FACULTY of business, economics AND ACCOUNTING

BM6063 ENTREPRENEURSHIP

INDIVIDUAL SEMESTER REPORT:

“DO THE AGE OF ENTREPRENEUR AFFECTS THEIR

ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY IN LATER LIFE”

Prepared By:

SHATESH KUMAR CHANDRAHASANMB1412216T

ABSTRACT

Entrepreneurship delivers many benefits whether people consider

themselves in the post retirement phase of their careers or not.

Entrepreneurship is flexible, allowing individuals to design their ventures

to suit their needs, whether limiting work hours, working alone or with

partners, concentrating on long or short term goals. For entrepreneur who

prefers traditional employment, entrepreneurship becomes a choice when

they encounter age discrimination, face an unwanted prospect of

relocation, or find the available options unattractive because of limited

entrepreneurial activity.

The ageing of the population in advanced economies has

increasingly attracted studious and policy attentiveness. It has been

argued that entrepreneurship can be used to prolong the working lives of

older people and to provide them with financial support in retirement.

Contemporary studies have neglected the effect of barriers on their

entrepreneurial activity in early stages as well as later life. This report

seeks to build upon the limited, recent qualitative entrepreneur literature,

and uses detailed data to provide new insights into the barriers facing

entrepreneurs, and how they have been overcome. In particular, this

report explores the diversity of barriers faced by the entrepreneur based

on their previous employment backgrounds.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NO CONTENTS PAGE

01. Background of the Issue 1 - 5

02. Literature Supporting Issue 6 - 15

03. Literature Not Supporting Issue 16 - 20

04. Discussion 21 - 23

05. Conclusion 24 - 25

06. Bibliography 26 - 29

BACKGROUND OF THE ISSUE

“DO THE AGE OF AN ENTREPRENEUR AFFECTS THEIR

ENTREPERENEURIAL ACTIVITY IN LATER LIFE”

Age and demographics are undeniably important determinants of

entrepreneurship that have largely been left unexplored in

entrepreneurship context. On the contrary, age has been treated “as a

factor exogenous to the utility function of the decision maker and is

usually introduced indirectly in analytical models either as a cost or as a

variable in the joint utility function of a household”.

However, founder age as a stand-alone factor does not provide

sufficient evidence to determine the competency, entrepreneurial

propensity and growth potential of a venture or of entrepreneurial activity.

On the contrary, entrepreneurial activity does not occur within a vacuum,

it is deeply embedded within a cultural and social context, amid a web of

human networks that are both social and economic.

By attributing entrepreneurial success to age, it sets a dangerous

precedent within environments that are seeing a promising

entrepreneurial culture. This is particularly true of youth entrepreneurship.

It demands for distinction between promoting entrepreneurial education

to increase the skills and propensity for future entrepreneurial activity

among youth, and giving the wrong message that entrepreneurship

provides more opportunities than education and experiential learning.

The impact of entrepreneurial activity on employment and economic

growth is not linear and varies significantly depending on the indicators

used to proxy the entrepreneurial activities. Notwithstanding, it is widely

held by policymakers and academics alike that entrepreneurship has

played an important role in much of recent economic growth and even

social development throughout much os the world.

This belief has resulted in the chorus for increasing entrepreneurial

activity as a way to stimulate economic activities and realize growth. The

increasing emphasis on entrepreneurship as a panacea for economic

growth, especially as growth through traditional avenues has stagnated, is

evident in the increasing support for teaching entrepreneurship in

established universities around the world.

Entrepreneurship is positively related to economic growth, has

contributed to the proliferation of a plethora of public policy initiatives

with the conviction that through these public policies, countries can

stimulate their entrepreneurial and innovative capacity and, in this way,

and achieves higher levels of economic growth. However, since

entrepreneurial activity vary with economic development, national policies

should to be tailored to be consistent with the need, based on the

particular context of each country.

