book... Time is more precious than anything.)

Go read the book... and many other books. Get a library card and start your journey for free.

My two cents: Don't waste your time on an MBA unless you want to spend tons of money on loans/ or a program find a higher paying job that will require more of your soul and time, and still not make you wealthy personally or financially.