I sit down with Ingun Bol to explore the journey of starting a business as an experienced professional. We delve into the unique advantages midlife entrepreneurs bring to the table, such as their extensive network and market knowledge. Ingun sheds light on the common pitfalls of overthinking and not trusting your gut instincts. We also discuss overcoming fears, the importance of community and mentors, and actionable steps for those feeling the pull to start their entrepreneurial journey. Whether driven by necessity or a desire for purpose, this conversation is packed with valuable advice for anyone looking to reinvent themselves and create a meaningful business.

Speaker Links:

Connect with Ingun on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingunbol/

Wise Move Society: https://wizemovesociety.com/

Dig a little deeper:

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my Life Satisfaction Assessment. It's a 30-minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you down. I call it Derailed and it's a fabulous place to begin a joy-at-work redesign.

https://www.midlifeunstuck.com/derailed

If you're toying with the idea of establishing your first

business, you need to keep listening.

Ingun Bol was the first person who came to my mind when I was seeking out

someone to share their wisdom around helping experienced professionals

set up their first business.

I wish I knew her when I was setting up Midlife Unstuck.

Watch out for Ingun's cracking insights on dream stealers, on choosing the right

mentor and the dangers of overemphasizing thinking versus tapping into your gut

instincts around your business idea.

Let's dive in.

Now Ingen, I've got amazing questions for you that I'm dying to know the answer for.

So I see lots of professionals at a midpoint in their career pausing to

consider if this is the right moment to start an entrepreneurial journey.

In your experience, are there any benefits of starting an entrepreneurial

journey when you've got lots of experience under your belt?

there's actually two main reasons why people start.

And the first one is they really want to, and they want something different, they're

stuck in what they're doing in their job.

And there's this urge that they want something else, that they want something

that brings value, that they can work in the purpose, things like that,

and they cannot find it anymore in the organization that they have been

working for, maybe for quite some years.

So that is the one group that they really want to.

And if they start applying for other jobs, that is really hard for them.

And they can still not find what they're really looking for.

The other group is they need to.

Maybe they have made redundant and they have to find something else or or also,

and that is even later in life, they know that they still have to work not only

midlife, but also in their 60s, their 70s, even that they do start organizations.

And why?

Because they still need the money.

For many, many people the retirement fund that they did build is not enough to live,

until mid nineties or something like that.

We do get older.

For this group, There is so much benefit because you can finally, start exploring

who you really are, reinventing yourself, what your purpose in life is, how you

can bring value and how you can translate that into a business opportunity.

And what do you bring as an Older midlife entrepreneur is a lot of experience that

you have had over the so many years.

It is your network, what you have been building for 20, 30 years.

you know, your markets, you know, you're very much aware

of what is going on around you.

And you really have that skill to be able to look at things in a pretty well

fast and see overview what is happening and what your opportunities are.

Yes, there's, of course, a lot of other things, but yes, I

think that is most important.

Your network, your experience your idea of the market space.

Fabulous.

And I imagine in your workplace, you also see people doing this wrong.

And I just wonder, are there any really common mistakes for people

who are making their first step into setting up their first business,

particularly around this age?

What do you see?

Yeah well, you know, me a little bit and I don't like to talk

about what is going wrong, but I am going to talk about what can go wrong.

And I think my answer is going to be a little bit different than what you expect.

What can go wrong is not exploring business opportunities, not exploring

to see a building your own business, starting your own business as a real

potential next to, or, after your job time that for me is most important.

Not starting is the next.

And why is that not starting happening?

Because a lot of people, and especially in our age group, in our fifties and

sixties, you know, they're used to that job, that structure, that income every

month your holidays, et cetera, et cetera.

So there is fear.

There is this feeling inside, Oh, what am I doing?

But you can overthink it.

Yes.

know in your, you know, in your perspective, you

cannot overthink it enough.

In my perspective, most people do overthink it and believe me when you

overthink it, you will see all the negative aspects of being an entrepreneur,

but I can mention so many positive things, like really building something that is

aligned with your purpose, with your value, you do get some freedom back.

And you can really do the things and work with the people

that you love to work with.

There is a lot of things that that can happen when you overthink it.

And what happens when you overthink, you're only doing this

from your head, from your brain.

I really believe is when you start a business, it has to feel good.

It has to come from your heart.

That's one.

And it has to come from your gut, your intuition.

That has to feel good.

And they always tell you, your heart knows the way your gut knows the

way your intuition knows the way they know what you should be doing.

So of course you can run numbers, you can run all kinds of things.

You can make business plans of 30, 40, 50 pages.

That's not going to help you to become a successful entrepreneur.

Feel if this is really what you want to do.

And get started fall forward, make mistakes.

That is when you learn.

But think again, your experience, your network, and really your

holistic view of what is happening.

That is really going to help you to make things successful.

Is that a guarantee?

No, it's not a guarantee.

It's still working, but it is a working progress.

So probably not what you expect.

This is my,

is exactly why I invited you onto the Joy at Work Summit.

Because we have slightly opposing not totally opposing, but we have

slightly opposing ways of doing things.

And I totally get the gut instinct.

So let's see if there's someone listening who has this inner draw, whose heart is

feeling, Oh my God, I need to do this.

And they're feeling a bit of fear as well.

Where do they start?

What sort of practical recommendations do you suggest that they just

move a little bit forward?

Last week in a conference that we had someone who mentioned, everyone was

born with that entrepreneurial mindset.

We lost it somewhere on the way.

So start exercising that entrepreneurial mindset, start creating solutions

and think okay, so yes, this is going wrong, but how can we improve it?

How can I do things differently?

What I do believe is very important.

Find your community.

And find a community of like minded people.

There are so many people there, who are going to steal your dream.

And most of the time, people who are going to tell you that this is

not something for you, you can never build your own business, those are

the people who would never do it.

So stop listening to them.

Start listening to those who have done it and get your advice.

So a community around you with a lot of energy, positivity, people who really

feel like, yes, do this, who are really going to cheer you on, be your supporters.

That is important.

And a mentor.

I would really absolutely recommend to get a mentor.

And last week someone was mentioning I felt like I was going the wrong way

when I earned as much as my mentor.

They were not anymore able to lift me up.

And then, I do feel money is not the most important part of what we're doing,

especially when you do get older, work on your purpose, add value, do something

for the community, for the economy.

But it is, but find a good mentor, someone who has proven that they have

done it, been there, done it, have seen the negative part and the positive

part, but can really lift you up.

Yeah.

And fall forward, get started.

And learn from your mistakes.

Did I make a mistake?

Absolutely.

Is building a business one straight line up?

No, it's not.

You're going to see all these roadblocks, but that is okay.

Every roadblock will bring you closer to what you really want to accomplish.

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my

Life Satisfaction Assessment.

It's a 30 minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas

of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you time.

I call it D.

It's a fabulous place to begin a joy at work redesign.