The formal and informal institutional structures have been shown to

have significant impact on entrepreneurship activity. This further adds

credence to the need for policies based on the local realities as we strive

to create an entrepreneurial economy. Project conducted has given

countries the opportunity to analyze actual entrepreneurial activities,

which are the attitudes and perception about entrepreneurship as well as

the entrepreneurial Aspirations and the framework conditions that impact

entrepreneurship activity.

The analysis creates a more complete view of the entrepreneurial

ecosystem that prevails in a country. The project can help policy makers

to develop more relevant and effective public policies and programmes to

increase the level of the kind of entrepreneurial activities that will

contribute to economic growth and societal well-being while improving the

perception and attitudes about entrepreneurship in the society.

Entrepreneurial Education

Successful initiatives have shown that the supply of entrepreneurs

can be increased by developing a positive perception about the

feasibility and desirability of entrepreneurship through education,

particularly when delivered from a young age. Entrepreneurial

education is not solely focused at raising awareness, but at

providing business, financial and social skills that are transferable

through the work place. In addition, amidst the ‘are entrepreneurs

born are made debate’, entrepreneurial education can develop the

psychological attributes associated with entrepreneurship.

Knowledge is the Root of All Opportunities

Opportunity-recognition, key to the entrepreneurial function, is

based on the ability to stock and decode various types of

information. Knowledge thus becomes the most important economic

resource. Once said that the ‘economic problem’ was not due to

resource allocation, but rather, the dispersion of knowledge and

utilization of information.

Knowledge is most commonly gained with experience and

individuals who have access to specific types of existing knowledge

have a higher likelihood of recognizing opportunities. Startups in

knowledge-intensive industries generally have highly qualified

human capital, meaning that the founder is more likely to be older,

although when it comes down to startup founding rates, these

dominate non-knowledge intensive industries.

Personality, Perception and Credibility

Although most tend to agree that personality and behavioral traits

only tell part of the story when it comes to entrepreneurship, these

are attributes that deeply impact on age and propensity to

enterprise. Personality is important and dictates behavior and

interaction within a social environment, however, perception is just

as important. Alertness, tolerance of uncertainty, risk-taking and

knowledge are all factors that are intrinsic to the individual and that

are difficult to change through national policies, even though they

can shift with time and experience.

On the other hand, whilst experience may not be on the side of

young entrepreneurs, certain characteristics such as the ability to

intake knowledge, adaptability, flexibility and a great deal of

creativity have been attributed to younger founder rates. The most

important factor recognized in the entrepreneurial anatomy, is

perceived self-efficacy. Perception of one’s own ability to manage

uncertainty, anticipate risks and set goals, and generally this

attributed to individuals who see past experiences not as failures,

but as a learning curve.

Lastly, another important factor is credibility. The choice to launch a

startup has to be credible to the entrepreneur through the

realization of his own potential but also, to the social context in

which the entrepreneur will operate.

Social Networks

Age is one of the strongest influences on the composition of a social

network. In turn, access to network is one of the strongest

determinants to venture growth. This implies that the probability of

starting a business will increase with age, perhaps explaining why

there has been a boom in aging entrepreneurship. As

entrepreneurship is a regional event, access to network facilitates

the gathering of knowledge and access to resources needed by the

founder. However, there has been a major trend that goes against

this popular perception, the social media era.

LITERATURE SUPPORTING ISSUE

Benjamin Franklin once neatly summed up two crucial points in the

evolution of an individual’s abilities and skills along his or her (work)

lifecycle, cleverly making the distinction between physical work, which is

better performed by the young and more theoretical work, which is better

practiced by the more mature. Even though this separation is a bit

simplistic, it is good starting point for a more detailed analysis.

There is three age group of entrepreneur can be identified in the

entrepreneurial activity. We call the entrepreneurs in the first age group

(between 20-29 years of age), adolescent entrepreneurs and the ones in

the middle groups (30-39 and 40-49) second-career entrepreneurs and

meanwhile the third-age entrepreneurs are in the age group between 50

to 64 years or older.

