Why SecondAct?
The right time
Many people reach a stage in their lives – often in their fifties or early sixties – when the question changes from ‘How do I climb the ladder?’ to ‘What do I really want to do with my time and energy now?’
There could be many reasons for arriving at this point.
For some, it's about finally pursuing that long-held dream: opening a shop, writing a book, launching a consultancy or building something which reflects their values.
For others, it's about leaving behind rigid routines, office politics, or work that no longer feels meaningful.
Maybe you've left your last job or you’re planning to, or you’re winding down a career but not your ambitions. Or perhaps something inside you just says: “It’s time.”
You’re better equipped than you might think
Whatever brought you here, you have a significant advantage over younger founders and entrepreneurs, even though they often receive more attention.
And that’s your lifetime of skills, insight, and experience, all of which make you well positioned to create something that not only succeds, but which works for you as well. Something purposeful, flexible, and personal: your second career, or your second act
A 50-year-old entrepreneur is 1.8 times more likely to succeed than someone in their 30s
Penn State
Small steps
The biggest tip I can provide is to keep things moving forward so that you have a continual sense of momentum. Action creates motivation and motivation leads to the next action, or step.
Don’t feel intimidated by the number of tasks ahead because otherwise it can seem overwhelming. A small step here, a little progress, there, it all adds up and, before you know it, you’ve taken some major strides and will be amazed at how far you’ve come.
That’s how, many years ago, I ended up creating an innovative new beer. What started out as just another idea hatched in the pub gradually came to life through a series of small - and very inexpensive - steps until I suddenly had a few sample cases on my hands.
Using most of these to hold a party, I then stuck some homemade labels on the rest, showed them to a local distributor and suddenly had an order for nearly 30,000 bottles…which just turned out to be the minimum required for a full commercial production run. The beer was suddenly in leading bar, pub and restaurant chains and so I then decided to contact the buyer at one of the major supermarket chains - and ended up with a listing in 800 stores as well.
All this was achieved through breaking the whole process into tiny manageable steps. Had I started instead by adding up – one on top of the other - all the many tasks that would likely be required to create a result like this, then I doubt I would have started. It would have seemed an impossible climb and I would probably have considered it an unrealistic dream and got on with something else.
And there will be many times, too, when you have to take backward steps because you’ve discovered you’ve been heading in the wrong direction. But that’s completely OK - just so long as you’re continually moving.
Here’s another way of looking at it.
Imagine you have a 1,000 piece jigsaw. You’re happy with the picture and want to get started. Most people find it easiest to start with the edges until the puzzle is framed. That’s the equivalent of having decided on your project and mapping what’s involved.
But what do you do next? You probably won’t start from, say, the top left corner and methodically work your way across.
Instead, you’ll begin with an area where you can make some progress, maybe an easy bit of sky, then some pieces of a boat, or a window, sometimes just a piece here or there – but it doesn’t really matter because you’re making progress and gradually filling in the picture. Some parts will feel impossible – you’re convinced a number of the pieces are missing – but gradually, step by step, you realise how the last pieces all fall into place.
You could use a similar approach when embarking on projects which look impossibly daunting. You don’t have to tackle all the trickiest bits first, just ensure your taking action wherever you can so you’re always making progress. And the more progress you make, the easier it all becomes.
Take the first step
So the important thing is to get started.
And if you don’t quite know where to begin, then the very first step you could take is to get in touch.
I’ve set up businesses in over 10 different business sectors and am uniquely qualified to help you on your journey. I’ve also worked in corporate finance and private equity and so I understand the ingredients a business needs to succeed.
So why not book a call and see if I can help. It’s free, I promise I won’t try to sell you anything and I genuinely enjoy discussing and generating new ideas.