Older and wiser?
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Position: Founder and managing director
Company: MyParcel
Began current business aged 52 years
After 20 years running the mail order division of a UK wine merchant, Hugo Rose decided to call it a day as an employee and start his own firm. At the age of 52, he launched online parcel-minding service MyParcel, which provides secure storage for deliveries ready for collection.
‘I suppose the inspiration for the business came from my previous employment. I knew of many instances where people had taken the day off work but delivery vans they were waiting for didn’t arrive. I saw an opportunity in providing a trusted drop-off point for self-collection.
‘I’d already reached the big five-zero, and had 15 years before I could start to draw my pension. When you turn 50 and you’re not managing director of the company you work for, you have to think long and hard about where you’re going.
‘Not one day has passed where I’ve longed for the security of my previous job â“ I feel more alive than ever. As far as prejudice goes, I can’t think of any instances where my being older has proved an obstacle â“ my pension prospects took a nose dive, but I took a view on that and factored it into my costs.
‘The adage “you’re only as old as you feel” sums things up quite well; energy and drive aren’t the prerogative of the younger generation. Had I started 15 years ago, I wouldn’t have had the all-round experience that I do today.’
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Position: Notary public
Company: Dolores Rice Notary Public
Began current business aged 48 years
Following 20 years of working for other people, London-based notary public Dolores Rice decided that she wanted a greater degree of autonomy. She promptly qualified as a notary and then started her own firm: ‘It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. It gives you control, as you can manage everything yourself.’
Rice now works from two offices, providing services to individuals and commercial firms for documents to be used overseas.
Starting a business at the age of 48 hasn’t hindered her. ’Nobody has ever commented on my age,’ reflects Rice. ‘In many ways I think being a bit older has helped; in my line of work people prefer someone with a greater degree of experience.
‘Business Link for London was a valuable sounding board for discussing issues when I started out, but now I do absolutely everything myself, from administration to marketing. Having gained experience in these tasks throughout my career, it wasn’t a steep learning curve for me at all.’
Life experience, then, seems to favour the entrepreneur. For example, many of the documents that Rice deals with are for use in Spain. She feels that without the experience of having lived there for a number of years, her clients wouldn’t necessarily have the same sense of wellbeing and trust in her abilities that they now feel.
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Position: Executive chairman
Company: Stanley Davis Group
Regained control of business aged 64 years
Stanley Davis, named in the Times Rich List six years ago after selling his IRG share registration business for £100 million, founded the Stanley Davis Group in 1975. It grew to become the second-largest player in its field, providing a range of services from secretarial administration to company formations. It was sold to Robert Maxwell in 1988 after a period of courting by the Daily Mirror man. Davis returned as executive chairman of the business in 2001 at the age of 64. ‘When I came back, the business bore no resemblance to the firm that I built up and sold, but then I’m old enough to understand that the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
‘With experience you learn that hard work is the key to success, but the advice I would give to any youngster starting out is don’t worry about it too much â“ don’t be too concerned about where you are headed. Often, what you end up doing bears no relation to what you set out to do â“ I got into this business by accident. But that’s not to say that you don’t have to plan; you simply have to have a business plan and, as best as you can, stick to it.’
Davis also believes the price of success doesn’t have to be as high later in life. ‘For a number of years my children were looked after by just one parent, my wife, but this time around I realise that a balance between hard work and life is needed.’
Another benefit of having experience, says Davis, is that ‘the feeling of danger and the terror that you’re not going to survive disappears. You’re not thinking “What’s going to happen to me?” any more. The uncertainty starts to erode â“ especially when the money starts flowing in.’
Davis’ pre-IPO investment company, Strategic Global Investments, also benefits from his expertise. ‘Something I’ve learned over time is not to take a stake in a company unless it’s in a field you understand. Stick to what you know.’
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Position: CEO and founder
Company: Careforce Group
Began current business aged 57 years
Careforce Group was established in 1999 and provides social care for the elderly. As Mike Rogers explains, ‘We look after people who are much older than me â“ the frail elderly who are having some difficulties with the activities of daily life.’