The adolescent or late-second-career-entrepreneurs are who will

most successfully (and willingly) embark upon a high-tech startup. The

lifecycle-driven approach indicates that one source of entrepreneurs is

young individuals who have just finished their education and are eager to

put their knowledge to a real-world test.

They are energetic and probably quite able to cope with a heavy

workload as they are in good physical condition and not yet constrained

by the demands of a family. Further, their lack of experience can actually

be advantage as they have not yet developed “fossilized” mindset about

what is possible and are thus open to new ideas and able to creatively

exploit an opportunity.

However, lack of experience can also be a disadvantage, a dearth of

know regarding a market or industry can lead to costly mistakes or

unprofitable use of time and energy plus sometimes, it is very useful to

know exactly what is impossible. Moreover, accumulated know-who can

be a very effective ice-breaker.

Being socially embedded can facilitate raising venture capital and

generally provides useful information, thus overcoming market entry

barriers that can arise, for instance, from insufficient financing or

seemingly insurmountable bureaucratic barriers.

Know-who can be accumulated, but only with time, so in this case,

their youth disadvantages adolescent entrepreneurs. Conversely, as it is

likely that adolescent entrepreneurs are still at university or at least

closely connected with one, this environment could compensate for the

lack of personal contacts, at least in part.

Regarding second-career entrepreneurs, the findings are twofold.

The younger group or early second careers entrepreneurs, those between

30-39 years of age, are just settling down in life, starting their own

families, purchasing real estate, in other words, they have a lot to lose by

taking a risk such as starting their own business.

The older group, or late second-career entrepreneurs, those

between 40-49 years of age, are more likely to have already traveled that

path, are more settled and secure in their lives. They have already raised

their children, own a house, and have at least some financial backing and

can afford to spend some time and money on doing what they want,

instead of concentrating on what the family needs.

Generously, people become entrepreneurs because they either have to

or they want to. If it be generalized, then the “have-to-be” entrepreneurs

represent about two-thirds of later-life entrepreneurs, while the “want-to-

be” entrepreneurs represent about one third. It would seem that the

following are among the motivators for the “have-to-be” entrepreneur:

Economic Conditions

A weak overall economy or an economy that is weak in only one

sector may drastically limit employment opportunities. As an

example, a pilot laid off from an airline may have trouble replacing

his or her job if the airline industry is suffering a general slowdown.

One option for the pilot is to begin an entrepreneurial venture within

the airline industry, such as starting an air-taxi service, or entering

into another industry entirely.

Discrimination

Sometimes studied under rubric of “the theory of the disadvantaged

worker” in the academic literature, discrimination holds that

individuals who face prejudice often turn to be entrepreneur. An

immigrant who may have been an executive in a bank in his home

country may find himself offered only entry-level positions at banks

in the U.S. May immigrants respond to this lack of adequate

employment opportunity by using their education, prior experience,

and fluency in languages as tools to start or purchase a business.

Lack of Resources

It is perhaps ironic that a lack of personal resources such as

education, money, credit and an established business network may

actually represent a starting point for many entrepreneurs. The

academic literature refers to this challenge as “the theory of

liquidity constraint” and posits that individuals with a lower stock of

such personal resources are generally more constrained in their

employment options than in their entrepreneurial options.

The following are the main motivators for the “want-to-be” entrepreneur.

Following the dream

Many people harbor dreams to be involved in work that is removed

from their main careers. They may yearn to be musician, a stamp

collector, an owner of a bed and breakfast or someone, who starts a

non-profit venture. Others may have a specific dream related to the

industry in which they worked for many years.

Managing family and time constraints

Many people who start their own businesses while still employed

must face the initial time restrictions imposed by existing full-time

employment. But, entrepreneurs without full-time jobs also have

family responsibilities, such as childcare or eldercare, which might

make starting s flexible-time, home-based business a better option

than a full time job away from home.

Having a limited role

Many entrepreneurs structure their ventures so they have limited

roles in the business, including time involved, management

responsibilities and even financial risk. By casting themselves in the

role of dealmakers, entrepreneurs recruit others to participate in

their ventures with minimal personal risk and commitment. For

example, one might purchase a business with management in place

that can be operated from a distance. An extension of this is “angel

investing”, in which an entrepreneur invests in a business and takes

an active but limited role in its management.

