We Need Some Moments for Seniors

Some weeks ago, a former classmate asked if I can write an article about senior entrepreneurship, my research focus in the previous term. 

I told her I would be more than happy to share what I uncovered in that research. But there’s a lot of ground to cover. Can I submit two articles instead? One about the motivations of senior entrepreneurs and another about their barriers to success. 

I have already sent the first article and am now collecting supporting information for the second one: barriers to the success of senior entrepreneurs. As I was going through data collection, I was beginning to encounter “barriers” of my own.

Well-meaning friends and colleagues had already told me that this senior entrepreneurship topic is challenging. Oh, it is! I don’t even know why I keep giving it a go. To give an example, all of the organizations I reached out to barely acknowledged my emails. I interpreted that as “We’re busy.” or “We don’t have the information you need.” 

Very recently, I confided to one of my staunch supporters. I told him I’m tired of running into dead ends. I feel like giving up.

He calmly reassured me, “Since you can’t find the answers, all the more that you should persevere. What you’re doing will be a great help to seniors. Think of the silver mine that you’ll unearth.”

Indeed, as I “stood back” to assess what’s in front of me, I realized when something holds meaning for you, as this topic does to me, keep going. You could uncover new resources (or ideas or options) that you might never have considered before. In my case, I established initial contact with two organizations that were previously not on my radar. They do not have the exact data I need, but they could point me in other directions I could explore!

This experience has left me feeling like a dog chasing its tail. Running around in circles, going nowhere. I am not a senior citizen, but this movement — senior entrepreneurship — called me. And so, as long as no one else is taking up the cudgels for these senior entrepreneurs, especially in my country, I’ll keep. Moving. Forward.