Rogers was previously CEO of Nestor Healthcare, before he lost the job in 1996. ‘When you’re 57 you can’t get a job as a CEO. I came to the conclusion that I was the only person that would be willing to employ me at the level I wanted, so I started my own business.’
Careforce, which recently received a £22.2 million takeover approach from Mears Group (which Rogers has accepted) provides more than 50,000 hours of care each week, from 28 locations. Last year it achieved profits of £773,000.
‘I don’t mean to sound arrogant,’ says Rogers, ‘but it never occurred to me that I might fail, because I knew the market so well. I was able to do all the management jobs myself before I was in the position to build my team.
‘I’ve never found being older a hindrance; people generally look at you with respect more than anything. I’m 64 now, but people of my age are much more active than they used to be and we’ve got a hell of a lot of market experience to offer.’
That experience, Rogers says, means that you’re much less likely to fail with a new venture.
‘For one thing, you understand cash flow, which is vital, and you know the difference between cash and profit. As the saying goes: “Experience is the sum total of your mistakes so far”.’
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Position: Founder and CEO
Company: Ciga Healthcare
Began current business aged 54 years
Self-test diagnostic kit company Ciga Healthcare was recently named winner of the Best of British Industry award for small companies, pipping a number of better-known businesses to the post. The company has also taken on industry giant Clearblue and grabbed a significant market share â“ quite a feat. How has it achieved this?
‘This isn’t my first business,’ explains founder Irwin Armstrong. ‘In 1982, when I was 31, I started a consultancy business advising a range of companies. I’ve worked as an advisor to start-up companies at the Northern Ireland Development Agency, dealing with the allocation of grants, so I’ve been involved in the growth of companies for years.
‘I’ve seen people get things right and I’ve seen them get things wrong and, moreover, I’ve seen them get things wrong and still succeed.’
Armstrong believes that confidence is the key to success. ‘Experience tells me that this world is about people, not what size your company is. It’s about the guy sitting on the other side of the desk â“ whether you trust him or not, and vice versa. If you’ve got enough confidence, you can persuade anyone to do anything.’
For Armstrong, that confidence seems to stem from a combination of his strong desire to succeed and the expertise he has developed. ‘Someone once said that to try and judge a company’s likelihood of success, don’t look at the business plan, look at the person in front of you. You need to ask, “When things don’t go according to the business plan â“ which they usually don’t â“ is this person going to be confident and capable enough to sort it out?” I’ve never forgotten that.’
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Position: Head dentist
Company: Wendy Sandeman Dental
Began current business aged 52 years
Dentist Wendy Sandeman had a long-standing dream: to create a holistic practice that would be a calm, relaxing environment for patients to visit. After a stint in business coaching which, she says, enabled her to realise that ‘even though I was over 50 I could do something different’, she founded Wendy Sandeman Dental. It offers a ‘spa-like atmosphere’ and now enjoys roughly three times the number of new patients most practices would expect. Sandeman recently won the Hera Award for inspirational female business owners over 50 at the NatWest Everywoman Awards.
She says, ‘I’ve been a dentist for many years, but always worked as part of a large practice. The problem is that you don’t get the chance to put your own stamp on things. I developed very strong views about what the patient experience should consist of; I don’t like being processed and, like most people, I want to be treated as if I’m special, so that’s what we decided to do for our customers.’
When she tried to open a practice in the early 1980s Sandeman found it difficult to get the funding ‘because I’m a woman’, but she still believes that she should have done it sooner. ‘I didn’t have the confidence,’ she admits. ‘I thought I had to stay where I was, where I imagined I’d be for the rest of my career. Setting up my own business took a major upheaval in my life and I had to sell my house to do it, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.’
Sandeman feels that it would be difficult for someone young and inexperienced to set up the type of practice she has been able to establish.
At 54, she feels she can engender the trust in her abilities that is needed â“ not only for nervous patients, but also to achieve the number of referrals that she receives from customers.