Having Flexibility over time

A venture can be designed so that the involvement of the

entrepreneur can vary over time. An antique dealer can start with a

part-time commitment, but can become full time when he or she

retires from a full time job.

Building equity value

Unlike regular employment, entrepreneurial ventures can create

business value that can benefit the owner. If successful, a business

can be sold when the entrepreneur wants to retire or begin a new

venture, creating a potentially significant lump-sum payment.

Being the Boss

Being your own boss is one of the most highly valued characteristics

of entrepreneurship. After long careers during which they have

developed clear ideas of how businesses should be run, or working

for bosses whose management decisions and styles may be

frustrating and negative, entrepreneurs are highly attracted to

situations in which they have the authority to make all the

decisions. Dissatisfaction with previous work becomes main

motivator for late-life entrepreneurship, along with the enjoyment

and satisfaction of being one’s own boss.

Accomplishing a Social Good

The most attractive aspects of entrepreneurship are the ability to

accomplish a desired political or social purpose. This seems to be

especially true for members of certain minority groups who believe

that entrepreneurship reflects positively on their ethnic group and

creates employment and other economic benefits within their

communities. By starting a business with both an economic and

social purpose, such as a school or health care company, or a non-

profit organization that provides social services to members of a

specific community, an entrepreneur can achieve these larger goals.

In fact, they have been settled long enough that perhaps they now

crave a little adventure, and they are financially secure enough to be able

to engage in one without serious risk to their own well-being. They are

also still young enough that they have the luxury of time on their side,

that is, they can ride out the time it will take for their venture to start

producing income without suffering either hardship or declining health.

In regard to their human capital, their human capital, their stock of

codified knowledge has not depreciated very much yet and is

complemented by a solid stock of know-how and know-who. They can thus

evaluate the market in an informed manner, recognize an opportunity for

what it is and exploit same effectively due to prior experience in the real

world of work. In short, they are the age group in the best condition and

stage of life to realize a profit from their human capital investment. They

are in a prime position to become entrepreneurs.

One of the most important is that an aging population necessitates

a stronger focus on the second peak of entrepreneurship, that involving

the late second-career entrepreneurs and on developing strategies that

will expand the age range of this group so that it encompasses third-age

entrepreneurs.

For example, an entrepreneur with great knowledge of an industry,

a wealth of contacts and large personal financial resources may be able to

start a sizeable venture. On the other hand, an aspiring older

entrepreneur may have little financial or social capital and perhaps

disabilities along with the declining energy brought by age.

Even for someone with physical constraints, there are many

entrepreneurial strategies that fit, such as establishing a home-based

business, being part of direct-selling network, or partnering with other

entrepreneurs who have greater access to desired resources. To be

effective, tools for later-life entrepreneurs should not only match an

entrepreneur to a business strategy but must easy to apply, be sensible

and have clear conclusions. The thinking that underlies the tools can

become integrated into the entrepreneur’s ongoing strategic decisions.

Demographic trends are unequivocal in showing that the 40-50

years old group is expanding in size whereas the following groups are

comparatively small. It Thus seems quite clear that if we want a

continuing base of entrepreneurship, which is so essential to a thriving

economy, we will have to find a way to keep its spirit alive and flourishing

in ever older people.

Increasing life expectancy and corresponding effects on time

discounting, as well as the growing necessity for people to work more

years of their lives, are developments that will aid in this effort. However,

the enduring, although incorrect, belief that the pay as you go pension

systems are still viable, along with welfare states that promote early

retirement, are forces in the opposite direction, and in fact can be actively

detrimental to the spirit of entrepreneurship as people with “guaranteed”

retirement will not have much interest in learning new skills or keeping

their old skills up to date.

Overcoming this problem will involve attacking two fronts at the

same time, a change in individual mindsets and a change in public

institutions, both aimed at increasing the importance of and interest in

individual self-reliance and lifelong learning. One possible strategy is to

extend the length of labor participation individuals must engage in before

being eligible for state benefits.

In the best of all possible worlds, such a policy might eventually lead

to intergenerational cooperation, where young and old entrepreneurs join

forces and complements each other, marrying the vigor and openness of

youth with the experience and judgements of maturity.

Until recent years, technology has made business ownership more

accessible. The first steps in opening a new business were renting an

office and hiring a staff. Working from home was regarded as

unprofessional and low-status. Computers, cell phones, telephone-

answering systems, word processing software and the Internet have made

small business start-up and operation easier, cheaper and more

professional-looking to clients.

Besides that, the Internet has leveled the playing field for all types

business. Websites make it easier for small firms to seem big and service

customers anywhere in the world. Companies such as eBay and

Amazon.com that provide the structure for individuals and small

companies to reach their markets significantly lower barriers to small

business operation.

Later-life entrepreneurs have skills, experience and education that

represent valuable commodities. Outsourcing, once considered a bad

word, is now recognized as an efficient way to do business and later-life

entrepreneurs are well-positioned to excel in this work because they

represent highly-skilled workers who have already created a structure for

work other than full-time employment.

As evidence points to longer and healthier lives, shrinking pensions

and continued personal ambitions, later-life entrepreneurship becomes a

more attractive option. All these forces combine to explain why later-life

entrepreneurship is significant element of economic vitality for older

person and very likely grow as the need for income and benefits among

this population increase.

But, later-life entrepreneurs have to be especially sensible of the

need to avoid excessive risk that can cause them irreparable financial

damage. Tools must be developed to help later-life entrepreneurs

accomplish their specific goals.

LITERATURE NOT SUPPORTING THE ISSUE

Later-life entrepreneurs need approaches that match their

entrepreneurial ventures to their risk tolerance and time horizons.

Because the profiles of each entrepreneur are so different, the resources

they bring to bear on their prospective ventures, each entrepreneur must

be evaluated uniquely.

Although entrepreneurs cannot be characterized as people who are

attracted to risk and enjoy taking it, there is no denying that many forms

of entrepreneurial activity entail risk in several ways, especially for older

entrepreneurs. Many ventures involve financial risk and older

entrepreneurs have less time remaining in their employment or

entrepreneurial careers to recover from losses.

The relationship between time and business is significant. Strategies

take time to execute. Mistakes take time to fix. Many successful

entrepreneurs only experience a great success after spending time on

previous failures. Older entrepreneurs do not have the years to execute

time-consuming strategies and they do not have the ability to withstand

large risks, which limits the options for the type of entrepreneurial activity

they may choose.

Young entrepreneurs with many years of work ahead of them can

risk their savings and even their homes and still bounce back if their

venture fails. Older entrepreneur who may have retired from traditional

employment will have few opportunities to rebuild their savings, equity in

their homes, or even find comparable employment if their venture fails.

There is also “Career Risk”, meaning that taking oneself out of the

employment pool for a significant period of time to pursue entrepreneurial

ambitions that may fail could leave the would-be entrepreneur

disadvantaged should he or she choose to return to the workforce.

Although there is no specific research on this subject, it seems likely

that such a gap from traditional employment could have greater negative

effects on older populations. It seems reasonable to believe that a mid-

level or high-level employee over the age of 50 will have trouble

duplicating his or her employment after leaving to engage in the

entrepreneurial activities that end in failure.

Every person has certain innate biological characteristics, such as

sex, race or health that initially determine the individual’s expected life

time and intelligence. With these characteristics as the foundation,

socialization, education, on-the job training, and medical care, along with

cultural education in literature, music and the arts, all contribute to the

individual’s stock of human capital.

This stock of human capital, along with the basics he or she was

born with, influence an individual’s marginal productivity, health and soft

skills (i.e. personal qualities like responsibility, integrity or self-

management as well as interpersonal qualities like being a team player or

a leader) over the lifetime.

According to the economic literature on entrepreneurship, a rational

individual would choose to start his or her own business if the expected

entrepreneurial income equals at least the wage earned in dependent

employment. If this is true, it means that an individual’s decision whether

to become an entrepreneur or take the waged-income road is determined

by several factors, among them being the person’s basic physical

characteristics and the stock of human capital, which will influence the

type of work a person is suited for and whether he or she could become

an entrepreneur or not. However, the final decision to start a business

eventually depends on an individual’s risk aversion and time discounting.

Along a person’s lifecycle, the stock of human capital determines his

or her productivity and appropriateness for certain employment, i.e.,

dependent or independent, a person’s stock of human capital also

changes with age, which means the person will be better suited for

different types of employment at different intervals of the lifecycle.

On the other hand, adolescents are fairly unbiased (at least on

certain subjects), which can help release creative energy. They are

energetic and at their peak of physical power. Additionally, the ability to

store and process information, solve problems, deal with complexity and

adjust to new situations is also highest at this time of life.

Moreover, they lack life experience and have not yet had time to

develop strong social and business networks. The so-called implicit

knowledge accumulated over a lifetime peaks when a person is in his or

her 50s and does not differ across groups until 80s. Hence, these factors

take time to accumulate, evolving over a lifetime from participating in

work life, social interaction and learning by doing.

Besides that, there is evidence that an individual’s ability to process

fresh knowledge, reason logically and be creative decreases with age.

Creativity, in particular, can decrease due to mindsets that have become

solidified, perhaps even fossilized, from past experience. Thus, some

abilities and skills increase over a person’s lifecycle while others decrease.

Given a stock of human capital, a theoretical model introduced that

focuses on an individual’s risk aversion and time discounting over the

lifetime where the propensity to become an entrepreneur is decreases

with age. They argue that the opportunity cost of time increases with age

as every individual lives only a certain length of time.

If time is a limiting resource, an individual’s time discount rate

attached to future income will increase over period “and, as a result,

activities requiring a time commitment before becoming income

producing, such as a new firm, are penalized with respect to activities with

immediate payoffs such as waged labor”.

In a closely related empirical study found that risk aversion

decreases with age whereas time discounting increases. On the other

hand, older people are more settled and hence can take more risk.

However in another side, some people are more cautious and take less

risk. This inverse relationship suggests that there is an optimal period in

an individual’s life when both risk aversion and time discounting are of

only moderate influence. Along with a proper stock of Human Capital, this

period could be the “Golden Age” of entrepreneurship.

Finally, potential negative effects on the family might be greater for

older entrepreneurs who have relatives who are dependent on them for

financial support. People over the age of 50 are responsible for other

family members including spouses, parents and children. Making a

decision to cut oneself off from a relatively predictable income stream

that traditional employment may represent and begin a risky new venture

also puts at risk those family members who rely indirectly on that income

stream.

DISCUSSION

We expect that age will be an especially important factor in the

decision to engage in a high startup. These startups are typically

characterized by high knowledge and physical capital intensity, by a high

degree of uncertainty (as to the success and economic value of the

innovation) and a longer time horizon as compared to other businesses.

Thus, being an entrepreneur in this particular field requires a special

profile, extraordinary creativity or the vast experience necessary to come

up with a promising idea, having access to venture and finally having a

rather long time horizon. All this adds up to further support the idea of a

golden age of entrepreneurship, a time of life when an individual’s human

capital stock, degree of risk aversion and extent of time discounting

support such an occupational choice.

Whether people are “have-to-be” entrepreneurs or “want-to-be”

entrepreneurs, people in later life have the ability to participate and

benefit from business ownership in its many forms. Later-life

entrepreneurs often have the funds necessary to start a venture or

purchase one, the credit with the banks to borrow money and the network

of friends, family and colleagues to support an entrepreneurial venture.

At the same time, they also have the knowledge gleaned from

formal education, work and life experience, and skills that are critical in

supporting a successful venture. The personal and professional networks

they have built can form the basis of contacts that can lead to clients,

customers and colleagues.

On the other hand, experience and stock of tacit knowledge, both

useful in starting a high tech firm, increases with age. Mindsets and

routines that become established with age and leave little room for

recognizing entrepreneurial opportunity or being creative may negatively

affect an individual’s decision to start a high-tech business. Further, high

tech startups usually takes more time to become profitable than do other

types of startups.

This implies that an individual’s age-dependent time discount rate

should have an impact on innovative entrepreneurship as it increases with

age due to a shrinking time horizon, that is, increasing age leads to a

preference for shorter-term profits. In contrast, risk aversion usually

decreases with age as the individual becomes more settled and secure in

life.

Risk aversion is generally highest at that point in life when the

individual is just beginning to settle down and start his or her own family,

usually around 30-40 years of age. It also leads to regard an individual’s

age as a proxy for his or her human capital stock, risk aversion and time

discount rate, all important drivers of the decision concerning whether to

become an entrepreneur.

Projecting individual-level theoretical considerations to the regional

level leads to simple conclusion, if an individual’s decision to start a

business is determined by age or human capital at a certain age, regional

startup dynamics depend on the regional age distribution or regional

stock of human capital.

In this contribution, we start at the individual level with the

assumption that age is a valid proxy for an individual’s human capital

stock, risk aversion, and time discount rate, which all factor into an

individual’s decision to become an entrepreneur. Based on this, we

assume at regional level that the number of entrepreneurs is determined

by the regional age distribution, which, as mentioned, is proxy for

prevailing stock of human capital in the region.

Businesses can be defined as the sum of their human, financial and

organizational resources. This set of resources becomes the means by

which organizations develop the capacities to accomplish their goals, from

building products to creating films. The greater an organization’s

resources and capabilities are, the more an organization can develop and

implement a strategy to achieve its goals.

Good definition of entrepreneurs is those individuals who undertake

ventures which require resources beyond their own control. This is

certainly true for entrepreneurs regardless of the size of their ventures.

Businesses require collaborative resources such as financing, customers,

raw material, employees, partners and space. Looking at

entrepreneurship through this lens makes the process of obtaining and

managing these resources the key element of success. It also makes the

bundle of resources that entrepreneurs have or can obtain from others a

key determinant of their success.

CONCLUSION

Individual’s age affects entrepreneurial intention both directly and

indirectly. Individual’s age is negatively related to entrepreneurial

intention, having thus younger individuals showing higher intention that

the older counterpart. Both perceived desirability and feasibility

significantly and negatively mediate the relationship between individual’s

age and their intention to be entrepreneurs.

That is, younger individuals have higher perceptions of desirability

and feasibility towards become entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, age seems

to have stronger influence in perceived desirability than feasibility. This

may be because the younger individuals may feel a lack in skills and

perceived credibility towards become entrepreneurs. Finally, individual’s

age negatively moderates the relationship between perceived desirability

and entrepreneurial intention.

At the microeconomic level, individual’s age is an important

determinant of an individual’s intention to become an entrepreneur. Thus

both the direct and indirect relationship must be taken into account. At

the macroeconomics level, it contributed to current understanding of the

relationship between individual’s characteristics and entrepreneurial

perception and aggregate entrepreneurial activity.

As a result, not only the age distribution of a population may be an

important issue for the rate of potential entrepreneurs, but also how such

age distribution interact with individual’s perception of desirability and

feasibility towards entrepreneurship. Understanding such dynamics helps

tailoring programs and strategizing on policy tools. Programs should

indeed be implemented in order to raise perceived desirability and

feasibility in older individuals, especially in those regions that witness

older than average populations.

Lastly, human capital related to many intellectual processes

increases with age even while physical energy generally declines. Since

many strategies readily exist for supplementing the physical energy of the

entrepreneur him or herself, it probably should be concluded that the

advantage here goes to the older entrepreneur. In fact, it seems that older

entrepreneurs generally have the advantage over younger entrepreneurs

since three of the four types of the resources required probably exist in

greater quantities with the later-life entrepreneur.

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